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Hokies and 'Canes prove anti-expansionists wrong in early going
The 
Roth Report
Roth Report
January 28, 2005
By Bill Roth This wasn't supposed to happen, at least not yet. When ACC expansion brought Virginia Tech and Miami into the conference this year, and Boston College for next, it was a move based to strengthen football, to increase television revenues, and to ensure the ACC's future. But those schools weren't going to help men's basketball, right? In fact, many observers suggested the addition of the Hokies and 'Canes in 2005, and the Eagles in '06, would be a killer for the league's marquee sport. Traditional full round-robin play would end. That meant, in 2005 for example, that Wake Forest and North Carolina would meet just once. There would be fewer seats for member schools at the ACC tournament. The negatives simply overwhelmed the positives, right? But even worse, the experts suggested that in adding the Hokies and 'Canes, the ACC was bringing in two schools that traditionally had used men's basketball simply as a distraction from the end of football season and the beginning of ... well ... spring football. We read story after story, suggesting the new schools would weaken the league's RPI, hurt NCAA Tournament seeding, and lower the image of the league's basketball power nationally. Well, by season's end, Virginia Tech and Miami might very well occupy the 10th and 11th spots in the final ACC standings. It's too early to tell. But neither school has been the 'easy out' that everyone expected. Tech has proven it's more than worthy during its recent ACC winning streak. The Hurricanes have the look of a postseason team, NIT for sure, this spring. As for interest, Miami has played in front of packed houses at its on-campus Convocation Center this year after drawing sparse crowds for even Syracuse and UConn in recent Big East seasons. And the Hokies are on pace to shatter their all-time Cassell Coliseum attendance records, too. Tech's success in its new league during January is more surprising because of its timing more than anything else. Second-year coach Seth Greenberg is building a foundation for his program that some day should yield plenty of ACC wins. But that some day isn't supposed to be now. Not with freshmen and sophomores getting most of the minutes. Not with a thin, frail front line that is seemingly overpowered on a nightly basis. Not this year, their first year in the ACC. First-year teams, like freshmen players, have to earn their stripes in the ACC. They need to learn how hard it is to win on the road, how the season is long and tough, and what a brutal struggle it is to win in this conference. But Tech put together a winning streak, knocked off one of the Tobacco-Road powers, and recorded a road win at one of the league's most feared venues all in the first three weeks of competition. It's as if Greenberg picked up an "Advance to Go, collect your $200" Monopoly card just when the old-timers in the ACC were ready to take his money. The issue now, of course, is that Tech has to go around the board two more times and Park Place (see Duke) and the rest have big hotels, waiting for the Hokies to land on their spots. So, it's going to get tougher for the '05 Hokies and 'Canes. But in the big picture, their success comes at a good time. While the newcomers proved their worth in football, there are still doubters about their commitment to basketball and potential for success. In the long haul, both should be contributors in round ball, which will frustrate and confuse the long-standing, anti-expansionists. There were folks who wrongly suggested the ACC would never acquire their millions of television dollars from expansion. They also suggested Virginia Tech's flash-in-the-pan football program had peaked in the Michael Vick-era and would be a middle-of-the-pack ACC program. And they subscribed to the theory that Tech and Miami would go winless in the conference - until one played the other. So today, they watch the results from Blacksburg and Coral Gables with a puzzled head tipped to one side. You're not supposed to win ... in basketball ... they'll say. Well, Virginia Tech and Miami want to be contributors in ACC men's basketball. Boston College surely will be when the Eagles arrive for next season. The newcomers helped football instantly. And perhaps they can help basketball far earlier than anyone thought possible.
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By Bill Roth This wasn't supposed to happen, at least not yet. When ACC expansion brought Virginia Tech and Miami into the conference this year, and Boston College for next, it was a move based to strengthen football, to increase television revenues, and to ensure the ACC's future. But those schools weren't going to help men's basketball, right? In fact, many observers suggested the addition of the Hokies and 'Canes in 2005, and the Eagles in '06, would be a killer for the league's marquee sport. Traditional full round-robin play would end. That meant, in 2005 for example, that Wake Forest and North Carolina would meet just once. There would be fewer seats for member schools at the ACC tournament. The negatives simply overwhelmed the positives, right? But even worse, the experts suggested that in adding the Hokies and 'Canes, the ACC was bringing in two schools that traditionally had used men's basketball simply as a distraction from the end of football season and the beginning of ... well ... spring football. We read story after story, suggesting the new schools would weaken the league's RPI, hurt NCAA Tournament seeding, and lower the image of the league's basketball power nationally. Well, by season's end, Virginia Tech and Miami might very well occupy the 10th and 11th spots in the final ACC standings. It's too early to tell. But neither school has been the 'easy out' that everyone expected. Tech has proven it's more than worthy during its recent ACC winning streak. The Hurricanes have the look of a postseason team, NIT for sure, this spring. As for interest, Miami has played in front of packed houses at its on-campus Convocation Center this year after drawing sparse crowds for even Syracuse and UConn in recent Big East seasons. And the Hokies are on pace to shatter their all-time Cassell Coliseum attendance records, too. Tech's success in its new league during January is more surprising because of its timing more than anything else. Second-year coach Seth Greenberg is building a foundation for his program that some day should yield plenty of ACC wins. But that some day isn't supposed to be now. Not with freshmen and sophomores getting most of the minutes. Not with a thin, frail front line that is seemingly overpowered on a nightly basis. Not this year, their first year in the ACC. First-year teams, like freshmen players, have to earn their stripes in the ACC. They need to learn how hard it is to win on the road, how the season is long and tough, and what a brutal struggle it is to win in this conference. But Tech put together a winning streak, knocked off one of the Tobacco-Road powers, and recorded a road win at one of the league's most feared venues all in the first three weeks of competition. It's as if Greenberg picked up an "Advance to Go, collect your $200" Monopoly card just when the old-timers in the ACC were ready to take his money. The issue now, of course, is that Tech has to go around the board two more times and Park Place (see Duke) and the rest have big hotels, waiting for the Hokies to land on their spots. So, it's going to get tougher for the '05 Hokies and 'Canes. But in the big picture, their success comes at a good time. While the newcomers proved their worth in football, there are still doubters about their commitment to basketball and potential for success. In the long haul, both should be contributors in round ball, which will frustrate and confuse the long-standing, anti-expansionists. There were folks who wrongly suggested the ACC would never acquire their millions of television dollars from expansion. They also suggested Virginia Tech's flash-in-the-pan football program had peaked in the Michael Vick-era and would be a middle-of-the-pack ACC program. And they subscribed to the theory that Tech and Miami would go winless in the conference - until one played the other. So today, they watch the results from Blacksburg and Coral Gables with a puzzled head tipped to one side. You're not supposed to win ... in basketball ... they'll say. Well, Virginia Tech and Miami want to be contributors in ACC men's basketball. Boston College surely will be when the Eagles arrive for next season. The newcomers helped football instantly. And perhaps they can help basketball far earlier than anyone thought possible.
