Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102090038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tech athletic director Dave Braine said Friday that a report on the Hokies' potential with various affiliations will be presented to the university administration by Wednesday.
Braine said Tech's choice will be one of three - remain in the Metro Conference, which has been stung by half of its membership leaving in the past five months; join the Atlantic 10 Conference; or join the Colonial Athletic Association.
"We are still in the Metro, and we are still exploring our options," Braine said. "We're in a position where we have to do as well as we can for ourselves.
"We're trying to figure out what things will be like in five years, and where it would be the best to be. It won't be an easy decision."
Braine will present the report on the Hokies' prospects to Tech president James McComas and executive vice president and chief business officer Minnis Ridenour, who oversees the athletic program.
Asked how soon after the presentation he expects the Hokies will have a decision, Braine said, "I'd say it will be shortly, likely within a day or two."
Braine isn't tipping his hand on his feelings, he said, because it isn't his decision alone.
It is known that Tech has a strong loyalty to the Metro, which seeks to rebuild from its crumbling status with expansion by at least two schools.
However, the Hokies made one of the most prominent steps in their athletic history on Tuesday, when they aligned with seven other schools in the creation of the Big East football league.
Three of those Big East football teams - West Virginia, Rutgers and Temple - are Atlantic 10 members in other sports. The Atlantic 10 has been wooing Tech since Penn State announced it was leaving for the Big Ten last spring.
The Colonial wants to make Tech its sixth Virginia school for the 1991-92 school year. That league makes sense for the Hokies because of reduced expenses in travel and more exposure in the populous Northern and Eastern portions of their home state.
The most lucrative deal would be staying with the Metro, although Braine doesn't like the idea of playing in a league that now is without an automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA Tournament because of membership losses.
"The conference tournament [revenue] runs the conference," Braine said. "If there isn't something to play for [an NCAA bid], what will it mean? Will the fans show up?"
The Metro members, in a Thursday conference call involving officials from Tech, Louisville, Tulane and Southern Mississippi and commissioner Ralph McFillen, discussed continued pursuit of expansion.
"As far as we're concerned, all four of our [returning members] are committed to the Metro, including Virginia Tech," McFillen said. "We'll play next year's Metro Tournament at Louisville, and we'll sell it out."
The Metro's expansion targets are Sun Belt Conference members North Carolina-Charlotte and South Florida. However, an N.C.-Charlotte source said Friday, "If Virginia Tech leaves the Metro, it will be tough for the league to get UNCC."
A Metro source said that if the Hokies decide to leave, the league would attempt to stay together by seeking another Sun Belt team, Virginia Commonwealth.
The Colonial appears to be Tech's last option among the three choices, if for no other reasons than the Metro's NCAA revenue of about $975,000 and a lucrative TV package with Raycom Sports and Tech's new ties with three soon-to-be Big East rivals who have lobbied hard for the Hokies to join them in the Atlantic 10, too.
In the short term, it would cost Tech financially to leave the Metro because of the conference's NCAA money from the seven-year, $1 billion contract with CBS Sports and the five-year Raycom TV package, which guarantees as much as $1 million annually by 1993-94.
The Big East repeatedly has said it does not intend to expand for basketball to allow its new football members to play all sports. However, there are those close to the league who predict that if Big East football is a success, the new football foursome would be first in line should basketball expansion occur.
Another piece of the puzzle is the Metro Conference Tournament at the Roanoke Civic Center in four weeks. If the Hokies leave the Metro next week, an event already plagued by sluggish ticket sales could be further damaged.
"There are a lot of ways to look at it, and a lot of things we have to consider," Braine said. "The Metro knows where we stand, and we've been talking to the Atlantic 10 and Colonial all along.
"Now, it's up to us to decide."
by CNB