The Atlantic Coast Conference took to New York on Monday to welcome its newest members, including Syracuse, the self-proclaimed “New York’s College Team,” to the new-look conference.

ACC commissioner John Swofford was joined by representatives from the Orange, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, the three newest members of the conference, for a press conference at the NASDAQ Headquarters in Times Square. Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim represented SU, with Mike Brey representing the Fighting Irish and football star Larry Fitzgerald representing the Panthers.

“Today is an exciting and historic day for the Atlantic Coast Conference,” Swofford said as he began his portion of the press conference. “ … We are moving forward as a true Atlantic Coast Conference.”

The conference has long made its footprint in the southern part of the Atlantic Coast with recent efforts to spread as far north as Boston. The addition of Syracuse, though, gives the ACC a hold in the nation’s top media market, New York.

Football coaches Frank Beamer and Jimbo Fisher, from Virginia Tech and Florida State, respectively, sat on stage with the representatives from the newest members on stage in New York.

The group ended the day by ringing NASDAQ’s closing bell.

“This is part of our new footprint,” Swofford said.

Syracuse and Pitt officially joined the ACC in all sports on Monday and UND joined in all sports except football. Louisville will join the three newest members next year, replacing Maryland, which is leaving for the Big Ten.

For now, the conference will feature a cavalcade of former basketball champions including SU, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Maryland.

“With the new make-up of the league, I don’t think there’s ever been a league with the potential that this one has,” Boeheim said. “From my point of view it’s an unbelievable basketball conference.”

“I think we’ll be the league now getting eight, nine, 10 bids annually,” said Brey, who grew up a Maryland fan and is a former Duke assistant coach.

Syracuse provides something different than almost any other school in the ACC. It is the northernmost school in the conference and plays in the Carrier Dome — a venue unlike any other in the league.

So what should ACC fans expect if they make the trip up to Central New York, the event’s emcee asked the legendary SU head coach.

“Well, they’ll see a lot of people,” said Boeheim, drawing laughs.

Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams weren’t at the event, but those two, along with Boeheim, will become the figureheads of the new-look ACC.

The ACC inked an agreement with the Pinstripe Bowl last week and both SU director of athletics Daryl Gross and Swofford have discussed the possibility of playing the conference’s men’s basketball tournament in New York.

A new era of Syracuse and a new era of the Atlantic Coast Conference are upon the sports world as of July 1. The old rivalries are gone, new ones will come, and the ACC has never been stronger.

Said Swofford: “This is a milestone day for our league.”

Published on July 2, 2013 at 2:48 am

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