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College athletic conferences often expand to include additional teams to improve its football power. Conferences do that because football is one of profitable collegiate (and professional) sport in the country. So, as soon as your collegiate conference has big-time football teams in it, your conference reaps far more money in TV contracts and tournament funds. So, once the Atlantic Coast Conference (the ACC) chose recently to expand to include Syracuse and Pittsburgh, football reputation was undoubtedly a motivating component. Those two teams have got great basketball pedigree, however, and their addition to the ACC is an excellent transfer for the schools and also the conference as well. ACC mainstays UNC and Duke, however, typically have difficulty with additions to the conference, due to the fact that as basketball power-houses, they feel the addition of additional “football schools” has a tendency to dilute the league and show a football-focus.

For those that don’t know, the ACC is a group of college sports programs on the East Coast which compete and work together in both athletics and, from time to time, academics. There are numerous other conferences in the usa, like the Big East, SEC and Big Ten. Commonly, the addition of a team reflects its geographic location. These conferences are created to create a regional group of teams for each college to compete against. This can save revenue on traveling fees and creates local camaraderie. The other objective, however, is to have a much larger negotiating force to obtain additional money-making television agreements for the display of the conference’s sports. Football, which happens to be arguably the most popular spectator sport in the nation, produces the most income for a conference.

So, there are numerous motives for an inclusion of additional squads. But at the end of the day, there is a new trend that is occuring in the world of collegiate athletics. The days of the tiny micro-conference are numbered. More and more teams are jumping ship from lesser groupings to what are getting to be “super-conferences.” This movement is going on regardless of the modest protests of a number of fans who like the fact that there are many different conferences adding spice to the nation’s college athletic competitions. They feel these large, robust conferences will take control of the landscape and push away smaller universities and conferences. Despite those fears, because conferences like the ACC will be including new universities and probably more down the road. They just have to expand or face elimination.

Older ACC schools like the University of North Carolina and Duke University, each massive basketball powerhouses, have typically opposed conference growth. Many theorize the cause for the opposition is the assumption that conference growth puts a lot more focus on football. This concern has some merit. Luckily, however, schools such as these are starting to come around to the thought. They are simply understanding that the age of the super-conference is here to stay. Frankly, conferences eat or get eaten in this environment. It’s much better for the ACC to “eat” various other conferences and grow than to stay small and risk losing teams.

Regarding what both of these new add-ons bring to the conference, they bring both football and basketball tradition and competitiveness. Syracuse is a well-known basketball university that has a big recruiting sway in the New York City vicinity. Pittsburgh, while recently producing quite competitive basketball teams, is known for its formidable football program.

Adding both of these programs will positively contribute to the ACC in both sports. Basketball will gain two solid squads, and also the football side will grow all the more than it has in the past few years. The future of ACC athletics appears bright.

Jason and Bob both enjoy college athletics and basketball in particular. They enjoy teaching young people in how to shoot basketball. Also, view their website on basketball drills.