The University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University will become the 13th and 14th members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, officials announced Sunday, and Commissioner John Swofford left the option open for even further expansion.
“We’re very comfortable with this 14,” Swofford said. “The only thing I would add to that is we are not philosophically opposed to 16.”
Swofford created the “4-4-4 committee” more than a year and a half ago, a group that comprises four athletic directors — including UNC athletic director Dick Baddour — four presidents and four faculty representatives that meets to evaluate the viability of the conference moving forward.
The committee met Tuesday and brought forth a recommendation for expansion to the ACC Council of Presidents, which voted unanimously to accept Syracuse and Pittsburgh’s applications.
Swofford said a double-digit number of schools have reached out to the conference to be considered for membership.
Syracuse and Pittsburgh will leave the Big East Conference to join the ACC, but Swofford said a specific time frame for the move had not yet been determined and the ACC will respect the Big East’s bylaws concerning the schools’ departure.
Swofford said the conference has also not made a decision about potential changes to the structure of the ACC tournament or division makeup, but he said he thinks the expansion will help keep the conference viable in a future where lots of uncertainty surrounding college athletics exists.
Chancellor Holden Thorp said he believes the addition of Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC will strengthen the conference’s rich tradition.
Talks among the schools with the additions went under the radar until late Friday night, which Thorp said was due to a “masterful” job by Swofford and the committee.
