Pittsburgh and Syracuse are joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC announced yesterday it's council of presidents unanimously voted to accept the two Big East schools, expanding the conference to 14 universities. ACC commissioner John Swofford says the council started exploring the idea of expansion more than a year ago.
John Swofford: "We had had, I'll just say, a double-digit number of schools that had reached out to us. What we try to look at is to try to ensure the conference's viability for years to come and our strength moving forward."
Swofford says the expansion allows the league to renegotiate its television contract of nearly $2 billion that began this year. It's not yet clear when Pittsburgh and Syracuse will start competing in the ACC. The Big East's exit fee is $5 million and schools that want to leave must give 27 months' notice.