BC accepts ACC invitation

Boston College has secured the future of its athletic department by joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, University President William P. Leahy SJ announced at a Sunday press conference. Leahy accepted the invitation issued by the ACC within an hour after the conference presidents voted.

In June, the presidents of the ACC decided at the last minute not to extend an invitation to join the conference to BC and invited the University of Miami and Virginia Tech instead. Four months later, another vote was taken via conference call among the nine current presidents of the ACC, with a unanimous 9-0 vote, and BC was extended the invitation it thought it would receive this past summer.

Leahy, along with Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo, spoke at the press conference, citing academics, athletics, and finances for BC's move to the ACC. "The ACC is a good fit for us because it has five top 40 national institutions, as we are," said Leahy. "It has a balanced mix of private and public institutions.

"The demographic within the area of the ACC will enhance our student recruiting efforts in the years ahead and in addition, the ACC has a program of academic cooperation and collaboration which is attractive to us," he continued. "The ACC is a strong, stable conference and membership in it ensures the future of our intercollegiate athletic program."

Leahy highlighted financial issues as one of the factors considered in the conference move. "The move to the ACC will generate greater revenues in the future and that's important to us as an institution," he said.

While the exact date of BC's departure is uncertain, Miami and Virginia Tech are slated to begin competing in the ACC in 2004. "Those are things we need to work out with the Big East," said DeFilippo. "Father [Leahy] has been on the phone as well with some of the presidents. Those are some of the things we are going to need to work out as we go along." The real problem for BC may be scheduling, since football schedules are drawn up years in advance.

BC will have to pay an exit fee to the Big East and possibly an entrance fee to the ACC. "We will abide by whatever the valid provisions of the Big East's constitution and bylaws," said Leahy. "There certainly was discussion over the summer about increasing the withdrawal penalty."

The exit fee, according to Leahy, should not in any way be assumed by the ACC, and could range between $1 and 5 million. "We agreed as part of the discussions about reorganizing the Big East that there would be, down the road, an increased withdrawal penalty for schools leaving the Big East," said Leahy.

"All of those discussions were going to be brought together in time for a vote at the Nov. 4 meeting. But whatever the case is right now we will discuss that with the Big East and certainly fulfill any requirements."

Miami and Virginia Tech, the other two universities to join the ACC, only have to pay an exit fee of $1 million because they announced their decision to join before the Big East's deadline of June 30.

BC's decision puts the Big East in an awkward position, especially after this past June when it looked as though the conference would keep BC and Syracuse, even with the departure of Miami and Virginia Tech. DeFilippo expressed his desire to continue to play Big East opponents in the future, even after BC has completely detached itself from the conference of which it was a founding member.

Two other important issues are travel accommodations and whether all of BC's current varsity sports will compete within the ACC. The majority of road trips will require chartered flights and perhaps an increased amount of missed class time.

"What I have learned as I looked at airline schedules with all of the current travel times is that I don't think there will be any more significant loss of class time by being in the ACC than the way we're structuring and responding for travel in the Big East," said Leahy.

"Boston has great airline connections with the south and really every part of the country. We can get great flights for our student-athletes out of Boston."

DeFilippo explained how the school has handled such travel arrangements in the past. "A couple of years ago, we played Duke," he said.

"We traveled down on a regional jet from here to Raleigh-Durham ... and I was back in my office by 10 o'clock the next morning. Another thing is most of our teams are playing a national schedule right now."

Cuts may be necessary in terms of which teams retain varsity status. The geography and general climate of the ACC could mean that varsity sports such as skiing will be cut.

"We will certainly take a look at our athletic department now and decide which sports fit, and if some sports don't fit we will certainly talk about cutting some sports," said DeFilippo.

"But what those are at this point and if we will do that definitely, I don't know at this time."

The atmosphere of this press conference was different from the one that took place this past June, where Leahy and DeFilippo announced BC's exclusion from the conference.

"In June, I knew the situation remained unclear to the extent that there wasn't a 12th team," said Leahy.

"Until a couple weeks ago, we had no inkling about what was going on in the Atlantic Coast Conference. [They] had interest in Boston College from the start and in the last couple of weeks, they realized that BC was a great fit."

The conference debate has ended and the future of BC athletics appears set.

"We are extremely excited to be having an opportunity to compete in the future in the Atlantic Coast Conference," said DeFilippo.

"This really helps to secure our future, and this is a great fit for us both academically and athletically and we are very excited."