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Saturday, April 19, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese has accused the Atlantic Coast Conference of clandestine meetings with four Big East members to entice them to join the ACC.

ACC Commissioner John Swofford denied the charges.

The University of Pittsburgh isn't a major player in this drama but definitely would be affected by the fallout.

Pitt interim athletic director Marc Boehm did not return telephone calls last night.

The exchange of harsh words began with Tranghese blasting the ACC for approaching Big East schools Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College in an article in the New York Daily News.

The ACC reportedly is looking to expand to 12 teams to create a lucrative postseason conference football playoff.

"I have no use for the ACC right now," Tranghese said. "They're a bunch of hypocrites. They operate in the dark. They'll never acknowledge this, but I'm aware the ACC, for the last couple years, without ever picking up the phone or calling me, has basically gone out and tried to convince our teams to join their league.

"They have made two presentations to the University of Miami -- and have been turned down -- but they continue to come back, hoping to get the right answer. They've gone to Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech."

Never happened, Swofford told the Durham Herald-Sun.

"I will say that no offers have been made to any institution since Florida State joined the league," Swofford said. "Expansion is a subject that the ACC has periodically addressed since Florida State joined the league in 1991. I am totally comfortable with the way our league conducts its business."

Seven of the league's nine members would have to vote for expansion.

"Our schools have never reached that point of consensus," Swofford said.

Tranghese suggested that Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser might have been influenced not to accept the job at Pitt last week because of the talk around the ACC that the Big East Conference was in a shaky position.

"It's obvious people in power got to him and convinced him our league would not be here," Tranghese said. "The ACC, probably more than anybody, has tried to disrupt our conference for a long time. They haven't done it yet. As long as I'm here, they're not going to do it.

"This is completely being driven by football. It has nothing to do with basketball. The addition will not help them in basketball. It will hurt them."

This was a banner season for Big East basketball, with Syracuse winning the NCAA men's tournament, Connecticut winning the NCAA women's tournament and St. John's winning the NIT.

In football, Miami lost to Ohio State in the BCS championship game in the Fiesta Bowl.