Photo from @KentTaylorWAVE

National writers have all chimed in about Louisville’s move to the ACC.  Not a surpise to Card Nation, they were glowing about UofL’s program and leadership.  Looking back, the Big 12 snub last year was probably a good thing as the ACC is the perfect fit for the Cards in football and hoops.  Here’s a sampling of what the national media is saying about the huge move:

*Yahoo! Sports Pat Forde’s thoughts

When Maryland’s spot in the league came open, several Big East members made clear their interest in moving to the ACC. Sources said Louisville outmaneuvered the perceived early favorite, Connecticut, in large part because of the school’s overall athletic commitment, the health of its football program and the issues Jim Calhoun left behind in the Huskies’ basketball program. Cincinnati also made a spirited 11th-hour push, sources said.

*ESPN’s Brett McMurphy on the ACC move

The ACC felt Louisville was the best choice because of its “aggressive approach” to success, including a commitment to “marquee athletics programs,” a source told ESPN. The recent additions of Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame — which joins in all sports except football but has a scheduling partnership with the conference in that sport — make the ACC feel as though it is “in a position of strength,” the source said.

*The ACC’s official press release

The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Louisville as its newest member. The vote followed the submission of Louisville’s letter of application.

“With the addition of the University of Louisville, the ACC continues to be well positioned for the future competing at the highest level in all facets of the collegiate experience,” said the ACC Council of Presidents in a joint statement. “The ACC continues to be a vibrant conference that remains steadfast in its commitment to balancing academics and athletics.

*SI’s Pete Thamel weighs in

(This man deserves his own holiday. That is not even close to a joke)

Well, boys and girls, it is official. We have escaped the sinking ship of the Big East and are set to join the ACC in 2014 to replace Maryland, who leaves for the Big 10. Below you will see the reaction from sportswriters and fans alike, but first, a few thoughts…

• This is without a doubt, the biggest day in Louisville athletics history. It has been a long, frustrating ordeal for Louisville fans ever since getting rejected by the Big 12, and with the news of the Big East countering conference realignment by adding…ahem…Tulane and East Carolina, it was clear that the Big East was dead and Conference USA 2.0 was born. Thus, Louisville fans’ frustrations were at a boiling point. Today, that is all washed away, and Louisville fans could collectively breathe a sigh of relief and a let out a cheer of approval as the Cards are set to join a conference that will benefit ALL sports, not just football, and will ultimately become the best basketball conference in the nation, if it stays together.
• One of the first questions Cards fans will ask after they are done celebrating is what does this mean for Charlie Strong’s future at Louisville? First off, it is far sunnier than it was a week ago had we stayed in the Big East. Second, in my opinion, his ultimate goal is to be a head coach in the SEC. I do not think that happens next year, but will down the road. The good news is that with our new conference situation, Louisville will be a much easier sell in finding his replacement. Had we stayed in the Big East, that would not be the case.
• I do find it highly comical that this news comes only a day after UK announces the hiring of Mark Stoops as their football coach, thus completely raining on their parade. It is no secret that UK loves to announce good news following a period of bad news for Louisville (see Calipari hiring announcement days after Louisville’s Elite 8 upset loss to Michigan State). However, as those could be seen as intentional cheap shots, this move was announce out of Louisville’s control and merely a coincidence. Again…highly comical.
• Not to be the wet blanket here, but keep in mind, conference realignment rumors will continue to surface. There have already been rumors of several ACC schools, including North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia and Georgia Tech possibly joining the SEC, Big 10 or Big 12. There were reports today that one reason the ACC acted so fast was because the Big 12 was showing serious interest in Louisville. This will no doubt prompt the gung ho “Big 12 or Bust” crowd of Louisville fans to call the move premature and unneccessary. They will say Louisville should have been patient, but here is the thing: Louisville WAS patient for nearly a year after being rejected by the Big 12. We lobbied, we waited, and all we got in return were constant reports that the Big 12 was happy at 10 schools and had no plans to expand. With the Big East going the way it was going, Louisville COULD NOT AFFORD to be patient any longer. An opportunity came along, a great opportunity for that matter, and we took it. Simple as that. Louisville was basically Scott Howard from “Teen Wolf.” Pamela (the Big 12) is incredibly hot and desirable, but all she does is tease us and give us false hope. Boof (the ACC) was there for us all along (just go with it) and we just failed to notice her. Boof appreciates us for who we are. Pamela was a stuck up bitch. We made the right call.
• Again, this is a move that will benefit ALL sports. While the situation is not exactly as concrete as we would like it to be, but if we’re going to be realistic, it is pretty obvious the Big 12 move would have benefitted football and have little value to several other programs. The ACC gives us far more competition across the board and the geography makes it much easier to travel than it would have been in the Big 12. Yes, it is still a sketchy situation, but Louisville is in a FAR better position than they were yesterday, and if you are a fan, today is a day to celebrate.

Click the link to see what members of the media and fans are saying about the move.

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November 28, 2012.  The date that changed the course of the University of Louisville in all facets; athletics, academics, and prestige.  The ACC made it official this morning, and voted Louisville to become its 14th member, replacing Maryland.  Stayed tuned to LSL all day long as we will bring you updates on this historic day for UofL and its fans.  Also, we will be on the air tonight at 6:00 discussing this program changing news on ESPN 680 and ESPNLouisville.com.

In what could be an historic day for UofL, its fans, and its athletic program, according to ACCSports.com, the ACC will vote on expansion and your Louisville Cardinals are the front runner to receive the 75% majority vote.

ACC presidents and chancellors will participate in a 7 a.m. teleconference Wednesday and then cast votes on the league’s expansion candidates, multiple sources told ACCSports.com, with Louisville the most likely school to receive an invitation.

According to conference bylaws, an individual expansion candidate must receive at least 75 percent of the vote for approval.

Louisville already has indicated publicly and privately that it will accept an ACC invitation if it comes. Cincinnati, Connecticut, Navy and South Florida also have pursued ACC membership and indicated that they would join if invited. UConn and Navy also have received support from multiple ACC presidents, sources said, but only Louisville currently has a realistic chance at the votes required for an official invitation.

Has Louisville’s time finally come?  CardNation knows we’ve earned it…..

Louisville fans have been waiting on pins and needles for some kind of news on Louisville’s fate when it comes to conference realignment. Louisville being passed over again in the current wave of expansion would be a big step towards the return to C-USA status. On the flip side, an invite to the ACC would put Charlie Strong in a position where he can thrive and take the program to the next level. Over the next few days, or perhaps weeks, we will find out if Louisville will be in heaven or hell when in comes to their conference affiliation.

JacketsOnline.com (subscription required), Georgia Tech’s Rivals site, is reporting that the word is that Louisville will receive an invite to be the ACC’s 14th member. This realignment nugget must be taken with a grain of salt due to the fact that, for the time being, it is just a rumor.

Despite this just being a rumor for now, it is just another development that has indicated that Louisville has the slight edge over UConn. As long as Louisville has the backing of the ACC football schools (FSU, GT, Clemson, VT), one has to like their chances to be the ACC’s 14th member.

According to Mark Blaudshun, the ACC is formulating their gameplan on how to proceed with their expansion and have three separate options on the table.  The first one – where the ACC waits and hopes for Notre Dame to join in football – doesn’t seem likely, so it basically comes down to two.  Adding Louisville or UConn, is another.  Or, one gaining a lot of traction lately is adding both the Cards and Huskies, plus another member.

1. Stay at 13 teams in football with the hope that Notre Dame eventually decides it wants to give up its football independence.

2. Add just one school, but the battle over whether to take Louisville or UConn remains with neither school receiving a majority of support.

3. Add three teams, which would top the ACC out at 16 schools in football, but create an imbalance of 17 teams (Notre Dame is joining the ACC in all sports but football) in basketball. While adding UConn and Louisville are consensus picks as an entry, there is no clear-cut favorite for the third school. A compromise could be to add only two schools to stay at 15 teams in football–again hoping that Notre Dame eventually changes its mind–and 16 teams in basketball.

This map, designed in 2011, proved to be eerily prophetic today

Wow. Right when you think it can’t get any worse for the Big East. The conference decided to make its next move in the ongoing realignment game and they grabbed – get ready for it – Tulane and East Carolina. That’s right, the Green Wave, who had 2,000 fans attend a home football game this year and who hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1995, are now full athletic members of the Big East. ECU, meanwhile, will become football-only members. Both teams will join for the 2014 season. Part of me just wants to laugh at the absolute joke the Big East has become, but another part of me knows the cold hard truth: who else are they going to get? BYU is a pipedream and they’re likely holding off for a Big 12 invite. There’s nobody else left. Yes, the Big East has now officially become Conference USA version 2.0, but what other moves was commissioner Mike Aresco going to make? The Big East was already on the outside looking in and they’re clearly not part of the Power Five moving forward. So it’s not like the conference just ruined its image by slumming it up with some non-power schools. They’re already near the bottom, this is just another anchor that will pull them further into the depths of irrelevance.

It would be one thing if the school’s had decent football programs and could at least somewhat steady the ship. Nope. Tulane has won a grand total of 15 games over the last 5 years (15-46 overall) and while ECU sustained some success under Skip Holtz from 2006-2009, they just finished with their second straight losing season. What about in hoops? After all, the long-standing identity of the Big East has been centered around the round ball. Well, let’s see, the Pirates have a sub .500 record on the hardwood 10 out of the last 11 seasons. How about Tulane? Yeah, not much better. They’re a combined 67-85 over the last 5 seasons and, as mentioned, haven’t been to the Big Dance in nearly 20 years. But hey, Tulane is like, a really good school and stuff. They’re also in a big-time TV market. And in the end, those are the things that supposedly matter the most, right?

So while Louisville fans – and fans of the what’s left of the old Big East – stab themselves in the eyeballs with rusty forks tonight and dream of an escape to greener pastures, I will take solace in one thing: maybe (hopefully) this was a not a preemptive move by the conference, but instead a reactionary plan designed to cover their ass in the case that schools like Louisville, UConn or Cincinnati (or all three) bolt to one of the major conferences. I still think Louisville is part of the Big 12′s plans. We just have to be patient. At some point they’ll have to expand in order to keep up with the Jones’ and eventually move to a conference championship game. The ACC could also still be an option, especially if the league is serious about bolstering its image in the football arena. Here in the meantime, though, we’re stuck, wallowing away in obscurity as the once-glorious Big East crumbles all around us. And while the football side of things has been unraveling over the last several years, we could always count on basketball to be our saving grace. But with Syracuse, West Virginia, Rutgers, Pitt and maybe more on their way out – or already out – we can’t even rely on that anymore.

Welcome back to your old (new) home, ECU and Tulane. You’ll fit right in.

We are monitoring the nerve-racking daily changes of the latest round of conference realignment.  Below are some of the more interesting stories.

*Providence Journal says the Big East could ‘dissolve’ if there are more defections

  Representatives of some of those seven schools said this week that the tipping point would be reached if either Connecticut or Louisville heads to another league. Such a loss would be infinitely more important to the basketball schools than Rutgers leaving, because it would further erode an already badly damaged basketball core.

*ACC met this week, and is meeting Monday to discuss expansion options

There was wide-spread speculation that the ACC’s first move will be to simply replace Maryland with another school. Two Big East schools, Connecticut and Louisville, are regarded as the front-runners. Ironically the two teams meet in football on Saturday, which prompted some wise cracking that the winner would get the ACC bid.

There seems little doubt that both schools would immediately accept an offer from the ACC if one was extended.

But ACC commissioner John Swofford also may have the ACC take a more aggressive role to protect the conference from future poaching with a proposal to expand from 13 to 16 teams.

In that plan, both UConn and Louisville, and perhaps a third Big East school such as Cincinnati or South Florida, would be in the mix.

*Clemson site is hearing that the ACC likes  Louisville

I talked to BOT Chairman David Wilkins Tuesday evening, and he thinks the ACC could make a move fairly quickly, simply because in the current landscape of college athletics, doing nothing is the worst thing that can happen.

With that in mind, I made several calls to sources within the ACC just to get a feel for what school would be the optimal choice to invite, and the name I kept hearing was Louisville, which is what we are hearing from almost everywhere. The source said that Louisville’s athletic budget is actually larger than Clemson’s, and the school makes the most sense from a football standpoint.

I get the feeling that UConn is the second choice, but not a very attractive second choice. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Getting lost in the realignment madness, is the fact that your #2 Louisville Cardinals will be playing in the top in-season tournament tomorrow.  Here’s a preview of this loaded tournament and a prediction of how it will all play out.  The Cards will tip off tomorrow night at approx. 9:30 on NBC Sports Network (971 HD) against Norhtern Iowa. 

THE FAVORITE

Louisville: No team in the field touts a résumé quite like the Cardinals, who are led by a Hall of Fame-caliber coach, Rick Pitino, and a point guard, Peyton Siva, who was named Big East Preseason Player of the Year. Louisville returns virtually every key piece of last season’s Final Four squad, and potential stars such as Chane Behanan and Wayne Blackshear have a chance to blossom into stars after showing flashes of brilliance as freshmen. Louisville — in particular, forward Gorgui Dieng — plays with a toughness that makes it one of the top defensive teams in America.

Some of the guys are already comfortable in their new surroundings.

Louisville is inthe thick of conference realignment once again, and they still have obstacles to overcome.  Only time will tell; the ACC is interested, but will other schools leave?  Is the Big 12 an opttion again?  The waiting game will continue.

On Tuesday afternoon, U of L President James Ramsey held an impromptu news conference at Louisville International Airport, saying he would welcome the chance to join the ACC. He said the university had not had direct contact with the league.

“We’ll keep working every day to position ourselves,” he said, adding later, “Things will play out, and they will play out well for the university.”

The impending race to become the ACC’s 14th team has stirred debate about the importance of market size, academic profile, geography and an athletic program’s success.

Maryland and its Under Armour money is off the Big 10.  Rutgers and their juggernaut football program will join them today.  Now, for the second time in 13 months Louisville is facing off one-on-one with another program for a chance at “big time” status.  West Virginia and their hilljack fanbase got into the Big 12 over Louisville because the television hot shots wanted the WVU brand name.  Currently, UConn is the obstacle in the way for UofL and an ACC invite, rescuing the Cards from the mess that is the Big East.   There’s no sense in further beating this dead horse, but it’s worth repeating….Louisville’s athletic program from top-to-bottom is clearly superior to UConn’s.  Yes, the Huskies have great men’s and women’s basketball programs, but what else; 3,000 fans who care enough to attend their BCS game?  A post-season ban for men’s basketball?   Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of adding Louisville to the ACC, or any league for that matter over UConn.

Realignment comes down to TV dollars and market share, but these facts are still worth mentioning

Pros  

*Total athletic revenue; UofL would be the highest generator of it from 2006-’11 at a clip of $87.7 M.  he next highest is Florida State at $78.5 M.

*Louisville has 8, yes 8 ranked teams, and while you might not get this high of a number every year, the vast majority of UofL’s athletic teams go to the NCAA tournament in their respective sport.  No program “on the market” is more complete than UofL.

*The Louisville market is #1 EVERY YEAR during March Madness (this past year,  ACC markets came in at #6 and #8)

*UofL is #1 in basketball revenue and #3 in attendance

*Louisville is averaging 50,720 fans a game in football; UConn is at 34,984

*Louisville brought over 35,000 fans to the Orange Bowl; UConn took less than 3,500 to the Fiesta

*The ACC already has the Northeast market in tow with Boston College currently and Syracuse next year.  Would adding UConn make that big of a difference?

*Boston College is vehemently opposed to UConn joining

*Florida State and Clemson want the football side of things strengthened – adding the Huskies isn’t doing that

Cons

*TV Market: Hartford/New Haven ranks #30 with 996,000 TV homes estimated for 2013 and Louisville is #48 with 670,000 TV homes estimated for 2013 (how someone or something can estimate TVs in homes for next year is beyond me ) This single factor is what is killing UofL in this cut-throat realignment game.

*UConn “is a better fit” geographically

*UConn is in Connecticut, also home to ESPN who is pulling the realignment strings

*UConn has won multiple titles in men’s (3) and women’s basketball (7)

Odds & Ends

*USA Today on the realignment madness

*Realignment from the local perspective

*Florida State fans want the Cards in the ACC