ACC Expansion: Conference Becomes Basketball-Heavy by Adding Pitt and Syracuse

The Atlantic Coast Conference has accepted Pittsburgh and Syracuse as members to bring its total to 14 schools, according to ESPN. The move is another step toward the inevitability of super conferences but also makes the conference even more basketball heavy.

Pittsburgh has gone 45-32 (.584) in football since 2005 but has only finished ranked one time. During the same time period the basketball team has a 163-44 (.787) record and has spent a total of 100 weeks in the rankings.

The story is much the same for Syracuse. Starting in 2005, the football team's record is 22-40 (.353), and it has made just one bowl game while the basketball team has gone 153-59 (.722) and made the NCAA Tournament four times in the process.

Even though the move will not help the conference's weakened football stature, ACC commissioner John Swofford gushed over the additions.

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"I think it has to do with the fact that simply put, everybody was on the same page as to what's best for our conference going forward and everybody was on the same page in terms of these two institutions and what terrific additions they would be to the ACC in multiple ways.

"And the fact that quite frankly, we've got a much better process right now than we had before. From an internal standpoint, it worked absolutely beautifully and that's a credit to the people around the table."

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While you can't blame Swofford and the rest of the power players in the ACC for trying to be ahead of the super conference curve, it would have been a better idea for them to target football schools to balance out the conference.

That could be the plan if the ACC expands to 16.

The conference hasn't won the National Championship in football since Miami (FL) in 2001. It will continue to have an automatic bid into a BCS bowl as a power conference but will need to improve its competitiveness to win another title.

Negatives about the lack of football dominance aside, the ACC basketball season will be awesome.

It's unclear exactly when the Panthers and Orange will join the conference because of the Big East's exit clauses, including a payment and waiting period. Once they make the switch, though, the ACC will become a proverbial blood bath in hoops.

With perennial powerhouses North Carolina and Duke, a rising defensive stalwart in Florida State with Syracuse and Pittsburgh added in, the ACC will be the best basketball conference in the land (if it wasn't already).

As with any major move, there are positives are negatives to weigh against each other. If the ACC can add a couple of football-heavy schools, this move will be a good one. However, if they go basketball-centric again, then they are making the wrong decision.

One dominant sport is great, but two very good sports is better.