BostonCollege announced that its athletics program will be departing from the Big East… BostonCollege announced that its athletics program will be departing from the Big East Conference and joining the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 2003-04 season on Sunday.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Athletics Director Jeff Long addressed the media on Monday and took questions regarding the situation the Big East Conference is now faced with.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Long said that the Big East will continue on its path toward adding additional schools to the conference.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There are a number of schools that have expressed interest in joining the Big East Conference,’ Long said. ‘It would be premature to name those schools, but I will tell you that I feel like the pace of our expansion has accelerated based upon [BostonCollege’s] decision, and I think you’ll be hearing things in a very short period of time.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ As of right now, the Big East will most likely follow through on its original plan of having eight football-playing schools and eight non-football-playing schools.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘At this point, I’m very comfortable saying that we will be a conference of eight football-playing institutions, as well as playing all the other sports, and eight schools that do not play football but do play basketball and all of the other sports,’ Long said.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Many people have wondered about the guaranteed bid that the Big East currently has in the Bowl Championship Series and whether or not that guaranteed bid will still be offered. Jeff Long is not one of those people.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We are certain that our BCS membership is intact and our place at the table is intact through this current contract,’ Long said. ‘Beyond that, it is yet to be seen what the BCS will look like at all, but I remain very, very confident that the new Big East will have a place at the BCS table, and we will be a member of the BCS going forward.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While the possibility of a BostonCollege jump to the ACC was rumored to be in the works for quite some time, it still came as a shock to the remaining members of the Big East.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ According to Long, BostonCollege’s chancellor, as well as its athletics director, sat down face to face with the other Big East members and committed to stay.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When you sit in a room and look at people eye-to-eye, face-to-face, and they make the commitment to stay, you have a tendency to believe those people,’ Long said.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ One of the main concerns surrounding the loss of BostonCollege is the loss of its strong television market. Long believes that with the addition of new schools, the strength of Big East basketball could actually be a strength for the football schools.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We believe that, with the addition of four schools to the conference, we will have a very strong basketball conference and certainly the strength of that basketball conference will carry over into those television markets and help us with our football television package as well.’

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ In light of the decision made by BostonCollege, head coach Walt Harris expressed disappointment in the school’s leadership.

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The most disappointing part of BostonCollege is that they were part of this Big East team,’ Harris said. ‘We all agreed to stay in it, and I just don’t think that that part speaks very well about who they are.’