BC decides to leave Big East

And then there were five.

In a move that has been rumored to happen for some time, Boston… And then there were five.

In a move that has been rumored to happen for some time, Boston College has accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, giving the ACC enough teams to stage a lucrative league championship football game.

The move, which Boston College’s president said was done to improve athletics, academics and finances and should be complete by 2005, will reduce the Big East to just five football-playing schools.

“The ACC is a strong, stable conference,” The Rev. William Leahy said, according to espn.com. “The move to the ACC will generate greater revenues in the future.”

The school will pay an exit fee to leave the conference, but wasn’t sure how much it would be, Leahy continued.

“We were notified today by Fr. Leahy of Boston College and [commissioner] John Swofford of the ACC that Boston College has accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference,” Big East commissioner Michael A. Tranghese said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed with Boston College’s decision to leave. Our membership is very surprised that the ACC presidents continue to come back into our league for membership.”

Originally part of the ACC’s expansion plan, Boston College joins Miami and Virginia Tech in the conference switch, giving the ACC the 12 teams it needs to host a championship football game.

NCAA rules require a conference to have 12 members to host a championship game. The Mid-Atlantic Conference, the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference are the only other football conferences that host championship games.

Syracuse was included along with Boston College and Miami in the ACC’s original expansion plans, but the conference decided to add the Hokies instead. Once the expansion is complete, only Pitt, Connecticut, West Virginia, Rutgers and the Orangemen will remain in the Big East for football.