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Pastimes : 1998-1999 NCAA Men's College Basketball -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Street who wrote (374)	2/7/1999 11:36:00 AM
From: Eddie Kim	Respond to of 571

I read that Syracuse, Boston College, and Miami will join the ACC. I think this is a mistake...although I wouldn't mind Miami joining the ACC.

To: The Street who wrote (374)	2/7/1999 12:58:00 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 571

Re: Missouri and Syracuse joining the Big 10: Some stories circulated a few years ago, about the time the Big 8 became the Big 12, that Missouri and Nebraska would bolt the Big 8 for the Big 12. Obviously, nothing ever came of that. Here's a Kansas City Star story from 2/5 on the latest rumors: Notre Dame turned down the Big Ten's invitation Friday. Does the conference have a next target? Not immediately, commissioner Jim Delany said. But he will not rule out expansion as a future item on the Big Ten's agenda. Missouri and Syracuse have been cast as possibilities. "The short answer is we have not discussed what the next move might be," Delany said. "But I'm sure it will be discussed over the spring." If discussions include Missouri, it's news to the Tigers. "I've heard nothing from the president right down to the athletic director and I was with (A.D.) Mike Alden last night," Missouri football coach Larry Smith said. "I don't even have a position on it because I haven't thought about it. I'm focusing and concentrating on winning the Big 12." Adding Notre Dame, an independent in football and member of the Big East in other sports, would have given the Big Ten a dozen schools, probably led to a football playoff and probably wouldn't have changed the rest of the landscape in college athletics. But if the Big Ten pursues expansion, a new team now would have to be plucked from an existing league, which could touch off another set of conference musical chairs much like the shifting of the early 1990s. Those moves, which included Penn State joining the Big Ten and Arkansas leaving the Southwest Conference for the Southeastern and setting the stage for the SWC's demise, had a profound impact on college sports. From the moves, conference football playoff games were established. A Missouri defection from the Big 12 would leave the 3-year-old conference scrambling to maintain its six-per-division split. A Syracuse invitation to the Big Ten would have an even larger impact. The Big East probably wouldn't survive, and its members would all look for other homes. Kevin Weiberg, who worked as Delany's assistant commission before becoming the Big 12 commissioner in December, said he's heard nothing but solidarity from Big 12 schools. "I feel good about the commitments our people have made to the Big 12," Weiberg said. "When I worked in the Big Ten, there were newspaper articles and public comments made by a Missouri official about joining the Big Ten, but nobody has expressed anything like that to me." That Tigers official was former athletic director Dan Devine, who left the school in 1994. But Weiberg and Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said they'll follow the Big Ten moves with particular interest. "I don't think any other conference is looking at (expansion)," Tranghese said. "They would expand if there's a consensus, but a consensus will be hard to come by." Delany said he has kept in contact with Tranghese throughout the Notre Dame process and understands the ramifications of Big Ten expansion with somebody other than the independent Fighting Irish. "We are sensitive to that," Delany said. "In terms of impact it's important not to open a Pandora's Box unduly. You have to understand the impact your thoughts and ideas have on others." Notre Dame's board of trustees announced the school's decision at a board meeting in London. The announcement was expected to be popular with followers of the athletic program, who had strongly voiced opposition to the move. "Quite honestly, we weren't surprised by the decision because of the emergence of the institutional identity issue," Delany said. "It became a strong issue." Strong enough that fans at basketball games chanted "No Big Ten." By joining, Notre Dame would have linked with perhaps the nation's best combination of athletics and academics. It also would have given up revenue by joining the conference's sharing plans. As a football independent, the Fighting Irish keep all gate receipts, bowl money and an estimated $7 million annually from an exclusive TV contract with NBC. But identity more than money was the issue, said Notre Dame president Rev. Edward Malloy. "As a Catholic university with a national constituency we believe independence continues to be our best way forward, not just in athletics, but first and foremost in the fulfillment of our academic aspirations," he said. After listening to Notre Dame's explanation, even Delany thought the school had made the right decision. "Given the explanation of the core identity of Notre Dame is Catholic, private and independent and that that perception would probably not integrate comfortably in a conference culture or approach, I think they made the right choice." Mike DeArmond of The Star contributed to this report.