Inaugural ACC Roundtable: State of Our Basketball Programs

How do you feel about the ACC expanding to take in Pittsburgh and Syracuse?

TS: As a basketball school, it’s great. The level of competition may rise, but so does the reputation. On a personal note, my brother goes to Pitt, so that’s good for me as well. But I think adding two of the better basketball programs in the nation to our conference can only be a good thing.

BC: I like it. In terms of basketball, I think having both of those teams would add an interesting dimension to conference play (and it will be quite interesting to see how the league formats the ACC Tournament). As for football, well, not too many other ACC teams are lighting the world on fire, either, so I guess they’ll fit right in.

My freshman year at BC was our last in the Big East, so I never really got to experience any of these rivalries. BC and Syracuse in particular was one of the bigger ones from the past, and it’ll be fun to see that revived in the ACC.

UNC: On the surface I love it. Syracuse is another national power and bringing them into the ACC only strengthens the conference. On the flip side, I don’t like conference expansion in college sports in general. It reminds me too much of the Miami Heat. Let’s battle it out in the tournament and not worry about stacking the power conferences. The ACC is fine without Syracuse and Pitt, let’s keep it that way.

Duke: On a basketball level, I think it is a great idea. We receive tougher competition, especially from Syracuse. We all know that they are still undefeated and #1. ACC expansion even builds the reputation some more. Adding great basketball teams to the conference is a very good thing, and I don’t see anything wrong with it.