With the additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, the Atlantic Coast Conference will soon become the first 14-team Division I collegiate athletic conference. Already a super conference, the ACC will look to expand further in the coming months by possibly adding another two schools. The possibilities include: Rutgers University, the University of Connecticut, Notre Dame University, and Villanova University, among others. The expansion of the ACC, whether it be to 14 teams or 16 teams, will greatly benefit the conference in the future.

2005, the ACC strengthened its position as a football power conference through the additions of Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College. Miami brought a storied tradition of five national championships. Virginia Tech and Boston College brought similar winning heritages. At the conclusion of the 2010 season Virginia Tech recorded seven-straight 10 win seasons and Boston College last recorded a losing season in 1998.

Even though these programs strengthened the ACC’s football standing, they did nothing to strengthen the ACC’s standing in basketball. Combined, the three schools have only had two appearances in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet-16 in the past 15 years. In the context of basketball, the only impact these teams had on the ACC was to divide the conference into Atlantic and Coastal divisions.

The addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh does for basketball what the 2004-2005 additions did for football. Syracuse and Pittsburgh combined bring 12 Sweet 16 appearances and a national title (Syracuse) in the past 15 years.

The possible additions of the University of Connecticut and Villanova could bring two more programs with winning heritages in basketball to the ACC. With 13 Sweet 16 appearances and three national titles, all from UConn , their addition further infuses the winning basketball tradition associated with the ACC.

The additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh will make the future ACC super conference truly super, not only in terms of size, but also in the strength of its basketball and football programs.

The impact of this super conference creation will have its economic benefits. The scale and power of the conference, along with the markets it opens up, will be attractive to networks around the country. Syracuse and Pittsburgh offer the New York and Pennsylvania markets, which, according to Station Index, contain the number 1, 4, and 23 markets in United States. With greater audience comes greater revenue generated from network deals. With the equal dispersion of revenue found in the ACC, this is sure to benefit all schools in the ACC, N.C . State included.

From its roots 58 years ago with seven teams, the move to a 14, possibly 16-team conference is a dramatic change. However, this move will strengthen the conference competitively and economically and should be welcomed, as what benefits the ACC benefits NCSU by association.