Fearing 'The Snub'

Virginia Tech's fate hangs in balance of ACC expansion talk

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- The big business of college athletics has never been bigger than it is right now in Virginia, and supporters of Virginia Tech can only hope its boardroom negotiators are as convincing as the Hokies' football coaches.

Confirmation that the Atlantic Coast Conference will try to add three teams from the Big East Conference put the Hokie Nation on notice that its athletic fate could rest on inclusion.

Reports out of Florida, where ACC presidents and chancellors approved pursuing expansion on Tuesday, indicate the league's targets are Miami and two schools from among Virginia Tech, Boston College and Syracuse.

Those reports also suggest more schools support adding Syracuse and Boston College because of the overall strength of their major sports programs, or because they are in greater media markets than little Blacksburg, Va.

The challenge for officials at Virginia Tech, then, is finding out what factors will weigh heaviest in the decision, and who will decide.

President Charles Steger was working the phones, calling key players in both leagues and unavailable to comment Wednesday, but school spokesman Larry Hincker said Virginia Tech's position is pretty straightforward:

"We think the best thing for us and the best thing for the Big East and the best thing for college football is for the Big East to remain intact," Hincker said. "And if three schools leave the Big East for the ACC, we think we should be one of those schools."

Truth be told, if Miami's president, Donna Shalala, blesses the Hurricanes' move, the Hokies have some serious work to do to avoid being part of a casualty list that also includes Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

Think about it. Virginia Tech's rapid rise to national prominence in football -- and many forget it started before Michael Vick wore the maroon and orange -- is something from which all its athletic programs benefit.

Women's basketball under coach Bonnie Henrickson has developed to where the Hokies are either in the top 25, or close. The women's softball field was built largely with bowl money. And the men's basketball program hopes to build off factors that include the atmosphere of fall success.

Heck, the spring football game drew 30,000 fans last month, and at least that many charcoal grills seem to be in use each football Saturday -- or Thursday night -- surrounded by fans with designs on having a big time.

Electricity like that sells the school to recruits and their families, and has put Virginia Tech in front of televised football audiences as many as 35 times in the last three seasons, offering invaluable exposure.

The number of TV games, Hincker said, also shoots down the notion that southwest Virginia is small-market territory limiting the Hokies' reach.

But everything could change dramatically, and soon, if the power base that is the Big East is stripped of three of its most noteworthy teams.

The league -- whatever's left of it -- would be forced to raid other leagues to remain viable in football, and the schools left behind would still be left looking like the ones that somehow were not up to ACC snuff.

The ACC would become a superconference, suddenly top-heavy with football powerhouses to easily measure up to its basketball traditions, and with a regional recruiting pull unlike anything seen in the region.

Further, the Hokies would likely lose their intense football rivalry with Miami, a pairing so alluring it's usually the last game of the regular season, often played with national championship implications.

Sure, Virginia Tech's rivalry with Virginia might become even more intense, especially if the Cavaliers are perceived as more interested in protecting their own stake than in helping Virginia Tech. But the rivalry doesn't need such help now that Al Groh's Cavaliers are winning again.

And while Hincker said that the Cavaliers have been very strong in their support of the Hokies, he noted that there are eight other votes.

Gov. Mark R. Warner also has remained in contact with Steger and his counterpart at Virginia, John Casteen, as well as contacts in other states, doing what he can to ensure that the Hokies are not left out.

An excluded Virginia Tech could work for inclusion in the Southeastern Conference, developing a natural rivalry with Tennessee and maintaining its high exposure level and ability to draw blue-chip players. But even that would take years to come together, and all under a cloud left by "The Snub."

Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday, and school officials said football coach Frank Beamer has decided not to comment until the matter has been decided.

But Weaver, Beamer and others surely were, like Steger, working the phones, trying to get their Big East comrades to agree to stick together, or to get ACC officials to include them in any expansion that happens.

In many ways, their future is dependent on their success.

 

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