The ACC's so-called bedrock values have been converted one by one to chunks of gravel, lining the way to greater pecuniary reward. Such is life in contemporary college athletics.
A conference in which every team plays every other?
The basketball round-robin went on the scrap heap in 2003-04. Traditional football rivals meet sporadically - original members Duke and N.C. State, which started playing annually in 1924, have faced each other twice in the past decade.
A conference committed to athletic and academic integrity?
Straining to compete, in the past few years Florida State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina have incurred NCAA probations, with Miami sure to follow.
A conference with schools facing off in all sports and sharing revenues equally?
Adding Notre Dame in every sport except football took care of that one.
A conference with a commitment to academic excellence?
Neither ACC commissioner John Swofford nor UNC chancellor Holden Thorp, chair of the ACC Council of Presidents, had the temerity to dwell on academic strength as an attraction in adding the University of Louisville to the league the other day.
Swofford did proclaim,"The ACC continues to be a vibrant conference that remains steadfast in its commitment to balancing academics and athletics."
Thorp was more forthright, admitting the top priority of league presidents in inviting Louisville to join the fold was to "add the most exciting sports program that we could."
Rankings by US News and World Report, for whatever they're worth, come quickly to the lips of ACC athletic directors when discussing their own schools as well as possible candidates to join the conference. By that measure, the University of Louisville would seem to fall a bit short, tying for 160th-best in the country this year.
The previous low among ACC members, approved or already belonging, is 106 by N.C. State.
When founded in 1798, the University of Louisville was the first city-owned public university in the country. The city is Kentucky's largest. The school is located between the Ohio River and Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Louisville had 22,249 undergraduates in the fall of 2011, about equivalent to Virginia Tech.
The Cardinals, coached by Rick Pitino, lost to Duke last week in the final of the Battle 4 Atlantis. Their football team defeated North Carolina in September.
The basketball program was on NCAA probation in 1957 and 1998.
| WHATEVER IT TAKES Pending ACC Members, Possible Entries, Current Members Based On Academic Rankings (SAT And ACT Based On Middle 50 Percent Of First-Year Students, 2010) |
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| School | Yr. Entering | US News Rank |  SAT Range | ACT Range |
| Pittsburgh | 2013-14 | Â 58T | 570-680 | 25-30 |
| Syracuse | 2013-14 | Â 58T | 510-650 | 23-28 |
| Notre Dame | 2014-15 | 17 | 640-760 | 31-34 |
| Louisville | 2014-15 | 160T | 500-640 | 21-27 |
| Cincinnati | Unknown | 139 | 500-640 | 22-27 |
| Connecticut | Unknown | 63 | 550-670 | 24-29 |
| Navy | Unknown | 14 | 560-700 | NA |
| Current Members | Yr. Entering | US News Rank |  SAT Range | ACT Range |
| Boston College | 2004-05 | 31 | 610-700 | 29-32 |
| Clemson | 1953-54 | 68T | 550-680 | 25-30 |
| Duke | 1953-54 | 8 | 660-780 | 30-34 |
| Florida State | 1991-92 | 97 | 540-650 | 24-28 |
| Georgia Tech | 1979-80 | 36 | 580-750 | 27-31 |
| Maryland | 1953-54 | 58T | 580-710 | NA |
| Miami | 2003-04 | 44 | 570-700 | 27-31 |
| North Carolina | 1953-54 | 30 | 590-710 | 26-31 |
| N.C. State | 1953-54 | 106 | 520-660 | 23-28 |
| Virginia | 1953-54 | 24 | 600-730 | 27-32 |
| Virginia Tech | 2003-04 | 72 | 540-670 | NA |
| Wake Forest | 1953-54 | 27 | 580-700 | 27-31 |
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