Miami's defection to the ACC challenges the Seminoles' dominance; Bulls might see a change in C-USA's membership.
By PETE YOUNG
Published July 1, 2003
The mighty gust from the Hurricanes created a whirlwind of shock waves.
Erstwhile Big East football stud Miami, with Virginia Tech, accepted an invitation to join the ACC after a protracted, mangled negotiation, and the reverberations will be felt far and wide.
In state, Florida State and South Florida will feel the effects.
FSU will be impacted directly, with the ACC morphing into a football superpower beginning in 2004. And FSU, after more than a decade of dominance, no longer is its undisputed king.
After years of battling for state and national supremacy, FSU and Miami now will tussle for the same league title.
"These two outstanding institutions afford us instant natural conference rivals, which has been absent for us and is so very meaningful," FSU athletic director Dave Hart said of Miami and Virginia Tech. "The collective level of electricity will immediately be elevated."
The ripple effect on USF is uncertain but likely significant, as the ACC/Big East fallout could alter the composition of Conference USA.
"We continue to monitor the national landscape, and our commitment remains to ensuring we continue on our path to becoming an elite Division I program," USF athletic director Lee Roy Selmon said. "We are in a very strong conference currently, and we are committed to making sure we remain in a very strong conference.
"We have a great success story to tell at USF, and we're ready and willing to tell it in the appropriate settings."
If the Big East raids C-USA, the Bulls could be left in a depleted league. If multiple teams depart, C-USA could disband, leaving USF scrambling to join a league or trying to form a new one. Or the top few teams in C-USA could merge with the Big East, with USF maneuvering for inclusion.
Or the Bulls could be invited to join the Big East. USF's sudden emergence in football - the Bulls went 17-5 their first two seasons in I-A - has escalated its stature dramatically.
"I'm excited about our first season in Conference USA, and that's really all there is to it," football coach Jim Leavitt said. "There are so many things I don't have control over.
"The thing we need to focus on is trying to get a lot better. I can't predict the future, but I do know that none of it matters if we don't win."
The Big East now has six football-playing members. To maintain Bowl Championship Series status after the defections of its top two football schools, many expect it to target Louisville, which has by far the largest athletic budget in C-USA and the best combination of football/basketball programs. Beyond the Big East's pursuit of Louisville are dozens of questions, among them:
Will more C-USA schools then join the Big East? What about others such as Marshall? Could the Big East split into separate football and basketball leagues? Will the ACC look to add a 12th school so it can have a championship game in football? What if Louisville shuns the Big East and stays in C-USA? What if the Cardinals jump to the ACC? Where does Notre Dame stand? Could Pitt become the 12th team in the Big Ten?
And what about the impact of all of this on the BCS?
"The Big East is now in the same position as Conference USA and the Mountain West, and this turn of events may open a door for those conferences," Kirk Herbstreit wrote on ESPN.com. "If the remaining Big East schools were to battle it out for a BCS bid, how could the exclusion of teams like BYU, Colorado State or TCU be justified?"
"Would I like (USF) to be in a playoff scenario? Yes," Leavitt said. "I'm hopeful we'll be in a playoff scenario in the next two or three years. I believe that will work its way out regardless of the various conference affiliations."
The permutations and potential outcomes are endless.
"We understand and appreciate that situations like this are cause for much speculation," Selmon said. "But I would caution that even a week ago, the trendy speculation would have been incorrect.
