ACC plugs Pitt, Syracuse into scheduling plans
Share with others:
Pitt fans can get ready for a basketball rivalry with Maryland and a renewal of the old Big East football rivalry with Virginia Tech. Those are two of the highlights of the future scheduling formats the Atlantic Coast Conference approved Friday at its annual winter meetings.
Pitt will play in the ACC Coastal Division in football along with Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke and North Carolina.
Syracuse will play in the ACC Atlantic Division along with Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State and Wake Forest.
Under the new format, Pitt nd Syracuse will play annually in football.
In men's and women's basketball, Pitt will be playing Maryland twice a year, home and away. The Terrapins are Pitt's primary partner in the new scheduling format. The other partnerships are Boston College and Syracuse, Clemson and Georgia Tech, Duke and North Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina State, Florida State and Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
The ACC did not specify when Pitt and Syracuse would begin playing in the ACC. Pitt and Syracuse would like to leave the Big East sooner rather than later, but were required under Big East bylaws to remain for 27 months upon notifying the league of their departures.
That situation could change if West Virginia wins its lawsuit against the Big East. West Virginia is suing the Big East to get out this year, so that it may join the Big 12 conference.
Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson did not rule out the possibility that the Panthers would begin playing in the ACC in all sports as early as the 2012 football season.
"We're very interested in what's going on with the West Virginia situation," Pederson said. "We're following that very closely. We'll continue to monitor that situation. It seems like it's changing on a daily basis."
Pederson said ACC commissioner John Swofford accepted his input into the new scheduling format and football division alignment, but he noted that Pitt and Syracuse did not vote on it because they are not yet voting members of the conference.
"Commissioner Swofford was very interested in our thoughts," Pederson said. "The other 12 schools voted on it. They were considerate of our ideal preferences."
In an ideal world, Pitt and Maryland would be in the same football division so the Panthers could develop equal football and basketball rivalries, but Pederson said the ACC kept its football alignment relatively simple by adding Pitt and Syracuse to its existing divisions.
"We're joining them," Pederson said. "They have a brand. They've had these divisions for quite a few years. In this kind of scenario you go with the way it was set. You just can't have everything."
Pederson was enthused about renewing some historic football rivalries with Virginia Tech and Miami in the Coastal Division. The Hokies and Hurricanes are former members of the Big East, and the Panthers played them for years before they bolted to the ACC in 2003.
First Published February 3, 2012 1:20 pm
