ACCC Commissioner John Swofford did offer up not exactly a ringing endorsement for keeping the ACC men’s basketball tournament in North Carolina earlier this week. As reported by the Greensboro News & Record:
“There is interest in [New York City] being part of the rotation,” Swofford said Monday. “But until we really have a clear picture of availability of venues, then we won’t make any decisions in terms of New York.
And:
“We don’t have a gun to our head in terms of having to make a decision tomorrow,” Swofford said. “We’re obviously committed to Greensboro the next two years. We’re in the middle of an ongoing process.
“We’re looking into blending the history and tradition of the tournament with the future well-being of the tournament and ACC basketball.”
As to why ACC schools besides new entrants like Pittsburgh and Syracuse might prefer New York City, check out the data generated on fan preferences by county for this year’s NCAA tournament based upon Facebook like data. From Deadspin:
The Northeast is generally a college sports wasteland, and this year it’s missing its two best hoops programs in UConn and Boston College. There are 72 counties in New England and New York City, and 62 of them (86 percent) are going for UNC or Duke. LIU-Brooklyn and Harvard, the only two teams to come out of this area, won zero support.
