ACC Expansion: 10 Reasons Adding Syracuse, Pitt Is Awful for ACC and NCAA Hoops

The Atlantic Coast Conference is in full expansion mode. The ACC and the Big East were each preparing for realignment war when the ACC's preemptive strike rattled the nation into a fervor.

The announcement of Syracuse, a founding Big East member, and Pitt leaving for richer waters stunned even the most clairvoyant of analysts. The ACC gained two storied basketball universities while the Big East lost its foothold as the most powerful hoops conference in the country.

As conference realignment became rampant, it seems all anyone could talk about was football implications. With Texas A&M and Mizzou both jumping into the SEC and the five team deal led by Boise State into the Big East, football is the main concern.

However, with the Syracuse-Pitt move, basketball is the main object of interest. These two powerhouses jump ship out of greed, self-worth, and desperation for "something more."

We take a look at 10 reasons why this abandonment is not only a bad move for the ACC, but also for college hoops overall.  

Lots of Travel for the New ACC

Travel is becoming more important these days as money is getting tight. Travel is about to go up for every university in the conference with the addition of both Pitt and Syracuse, two more distant northern universities. 

Up until now, Boston College and Miami were the range of the travel for the conference. Most of the other universities are centered in the middle of the eastern seaboard, making travel simple overall.

With two northern universities such as Pitt and Syracuse jumping into the mix, travel will significantly increase. Pittsburgh is located in western Pennsylvania while Syracuse is placed up in northwest New York, putting them strongly out of the way. 

Greed Is Just as Rampant in Basketball

A huge topic during this whole conference realignment mess was greed. "It's all about the money" seemed to be the resounding similarity in every move. At first, it mostly seemed to come from the football side of things.

However, after some further investigation, we can see that the greed that was so rampant in college football has spread from the gridiron to the court. Both Syracuse and Pitt are gaining substantially from their move to the ACC.

Is that really how we want to known? We are already objectified by our foreign counterparts as "greedy Americans" or "capitalist pigs" or whatever they call us, but now our universities of higher education are becoming involved in this money grab?

It disgusts me. 

Basketball-Only Big East Schools Become Endangered

I don't want to say that basketball only schools in the Big East are looked down upon, but in all honesty, they aren't exactly considered to be on the same level as the all-sports universities. 

Basketball only schools are a dying breed. They play big time on the court but can't exactly compete on that same level with their other sports, particularly football. They really have no capability to go conference shopping like some of their mates who are all-sports.

Their basketball-only status makes them officially a leper to the other power conferences. Losing their status as members of the best basketball conference more than hurts these universities, it kills their chances at finding anywhere else to play.

The NCAA can't handle having that kind of drama on their hands. It looks bad not only for the league, but for the sport in general.  

Duke-UNC Won't Stay so Special

For the ACC, Duke taking on North Carolina twice a season is pretty much the Super Bowl. It is nationally televised, highly viewed, and one of the most storied rivalries in college basketball. 

As the two greatest, most durable squads in the conference, every season's matchup is just as important as the last. There is no off-year where one of these two universities isn't good enough to upset the other.

However, how great will this ACC "super bowl" be if UNC takes on Syracuse or Duke takes on Pitt just two or three days later? 

The Big East Loses Its Top Notch Status

For years now, the Big East has been known as the best basketball conference in the nation. When it came to football, things may have been much worse off but at least the league always had their winter sport to support them.

With a founding member and powerhouse basketball university jumping ship, the Big East not only lost them, but lost much more. Their reputation, other universities, and clout among other conferences are all slipping away and there seems to be nothing they can do about it.

Overall, it is worse for college hoops being that centralization of talent seems to make everything less exciting. If you know who is the best beforehand, why watch?

For example, the SEC has won the last five football national championships and will most certainly win the next one. It has become not only expected of them but takes the excitement out of watching the sport for the fans due to the fact that we already know the result.  

Worse Records Will Equal Higher Seeds in a Bruised ACC

In the NCAA Tournament, we have strayed from who has the best record and moved onto the who did the best with who they had to play. A lot of that has to do what conference they play in. 

A beaten and bruised ACC squad will take preference over a second or third place SEC or Big 12 team. This can lead to the entire conference taking advantage of the system, helping teams that shouldn't grab such high seeding get up there due to their tough conference schedule. 

This may spell excellence for the ACC, but for every other conference it will be completely unfair. 

Forces Other Big East Powers to Look Elsewhere

Other Big East basketball powerhouses that also play football are now forced to start to look elsewhere for conference alignment. The top notch status that came with the Big East is now gone and leaves them looking foolish if they stay.

Universities such as UConn, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame have no choice but to try and find new homes where their talents in both sports can be not only appreciated, but also shown off the rest of the nation.

The NCAA can't handle seeing one of its strongest conferences break apart. Not only that, they are now being forced to add universities that mostly would never get a second glance. 

A conference that is built on basketball is being torn apart by its founding notion.

The ACC Will Become Diluted

The ACC is already loaded with some extremely tough competition. Storied basketball universities speckle the conference, making the addition of big-time schools like Syracuse and Pitt only dilute the rest of the conference.

Duke and North Carolina are only the tip of the iceberg. Wake Forest, Maryland, North Carolina State, and Georgia Tech all hold programs that have been extremely successful in the past on the court. 

This addition takes away from the power of the rest and dilutes it down. The tougher competition will only make the final tournament more difficult and winning the conference easily a thing of the past. 

A Singular Power Conference Is Bland for the Sport

I'll speak plainly here. As an Aggie myself, I love the fact that my school is moving to the most powerful football conference in the nation. Do you know why I love that? Because now, my school is part of the best in the country. 

However, I know for a fact that other universities outside the southeast hate the fact that the SEC dominates college football. Now that the ACC jumps from second place to the gold medal in basketball, people not on the eastern seaboard will begin to loathe them with a passion.

It's really too boring to know that at the beginning of the season who will likely be on top at the end. It's not good for such an exciting sport and makes fans less likely to watch.  

Ends Classic Big East Rivalries

The Big East is full of some classic basketball rivalries. Syracuse, a founding member, and Pitt, who joined just three years after the formation of the Big East, have some of the best ones.

With them leaving for the ACC, many of those rivalries will disappear completely. Some of the big "named" ones include the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia or the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy which goes to the victor of the Syracuse-West Virginia game.

However, the unnamed rivalries are the best ones around. Pitt and UConn have established a solid rivalry between each other as well as Syracuse and Georgetown. Giving all of those up will be more than difficult for these two big time universities.