Louisville heads to ACC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tyler Reece learned about Louisville’s new conference affiliation while in class.

The Louisville junior couldn’t stand the suspense, so he discreetly surfed the Web during his critical thinking class Wednesday morning to find out his Cardinals had been invited to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I had a reaction but it wasn’t the reaction I’d had if I was out of class,” Reece said. “Out of class, it would have been some sort of scream or yell. In class, it had to be a silent ‘Yes.’”

Students, administrators and faculty were elated and relieved that Louisville will take Maryland’s place in the ACC, ending the suspense caused by a shifting landscape in college conference memberships. Maryland is leaving its historic conference home for the Big Ten. Meanwhile, the Big East — Louisville’s home since 2005 — has now lost four schools in the past 15 months.

Louisville’s top administrators said the nearly 22,300-student school would reach new heights by joining a conference featuring the likes of North Carolina, Duke, Virginia and Georgia Tech.

“The ACC will be a great home for UofL and our commitment to great academics, groundbreaking research and top-notch athletic teams,” Louisville President James Ramsey said.

Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich said ACC membership “will open so many more doors for us both athletically for all of our sports programs and academically for our university.”

While many on campus looked forward to future matchups with basketball blue bloods North Carolina and Duke, faculty and deans stressed Louisville’s new association with the ACC’s academic heavyweights.

“This is a great move for UofL, into a conference where excellence is a norm, not just an aspiration or exception,” said Louisville law professor Tony Arnold. “It will push us to keep moving forward and upward.”

Mickey Wilhelm, dean emeritus of Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering, said the move to the ACC would reinvigorate UofL’s growth.

“As the adage goes, ‘one is known by the company he or she keeps,’” he said.

Tags: college sports, sports, basketball