Big East Sues to Stop ACC Expansion
 

Five Big East schools sued Miami, Boston College and the Atlantic Coast Conference on Friday, painting the ACC's expansion plans as a secret conspiracy that would ruin the programs left behind.


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The defendants concocted a "deliberate scheme to destroy the Big East and abscond with the collective value of all that has been invested and created" in the conference, according to the lawsuit.


The five schools — Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Connecticut — are the football programs that would remain if the other three leave. They seek financial damages and want an injunction to keep Miami and Boston College in the Big East.


Syracuse is part of the potential ACC expansion but was not included in the lawsuit because the plaintiffs said they found no evidence the school made promises to stay in the Big East.


The lawsuit was filed in state Superior Court in Hartford, Conn., not far from the University of Connecticut, which has spent $90 million to upgrade facilities in anticipation of joining the Big East as a football member in 2005.


"We will not sit idly by on the sidelines as these teams leave the Big East," Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland said.


The lawsuit contends the five schools have spent millions on their football programs based on the presumption they were members of a healthy conference.


It alleges Miami and BC — the "Defecting School Defendants," as they're classified in the lawsuit — and the ACC were involved in secret expansion talks despite Miami's public commitments to stay in the Big East.


In the lawsuit, Miami president Donna Shalala is quoted on March 6, 2002, reiterating Miami's commitment "in the strongest terms possible, emphatically stating that the University of Miami is in the Big East and has no interest in leaving it for any other conference."


Miami athletic director Paul Dee wouldn't comment on the lawsuit but said the university would defend itself.


"We believe that everything that we've done is appropriate," Dee said.


ACC commissioner John Swofford said conference lawyers were reviewing the lawsuit.


"We're disappointed that these schools have chosen to take this action," he said.


Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said the school would not comment on pending litigation.


ACC presidents have toured the three schools and are expected to decide soon whether to invite them to join, beginning in 2005. If that happens, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he'll immediately file papers seeking a temporary injunction.


Big East bylaws spell out the terms under which teams may leave. Leaving is not illegal, and with a year's notice, the fine for dropping out is $1 million.


That's not the point, according to the lawsuit. It claims that by stripping away three of the Big East's eight football teams, the remaining schools would lose millions of dollars in revenue from the lucrative Bowl Championship Series and from TV deals.





"Big East schools have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in reliance of these now-broken promises," West Virginia president David C. Hardesty said.

The nine-team ACC has promised football power Miami increased revenue from a more lucrative TV deal it believes it could negotiate as a 12-team conference.

The lawsuit transforms the Big East's survival strategy from merely a public-relations barrage into a legal one.

Shortly after the ACC's plans became public last month, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said the defections from the 26-year-old conference would "be the most disastrous blow to intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime."

On Friday, Tranghese merely issued a brief statement, acknowledging the lawsuit, but stating the conference itself was not involved. He let politicians and university presidents do the talking.

"Fraud is not too strong a word to describe what has happened here," Blumenthal said. "This lawsuit reveals a back-room conspiracy, born in secret, founded on greed, and carried out through calculated deceit." In laying out the argument, the plaintiffs detail the Big East's willingness to stand by BC and Miami "in even the darkest of times." The lawsuit recalls a gambling investigation at BC and Miami's stint on NCAA (news - web sites) probation, both in the mid-1990s.

"Nevertheless, during this time, the Big East and every member thereof stood behind these schools," the lawsuit states. "With this support, Miami and BC were able to weather these crises."



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...g_east_lawsuit


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this is hilarious!

big 12 rocks by the way.

the big east is pulling every string they can right now.. I hope miami does come to the acc it will be a great conference with the additions

I hate the ACC. I hope the BE fucks everything up, although I doubt it.

This is just a last desperation attempt byt the Big East to get money. I mean if they sue and the teams are forced to stay then conference relations are going to be hellish and the league will fall apart anyways. So they are just trying to extort money out of the ACC and those schools.

Hopefully this shit won't go through. I don't want to hate the Big East, they just need to accept that they can't match the offer of a conference like the ACC.

The ACC's number one motive is money. They want to make it a powerhouse football confrence, and an even better basketball one, only to generate more revenue. I suppose they arent happy with an explosive Duke vs MD, UNC vs Duke B-ball rivarly, and a football confrence with an elite FSU team and excellent squads at NC State and Maryland. Its all about making the rich richer, Karl Marx is spinning in his grave ;)

I do not know the legality of the situation, but from a fan's (ACC fan nonetheless) perspective I think the ACC is being greedy, and the Big East is getting dealt a joker.

being an acc fan you should know that we need a conference championship in football. Bringing miami into the picture will put the FSU vs. Miami rivalry at center stage. It will be like Texas vs. Oklahoma. I think it's a great move. The reason the BE wants to stop the merger is because they will lose money. It's all about money in the end..

I agree "from a fan's perspective."

From a fans perspective, the football is no better. Sure Maryland has been decent, NC State can play; but so could Syracuse and Pittsburgh and West Virginia and Virginia Tech.

The product is certainly no better with this move. So, yeah, I agree completely, hate to see this move cause fans can see its so blatently about money.

The football matchups a certainly no better.

Sure, we could use the big Miami vs FSU matchup, but I don't think we need it. We benefit, but the big east loses the Virginia Tech vs Miami matchup. Obviously the big east will take a step down at the ACC's expense, which I think is crappy.

they will still have the matchup it will just be a non-conference game. :p

Let me see if I understand the Big East position in the lawsuit:

"Yes, we know that teams can leave the conference on one year's notice by paying a $1 million fine, but back in the 90's you said that you had no intention of leaving the Big East. And in 2002 your president said that you had no plans to leave the Big East. So, based on those promises, we let Notre Dame have a Big East BCS bowl slot because they play Big East Basketball but our football conference isn't good enough for them. And UConn expanded their stadium because they expected the natural rivalry between the Huskies and Miami to give them big crowds for that one game every other year until eternity"

Sounds like a sure winner to me <turn sarcasm off>

nothing comes close to red river shooutout ;)

do they call it red river because the longhorns get killed every year?? :lol:

hahhahaha, nice one!

we'll see this yr, we got a new qb

I hope you're right cuz I HATE the Sooners. Gee this got off topic sorta fast

New qb, old qb, Same OU defense. nuff said

you can't just run around claiming that you were defrauded...

do schools sign any contracts stipulating that they will participate in a conference for a set period of time?

The BE's own bylaws prove that they can't win the case. It is not illegal to leave and with a years notice the fine is 1 million bucks. Sure the other schools are going to lose money but they never really made money anway. They'll still make money on the games if they are played they will just be out of conference games. The BE needs to quit acting like this and realize that the schools will do as they please. Doing this will make the schools want to leave.