Pitt Basketball: ACC places Panthers, Syracuse
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Pitt fans can get ready for a basketball rivalry with Maryland and a renewal of the old Big East Conference football rivalries with Virginia Tech and Miami. 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.
Pitt and Syracuse are protected rivals in football and will play every year.
In men's and women's basketball, Pitt will be playing Maryland twice a year. The Terrapins are Pitt's primary partner in the new scheduling format. The others 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 are required under Big East bylaws to remain in the conference for 27 months upon notifying the league of their departures. Each notified the league they were leaving in October.
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 it can join the Big 12.
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 fall.
"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."
First Published February 4, 2012 12:00 am
