The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Wednesday that its presidents and chancellors have unanimously voted to add Louisville to the conference. The Cardinals represent the replacement for Maryland, who recently left for the Big Ten. League Commissioner John Swofford says the addition of Louisville along with Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse has made the conference stronger, and Syracuse head basketball coach Jim Boeheim seemed to agree when he was interviewed on ESPN.
"I guess we are the Big East subdivision of the ACC", joked Boeheim to ESPN, "I think it really helps the ACC. Talking a top ten basketball program year in and year out and the football program is going really well. The Women's Basketball is a top twenty program. So you are adding a very athletic component to the league. I think that is good, I think that is a great thing. The better teams you have, the better league you have. I think its better for everybody".
The ACC leaders had reportedly considered Connecticut and Cincinnati before adding Louisville during a conference call Wednesday morning.
"The talk is these major conferences are going to go to 16 teams," continued Boeheim, "they are not there yet, some are at 14, some are at 12, I think the Big12 is at 10. If they go 16, I think their will be a place for most everybody who plays football and basketball at a high level. Certainly Uconn in that group, and Cincinnati and schools like that. I think there is still room in the main conferences, the BCS conferences."
