The ACC approved expansion to 12 teams Tuesday afternoon, expansion that will certainly include the Miami Hurricanes and will almost definitely include the Syracuse Orangemen. What is unknown at this point is what team will receive approval along with the Hurricanes and Orangemen -- Boston College or Virginia Tech.

No formal invitations to the ACC have been issued yet. Expansion requires seven votes for approval, and ACC presidents approved expansion by a 7-2 vote, with UNC and Duke voting no, and all other teams voting yes. The University of Virginia voted yes, but according to The Charlotte Observer, "requested" that the third team be Virginia Tech instead of Boston College.

It is unknown at this point how sincere Virginia's request to include Virginia Tech is. Number one, the request was not reported as a "condition," but rather a "request." It could just be political window-dressing to appease the Virginia state government and Governor Mark Warner, who have pressured the University of Virginia to include VT in expansion. It's possible that Duke or UNC could switch their vote to a yes for expansion including Boston College, allowing UVa to remain opposed, but still leaving expansion with the necessary seven votes.

Sources started reporting to TechSideline.com Tuesday morning that the ACC had the votes for expansion, and that the votes were for Miami, BC, and Syracuse. But by early afternoon, those sources were saying that the votes were for Miami, Syracuse, and a third team "to be determined."

Miami's relationship with Boston College is more tenuous. Conventional wisdom is that Shalala prefers Boston College because the combination of BC and Syracuse in the ACC will keep providing northeast exposure for private-school Miami, whose alumni base is located primarily in the northeast.

It was previously believed that ABC was insistent on the BC/Syracuse combination to go with Miami because it would open up large television markets for the ACC, an advantage Virginia Tech didn't have.

No Big East team has done better with ESPN than Virginia Tech, a school sometimes knocked for lacking major television markets or producing strong ratings. Over the last three years, the Hokies have been on ESPN 14 times, among the most televised teams on ESPN. The Hokies, who were on ESPN and ESPN2 six times last season, clearly maximize their exposure by playing games on any night in order to land television spots.

TechSideline.com was told, based on VT's ratings and willingness to be flexible in scheduling, that ABC/ESPN actually preferred the Hokies over both BC and Syracuse.

Nevertheless, it appears that Miami's insistence on BC's inclusion, plus a historical resistance to Virginia Tech by the North Carolina-based ACC schools, leaves the Hokies with no better than a 25% chance to be the third team in ACC expansion.

Positive votes (five at most) for VT are believed to be from Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and maybe Florida State and Wake. UNC, Duke, and Maryland are believed to be against Virginia Tech's inclusion, with NC State's position on VT unknown. The stance on Boston College is unknown.

The report that Miami will listen to a counter-offer from the Big East is encouraging. The Big East, as noted in the Post-Standard article above, does well in ESPN/ESPN2 ratings, and would have to believe that its next TV contract would be comparable to or better than its current one, which was signed in the year 2000 -- after VT's national championship run, but just before the Miami Hurricanes had risen back to power, boosting ratings for the league.

The ACC, on the other hand, is widely reported to be facing a shrinking TV contract renewal, unless it expands and adds powerhouse Miami. The ACC deal expires after the 2005 season. The Big East's deal expires in 2007.