Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007180327
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Long
Administrators and athletic officials from the eight Metro schools and the eight schools the league hopes to add agreed Tuesday to declare their intentions by Oct. 15. They are being asked to agree in principle to pursue the Metro's 16-team football, 12-team basketball expansion plan.
The schools set a date Tuesday after 3 1/2 hours of meetings at an Atlanta hotel, where Metro consultant Raycom Sports & Entertainment presented the so-called "Super Conference" plan for the first time to the schools' administrators.
"I don't think there's any question what it does," said Ken Haines, the Raycom executive vice president who spearheaded the study that produced the expansion plan. "You've got presidents in attendance, coupled with the setting of a deadline. It's serious."
Metro Commissioner Ralph McFillen said it was possible the 16 schools could agree that any school choosing to pursue the plan be required to back the commitment financially by agreeing to pay should it commit to the plan and then pull out.
The proposal was the result of a Raycom study commissioned by the Metro and calls for the league to add Miami, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Boston College, Rutgers, Temple and East Carolina to form a 16-team football league; Miami, West Virginia, Rutgers and Temple would be added to form a 12-team basketball league.
The Metro now consists of Virginia Tech, Louisville, Memphis State, South Carolina, Florida State, Cincinnati, Tulane and Southern Mississippi.
Ten presidents, including Virginia Tech's James McComas, attended the meetings. Boston College, Miami, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, West Virginia and South Carolina were represented by administrative vice presidents.
Also among the 43 people in attendance were athletic officials from each school, as well as Raycom chief executive officer Rick Ray and president Dee Ray. Tech athletic director Dave Braine, who is vacationing, did not attend and was replaced by associate athletic director Danny Monk.
Apparently, the plan, which Raycom says could put the new Metro into more than a third of the nation's television households has the full attention of the 16 schools. Miami, Florida State and South Carolina are involved in discussions with the expansion-minded Southeastern Conference and are thought to be possible targets should the ACC decide to expand.
"The only question we put [during the meeting] was whether anyone had such a disinterest as to leave at this point," said Peter Liacouras, Temple's president. "There were no takers."
McComas praised the plan, some details of which were released after the meeting by Haines. Tech's president said he was pleased with the outcome of the meetings.
"I don't think we could've expected more than what we experienced," he said. "I think the proposal is a very sound one, very well thought out, and the reactions from the presidents and representatives I think were very positive."
One feature of the plan, included in the information packet Haines distributed to school representatives Tuesday, was a revenue-sharing format that would allow member schools to retain 90 percent of their "major athletic-related income" while sharing the other 10 percent with the other members.
The Metro is the only Division I conference that does not share revenue.
"It's certainly better than what we have now," McComas said of the 90-10 sharing plan.
Other details, such as when the new league could start play and how football and basketball scheduling would work, remain unsettled.
But the new Metro's existence may depend on how schools such as Miami and Florida State respond to overtures from other leagues. And, some schools still must decide whether the proposed league offers a brighter future than their current situation.
"[It's a] sense of whether or not, after further analysis, this is the right vehicle for Syracuse University," said Louis Marcoccia, the school's senior vice president.
Haines said the latest proposal differed slightly from the one he presented to athletic officials of the 16 schools at a meeting June 27 in Charlotte, N.C.
"I included some additional financial projections and worked out some additional [football] schedules - a six-year schedule," Haines said.
Haines said no scenarios were discussed other than the 16-12 format. But uncertainties still exist, and at least one Metro president is thinking ahead.
"We'd be strongly inclined to support it," Swain said when asked for his impression of the proposal.
But, when asked if Louisville's interest in the new Metro would wane should Miami or Florida State not join, Swain said: "If only 14 opt in, we're going to have to rethink the thing."
Haines left the meeting on a positive note.
"My feeling is that people are finding it very difficult to find any flaws in the proposal," he said. "It seems to be a win-win situation for everybody.
"I think it's more now a question of who's going to be a part of it and who isn't."
by CNB