Now, if I were the ACC and pulling in the largest per team $$$ in NCAA sports conferences, I might not expand, but the possibility of ACC Expansion has come up, and I will address my team for your information.
I'll give you my take on it.
Louisville's atheltics programs are so good as a whole right now, that a BCS conference (ACC or BigEast) would benefit greatly from adding us in.
I also know that Louisville's Athletic Dept. is whole-heartedly searching for a BCS conference home, and positioning ourselves for the move.
The variables are time and which conference.
ACC or BigEast would be the best fits of the BCS conferences. I wouldn't mind either, and the large Louisville fan base would be ecstatic with either one.
Here are some of the things we offer...
A football team that's been to 4 straight Bowls, and is starting the season ranked #16 this year. We have a 5 year old 42,000 seat stadium, and have led C-USA in attendance for two years, also winning two straight conference championships.
A basketball team with 2 NCAA Titles, 7 Final Fours, and 30 tournament appearances, that is ranked among the Top 10 programs of all-time. We also just hired a little known future Hall-of-Famer named Rick Pitino. Louisville has led C-USA in attendance at around 19,000 per game since C-USA's inception, and Louisville anually ranks in the Top 5 in basketball attendance nationally.
A baseball program that is turning the corner. Playing in historic Parkway Field (Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson...) the Cards posted their best season ever this year, edging into the Top 25 at one point and making it into the College World Series regional which Georgia Tech hosted.
A volleyball program that was ranked in the Top 25 during this year, and is perenially a contender to win conference and/or go to the NCAA tournament.
A Field Hockey team that was ranked in the Top 10 this year, and will be hosting the 2004 NCAA National Championships for that sport at our brand-new dedicated Trager Field Hockey Stadium.
A women's basketball program that is a contender and would make an immediate impact on any conference we played in. Sophomore All-American PG Sara Nord leads the way, also in the Top 25 a couple of times this year.
A women's softball team that was also ranked in the Top 25 at some point this year. They play in a brand new softball stadium, and are showing tremendous improvements over the last couple years.
Louisville also has an attractive market. Louisville metro would likely be the furthest west either of the ACC or BigEast went, and has a 50th rank in market size nationally, at 1.2 million people.
Also, Louisville athletics draws very well on television, and would provide a gateway to the midwest for both conferences.
With John L. Smith's varied passing attacks and tough defense, Louisville was selected to be on ESPN 6 times last year and is scheduled for 6 more times this year for football.
With Rick Pitino's upbeat style, pressing and running and dunking, and also his enormous ego!!! TV loves us. Louisville basketball was on national or regional TV 14 times last year, and will be likely more this year with an improved team. Could add $$ to either the ACC or BigEast's already lucrative basketball contracts.
Louisville is also centrally located in the nation, and has a large and easily accessible airport. Travel to Louisville would not be a large expense for either conference, as Louisville is a major hub for UPS, Southwest and USAir.
Hope this helps.
I know I've been lobbying for Louisville admins to get into either of these two BCS conferences, and it would help if folks in these conferences would start lobbying theirs too.
As a side note- Louisville has home and home football series with Duke (2 home and homes= 4 games), North Carolina (1 home and home= 2 games), Florida State (1 home and home= 2 games), and Virginia (1 home and home= 2 games) tenatively scheduled before 2010.
Check out Louisville September 26th (a Thursday night ESPN game) as we take on Florida State with the GameDay crew there.
The goalposts may be coming down?!?!
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