U.Va. baseball team on a power surge
By Staff Reports
Published: May 12, 2009

Baseball power surge
The Virginia baseball team hit six home runs in its series with ACC rival Duke over the weekend, raising its season total to 45.

Freshmen Steven Proscia and John Hicks belted two apiece. Sophomore Jarrett Parker and freshman Danny Hultzen each had one for the Cavaliers, who took two of three games from the Blue Devils.

This is Brian O'Connor's sixth season as Virginia's coach. Until this year, the Wahoos never had hit more than 35 home runs in a season under O'Connor.

Parker, who had no homers in 2008, leads the Cavaliers with 14 this season.

U.Va. (37-10-1), ranked No. 10 nationally by Baseball America, hosts Virginia Commonwealth University (20-22) tonight at 7 o'clock at Davenport Field.

O'Connor's club closes the regular season with a three-game series at Virginia Tech. The rivals are scheduled to play Thursday (5:30 p.m.), Friday (5:30 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.).

The ACC tournament starts next week in Durham, N.C. Virginia, 15-9-1 in ACC play, is third in the Coastal Division, behind Georgia Tech (16-8-1) and North Carolina (17-9).

Familiar foes
Virginia, one of eight teams left in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament, has faced six of the other quarterfinalists this season.

U.Va. defeated Syracuse, Maryland, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and North Carolina during the regular season. The Cavaliers have lost twice to Duke and did not play Princeton.

Saturday at Hofstra University on Long Island, N.Y., No. 2 seed Syracuse and unseeded Maryland meet at noon, followed by No. 4 seed Princeton and No. 5 seed Cornell.

Sunday in Annapolis, Md., top-seeded Virginia takes on No. 8 seed Johns Hopkins at noon. No. 3 seed Duke takes on No. 6 seeded UNC in the second game.

"You couldn't ask for two better lacrosse games," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said of the doubleheader at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Strong showings
Of U.Va.'s starting midfielders, only Steve Giannone is a senior. The leading candidates to join Brian Carroll and Shamel Bratton on the first midfield in 2010 figure to be John Haldy and Rhamel Bratton. Both sophomores played well in Virginia's 18-6 rout of Villanova on Sunday afternoon.

Haldy scored a career-high three goals, and Shamel's twin brother had a goal and an assist. For the season, Haldy has 10 goals and two assists, and Rhamel Bratton has seven goals and four assists.

More talent coming
Six of Starsia's incoming recruits will play in the fourth annual Under Armour All-American game June 27 at Towson University.

Three are attackmen: Connor English and Nick O'Reilly from Long Island and Matt White from Connecticut. Chris LaPierre (New Jersey) is a midfielder, and Howie Long (St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville) and Harry Prevas (Maryland) are defensemen. Long is former U.Va. football great Chris Long's youngest brother.

ESPNU will televise the Under Armour game (8 p.m. start). For more information, visit http://www.underarmourlacrosse.com.

New gig
Former U.Va. men's basketball assistant Drew Diener is back in his home state. Diener, a native of Fond du Lac, Wis., has been named head coach at Cardinal Stritch University, an NAIA school in Milwaukee.

Diener, 29, replaces Denny Fox, who retired after 18 seasons as the Wolves' coach.

Cardinal Stritch, which went 22-8 in 2008-09, competes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

This is the first head job for Diener, who played at Saint Louis University. After graduating from college, he spent one season as an assistant high school coach in Illinois, then served as a graduate assistant under Dave Leitao at DePaul in 2004-05.

Diener followed Leitao to U.Va. in 2005. Diener was the Cavaliers' director of basketball operations for two years before being promoted to assistant coach before the 2007-08 season.

Former AD honored
Jim Copeland has been named to the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics' hall of fame class for 2009.

Copeland was athletic director at U.Va. from September 1987 to December 1994. He also served as AD at William and Mary, Utah and SMU.

A past president of NACDA, Copeland has two degrees from U.Va., where he played on the football team. During his tenure as AD at his alma mater, the Cavaliers won five NCAA titles in men's soccer and two in women's lacrosse. -- Jeff White





U.Va. track program rising with ex-Springer
By Jeff White
Published: May 13, 2009

ABOUT ADAM ABDULRAZAAQ
Vitals: 5-11, 200-pound sophomore at the University of Virginia

High school: Won state Group AAA titles in the 55-meter hurdles (indoors) and 110-meter hurdles (outdoors) in 2007 as a senior at Highland Springs.

College: Member of the 4x100 relay that team won the IC4A championship in 2008 ... Finished first in the 110-meter hurdles, third in the 400-meter hurdles and third as part of the 4x400 relay team at last month's ACC championships, helping U.Va. claim a share of the conference title.

Quotable: "I told Adams that if he wants to earn a living hurdling, he could be a world-class hurdler. He’s fast enough, he’s smart enough, he’s just got to make up his mind that that’s what he wants to do." -- Kerry Gray, who coached Abdulrazaaq at Highland Springs.

CHARLOTTESVILLE Afew feet away, rain fell steadily on a gray afternoon. But Adams Abdulrazaaq was inside and dry, his workout still to come, and his smile illuminated the equipment shed next to the University of Virginia track.

It's been a spring to celebrate for Abdulrazaaq, a personable sophomore who came to U.Va. from Highland Springs High School. In Coral Gables, Fla., last month, he helped the Cavaliers reach a goal that many considered unattainable. Virginia won a share of the team title at the ACC outdoor track and field meet, tying Florida State, the three-time defending NCAA champion.

Abdulrazaaq, one of two individual winners for first-year coach Jason Vigilante, became the first person in school history to be crowned ACC champion in the 110-meter hurdles. He earned all-conference recognition in two other events, finishing third in the 400-meter hurdles and running a leg on the 1,600-meter relay team that placed third.

"The thing that stands out to me more than his athletic performance is his ability to bring up people around him," Vigilante said. "He shows so much heart. When you think this guy can't do it, he takes his abilities to another level."

Abdulrazaaq, 5-11 and 200 pounds, wasn't a favorite, but he ran a personal-best 14.16 seconds to take the 110. If his victory shocked some observers, they didn't include Kerry Gray. Now the athletic director at Petersburg High, Gray coached Abdulrazaaq at Highland Springs. When Abdulrazaaq was an 11th-grader, Gray suggested that he try the hurdles, an event in which the Springers had not been competing (and thus not scoring points).

"You're like, 'No, it's too dangerous,' " Abdulrazaaq recalled. "But [Gray] said, 'Maybe it's something we can pick up, maybe it's something we can try.' And we looked at a couple of videos and then we tried it out."

It didn't take Abdulrazaaq long to distinguish himself. As a senior, he won state Group AAA titles in the 55 hurdles (indoor) and the 110 hurdles (outdoors).

"He was a natural," Gray said. "He was just so fast. He just had to get his timing down. Once he took it seriously and knew he could be good at this, it's been a storybook ending . . . He's going to compete for a national championship one day."

Abdulrazaaq said: "Every time I step out there, I feel like I'm getting a little better. Because I'm so self-taught in hurdles, I feel like I missed out on the part about getting the form perfect. I feel like I'm still a novice at it, even though I've done well so far, because I don't know as much about it as those who have been doing it for a long time."

His mother, Schontel, is a social worker. His father, Ahmed, is a Nigeria-born accountant. His sister, Sofiat, a former track standout at J.R. Tucker, graduates this month from Virginia Tech, and their parents always have stressed the importance of education.

"Like the saying goes, we're student-athletes, not just athletes," said Abdulrazaaq, 21.

He has yet to pick a major at U.Va. and says he's torn between psychology and drama.

"I've been going all over the place, just trying new things, trying to find my calling," he said. "Drama gives me a positive place to put my energy -- all the energy that I have left when I'm off the track, anyway."

With final exams behind him, Abdulrazaaq can focus on track. He'll compete this weekend at the ECAC/IC4A championships in Princeton, N.J. Then comes the NCAA East Region meet, May 29 and 30 in Greensboro, N.C. He has qualified in the 110 and 400 hurdles and the 1,600 relay.

Whether Abdulrazaaq moves on to next month's NCAA championships in Fayetteville, Ark., will hinge on how he fares in Greensboro.

"I'm trying to go as far as I can go," Abdulrazaaq said with a smile. "As far as my legs will take me."





U.Va. downs VCU
By Jeff White
Published: May 13, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Fans left Davenport Field last night not knowing if the University of Virginia baseball team would play there again this season.

The Cavaliers don't know either.

U.Va., ranked No.10 by Baseball America, beat Virginia Commonwealth University 4-1 before a crowd of 1,566. It was the final regular-season game for the Wahoos (38-10-1), but they could be back at Davenport as hosts of an NCAA tournament regional.

"We're not really worrying about that right now," sophomore second baseman Phil Gosselin said. "If we play well, that stuff will take care of itself."

Spoken like a player who's been listening to his coach.

"I just think we've got to win as many games as we can," Brian O'Connor said after his team improved its home record to 29-6. "But that can't be the driving force behind what we do. We want to go down to Blacksburg this weekend and play good baseball to have a chance to win the regular-season title in our division. That's goal No.1."

Virginia, 15-9-1 in the conference, opens a three-game series at Coastal Division rival Virginia Tech (10-16, 30-20) tomorrow night. A series win, followed by a strong showing in the ACC tournament, could only enhance U.Va. in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee.

"I don't really talk to the players at all about the possibility of hosting a regional, but they're smart kids," O'Connor said. "They understand it, and they know what's at stake."

Against VCU (20-23), Virginia started freshman right-hander Will Roberts, and he pitched brilliantly. The graduate of Maggie Walker Governor's School -- a long fly ball from VCU's campus -- allowed only two hits in seven scoreless innings. He struck out six and walked none.

"He was in our gym when he was 8 years old, and in our camps when the old Richmond Braves came in, so we know him pretty well," Rams coach Paul Keyes said. "We knew he had good stuff, and he kept the ball down, and we didn't really have an answer for him."

Roberts, who said he knows about half the VCU players, retired the first 11 batters he faced.

"Will Roberts was in complete control of the game from the start," O'Connor said. "It was great to see. He proved tonight that he's got the kind of ability and kind of stuff to pitch in a fourth game of an ACC tournament or a [NCAA] regional, if we're in that kind of position."

Roberts was coming off a Friday night appearance in which he surrendered a grand slam in an 11-4 loss to Duke.

"It's a long season," Roberts said. "You've got to have a short memory, so really I wasn't thinking about the Duke game at all."

VCU, which closes the season with three games at Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware, got a strong effort from its starter too. Right-hander Phillip Deane, a former Varina High star, went the distance and allowed only three hits. But the Rams committed two errors, and the Cavaliers stole four bases.

"Without hitting the long ball, we showed that we're still capable of manufacturing some runs," O'Connor said.

VCU ------------------------- 000 000 010 -- 1 6 2

Virginia ------------------------- 101 001 10x -- 4 3 1

Deane and Furry; Roberts, Davis (8), Wilson (8), Arico (9) and Hicks. W: Roberts (4-0). L: Deane (2-5). Save: Arico (7).





Roberts tosses a gem in Cavaliers home finale
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 13, 2009

Friday night’s game could not end quick enough for Will Roberts.
In as a relief pitcher for Virginia against Duke, Roberts allowed a pivotal grand slam in a lopsided loss.
On Tuesday night in the final regular season game at Davenport Field, Roberts appeared to be in a hurry again.
This time, however, it ended in better fashion for his liking.
The rookie from Richmond dominated a lineup that included numerous childhood friends as the Cavaliers kept the chances of playing another game at Davenport alive with a 4-1 victory over Virginia Commonwealth.
Thanks in part to Roberts, Virginia (38-10-1) remains alive as one of the teams to host an NCAA regional with six guaranteed games remaining, three of which will be played at the ACC tournament.
Roberts could, in fact, find himself toeing the rubber in a home game in an elimination game following a seven-inning outing that included just two hits for VCU (20-23).
“Will Roberts was in complete control of the game from the start. It was great to see,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He proved tonight that he has the kind of ability and the kind of stuff to pitch in a fourth game of the ACC tournament or a regional if we are in that kind of position.”
Roberts (4-0) said the outing against Duke was a distant memory against VCU.
“I just had to have a short memory. I really wasn’t thinking about Duke at all,” said Roberts, who fanned six batters. “So I really just went out there and the team picked me up a lot.”
Virginia’s offense did to a degree — the Cavaliers managed just three hits in a complete-game outing from VCU starter Phillip Keane (2-5).
But the Cavaliers were opportunistic early in the contest, scoring lone runs in the first and third frames.
Virginia also added an insurance run in the sixth after Phil Gosselin was hit by a pitch and later scored on an RBI single from Dan Grovatt.
“It was great to see our guys take advantage of some of the run-producing situations that we had,” O’Connor said. “[Deane] pitched a great game and we had to manufacture runs at time, but we will have to do that in certain games the rest of the way.”
Kevin Arico recorded the game’s final three outs to earn his seventh save of the season.
Virginia will open its final league series Thursday at Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m.





ACC football coaches seek early signing day
By Andrew Carter | The Orlando Sentinel
May 13, 2009

AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. - The Atlantic Coast Conference's 12 football coaches once again are in support of an early signing date that would allow a college-bound player to sign his national letter of intent earlier than February's national signing day, which has become something of a college football holiday.

During a meeting scheduled today — the final day of the ACC's annual spring meetings — the league's athletic directors are expected, like they have been in the past, to support the league's coaches and pursue legislation that would allow for an earlier signing date.

The conference's coaches are in favor of a signing period that would begin Dec. 18, said Mike Kelly, the ACC's associate commissioner for football. ACC coaches for years have tried to push for an early signing period, arguing that it would alleviate unnecessary pressure on recruits and coaches.

The Dec. 18 date, though, appears to be a compromise. Some coaches, like Florida State's Bobby Bowden, for instance, favor only a minor tweak to the current system. Bowden has said that he'd be in favor of a signing period that begins a week earlier than the current one. Others, meanwhile, would prefer a signing period that begins in the summer.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, here on Tuesday, said he'd be in favor of a signing period that began in August. Swinney said that would allow recruits who have made their college choices to officially end their recruitment. Further, it would allow coaches to rest more easily, knowing that a player's commitment is binding.

Regardless of when the actual earlier date might be, ACC coaches and officials hope it one day becomes a reality.

"Conceptually our coaches have been and continue to be supportive of it," commissioner John Swofford said. "Drilling down the details of it and when that might be is a little different matter. In the recent past, there hasn't been strong support for it from a national perspective."

Even so, Swofford said he believes there's enough backing, at least among the coaches in his league, to take "a look at that and [try] to work with other conferences to see if we can develop something that enough people can agree upon to get it through from the legislative standpoint."

During meetings here Tuesday, the ACC's football coaches also asked that the athletic directors act to form a committee to examine the roles and numbers of non-coaching personnel on football operational staffs.

There is concern among the coaches, Kelly said, that some schools around the country might be gaining a competitive advantage by allowing non-coaching personnel — video coordinators and assistant strength coaches, for instance — active, hands-on coaching roles. Teams are limited to nine assistant coaches, according to NCAA rules.

"If you have the resources," Kelly said, "and you add 25 football [operations] guys and eight or 10 strength coaches and everything else … I think there's some competitive-balance and a cost-containment (issues) in terms of who can actually deal with the (athletes) on the field."

The athletic directors are also expected to vote today on whether to reduce the travel roster for its football teams to 72 players, the travel-roster limit for the teams that play one another in the ACC championship game. Such a move, if approved, would allow for programs to save money on travel expenses.



ACC spring meetings
Football realignment must wait
By Andrew Carter | The Orlando Sentinel
May 12, 2009

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - In an e-mail message he wrote in February to Florida State athletic director Randy Spetman, Andy Miller, the president of Seminole Boosters Inc., urged Spetman to lobby the Atlantic Coast Conference to realign its football divisions.

"Please do what you can to realign the conference," Miller wrote in the message, obtained recently by the Sentinel through a public-records request. "Put Georgia Tech in (the Atlantic) Division. Give them Maryland."

Along with other ACC coaches and officials, Spetman and the rest of the league's athletic directors have convened here this week for the conference's annual spring meetings. And if there were a movement afoot to realign the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, it would likely be discussed here today and Wednesday.

Instead, conference officials spent Monday morning discussing league-wide budget concerns, among other issues, and divisional realignment doesn't seem likely to come up during the next two days. Mike Kelly, the ACC's associate commissioner for football, said realignment could be feasible after the 2015 season, which he said is the last for which schedules have been formatted.

Until then, though, Kelly said talk of realignment is just that.

"I don't think there's a lot to it," he said. "It could happen any time but we have not (discussed it). I wasn't in the (athletic directors') meeting (Monday), I was in the coaches' meetings. But it wasn't on the agenda.

"We've never discussed it."

It has been discussed, though, at FSU. Miller on Monday said he's still supportive of divisional realignment, and he suggested that moving Georgia Tech into the Atlantic Division would help foster a rivalry between the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets. The teams played last season in Atlanta and will this fall in Tallahassee.

Florida State's campus in Tallahassee is a remote location for most schools in the ACC but Atlanta, home to Georgia Tech, is the closest ACC city to FSU. Miller said it makes geographic sense for the schools to be in the same division.

"My suggestion was not a wholesale change," Miller said. "Just a tweak."

Spetman on Monday said he "didn't think" divisional realignment would be discussed here this week. He did say, though, that a discussion of an 18-game conference schedule in men's basketball is on the agenda for today.

ACC coaches and athletic directors in recent years have debated the merits of expanding its 16-game basketball schedule, but the length has remained unchanged. At least for now.

"There are some good things about it and it makes me nervous also," Spetman said of the possibility of adding two more conference games. "Because our conference is so good from top to bottom …

"Somebody's going to get more losses in that. So that could be detriment to it."





Cavaliers focused, Boland feeling age
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: May 13, 2009

Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland quickly learned Tuesday why Texas truly is No Country for Old Men.
Having arrived in College Station on Sunday afternoon to become acclimated to the blistering heat that accompanies the NCAA Tennis Championships at Texas A&M, the only member of the Cavalier party that was worse for wear yesterday was the coach.
Don’t mess with Texas
Boland conducted this telephone interview while sprawled on a training table at A&M, getting an electronic stim treatment on his back after hitting balls with his players in preparation for Thursday’s Sweet 16 match against fellow conference member Florida State.
“The players are healthy,” Boland said. “It’s the coach you have to worry about. He thinks he’s a 21-year-old tennis player again. I still have this idea that I’m keeping up with those guys, but I’m falling apart.”
About that time, the UVa coach, who’s in his mid- to late 30’s, let out a mild scream.
“Ahhh, you’re killing me,” he moaned to the trainer.
The stim treatment requires attaching small devices on one’s back and when those devices are taken off, any hairs go with it.
It’s a bikini wax kind of pain, or so, I’m told.
Between screams though, Boland said that he’s not worried about the extreme heat of College Station, which topped out at 90 degrees on Tuesday and isn’t supposed to surpass that the rest of the week. That’s mild compared to UVa’s visit there in 2005 when the court temperatures measured at least 115 degrees ... and there is no shade.
“We’re not worried about it at all,” Boland said. “Certainly it’s going to be hot, but we’re mentally and physically better than we’ve ever been. It won’t get in the way. This team is so well conditioned that I think it will pay dividends for us throughout the tournament.”
Should the Cavaliers defeat FSU for the third time this season on Thursday, they get a day off Friday before resuming play.
A familiar foe
While facing a new opponent in the NCAAs can sometimes present a bit of a problem in terms of preparation, that’s not something Virginia will have to deal with in tomorrow’s match. The No. 1 ranked Cavs are well acquainted with the Seminoles, having defeated them both in the regular season and in the ACC Tournament.
“We’re playing a team that we know well,” Boland said. “Not only do we continue to learn through those matches, but the players pick up on things as well when they play the same opponent that many times within the same year.”
Normally the coaches go through a time consuming process of preparing a scouting report on each of the top seven singles players, in case the No. 7 man is inserted into the rotation. In addition, they have to have a scouting report for the three doubles teams, and an overall team scouting report.
So, there’s 10 or 11 scouting reports covered before each match, with coaches talking to each player individually, then as doubles partners and as a team.
Unlike the NCAA basketball tournament, where coaches can turn to a company in the Northeast to supply plenty of game tape on every Division I team in the country, the tennis coaches get what they can get.
“We are able to see teams and see players throughout their careers as well as throughout the year in tournaments,” Boland said. “In this case, we’re very familiar with Florida State, which is a big advantage.
“Other teams, particularly ones from the West Coast, or others we haven’t seen, we have to search a little bit for information.
Coaches trade scouting reports and they all have colleagues or other coaches in the business that they trust enough to gain enough knowledge to prevent going into a match blind.
While Boland decided to take the team out early, he likes the way his players have approached the event. Virginia has gone down in the team semifinals matches the past two years, both times to Georgia.
Still, he reported that the Cavaliers are focused and have displayed what he describes as an amazing amount of composure heading into the Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive year (only Baylor, Illinois and UCLA have longer active streaks than the Wahoos).
“Now the time has come and they need to embrace the experience and enjoy it and realize that it’s very important to keep their composure throughout the tournament,” the coach said.
“They’re in a good place both mentally and physically,” Boland said.
Now, if only the coach could make that same claim.
“Ouch, ouch, you’re killing me,” Boland yelled again.
No Tournament for Old Men.





Bennett seeks ‘optimal athleticism’ for players
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 13, 2009

One of the hallmarks of the Dave Leitao regime was a number of guys who looked more like professional bodybuilders than basketball players.
Lars Mikalauskas, Ryan Pettinella, Will Harris and Tunji Soroye were just a few Wahoos who — when their basketball careers were over — might have found success on the Mr. Universe circuit.
Each player bulked up tremendously under the guidance of former Virginia strength and conditioning coach Shaun Brown, who was carrying out Leitao’s wishes for larger-sized players.
The strategy’s success was debatable.
Certainly, all of the aforementioned players gained strength and, in some cases, confidence that they never had.
However, in other instances, players developed an assortment of
injuries — many involving the back — and seemed to lose quickness and explosiveness.
With the hiring of strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis on Monday, the question begs: what exactly is new Virginia coach Tony Bennett’s philosophy when it comes to weight training?
“The philosophy is – become a basketball player,” Bennett told The Daily Progress recently. “Become as strong and as athletic, with
functional strength, that you can – with quick agility stuff, explosiveness, getting strong in the core, the hips — all those things.
“But everybody’s different. Some guys need to add bulk and mass, while other guys don’t need that. They need to trim down and become as quick as they can…getting to your optimal athleticism is what it’s all about.”
Having worked for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and most recently the University of Michigan, Curtis, a former Virginia player — he was a captain on the 1997-98 squad — certainly has an impressive resume.
A couple of Curtis’ most important projects will be big men Assane Sene and John Brandenburg. Sene still needs to add muscle to his sinewy 7-foot, 234-pound frame, while Brandenburg might need to go in the other direction.
Last season, the 6-foot-11 St. Louis native said he didn’t feel comfortable with the over 25 pounds of weight he had added to his frame in just a few months on grounds.
Curtis, who is from Richmond, earned a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from Virginia in 1998 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology in 2000.
“The University of Virginia is an extremely special place,” said Curtis, in a press release. “I don’t think anyone knows that better than an individual who had the opportunity to be a student and an athlete at UVa. I can’t put into words my level of excitement about returning to help coach Bennett and his staff with the men’s basketball program.
“It was a difficult decision to leave a great institution like the University of Michigan and a fine coach in John Beilein, but the state of Virginia and the University are, and always will be, home for me.”





Observations from Above the Rim
Inside information and observations on college basketball in the Carolinas and beyond from the reporting staff of The Charlotte Observer
Monday, May 11, 2009
Tudor: TV gets final call on ACC hoops schedule

ACC basketball coaches usually get their way, but an expanded conference regular-season schedule is inevitable.

An increase from the current 16-game slate to 18 may not be voted in by athletic directors and faculty reps during this week's spring meetings in Florida.

But as much as the 12 coaches prefer the status quo, television officials want additional inventory. In a stronger economy, the coaches probably could prevail indefinitely. But with school budgets tight and current TV contracts expiring after the 2010-11 season, the coaches eventually will be told schedule expansion is no longer a point of debate.

Even with extra conference games to offer, the ACC is facing a challenge on TV negotiations. Advertising revenue is down across the board and some dependable corporate backers either are gone or strapped. Wachovia, Circuit City and General Motors were big spenders on college sports when the last round of TV contracts were signed.

At the core of the push for an 18-game schedule is regional TV audience ratings. While ratings are consistently high for North Carolina and Duke regardless of their opponents, the viewer market for most nonconference games among the other 10 schools is soft.

Clemson, a preseason top-25 pick by some last season, played eight non-ACC games that were not even included in the league TV package. Other than a game against Illinois in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge, the Tigers didn't have another non-league game on any of the ESPN outlets. Nine N.C. State non-league games were omitted from the TV lineup.

By forcing the coaches to play two more conference games each, the ADs (and TV) will at least create more marketable games. It's not that a Clemson vs. State game is going to be of interest to the big three networks, but it will do better in regional ratings or on ESPN-Something than Clemson vs. Hofstra or State vs. Lipscomb.

The coaches generally contend that 18 league games will lead to worse overall records and a bigger logjam in the middle of the conference standings. They're correct on both counts. But that's the price of expansion in a weak economy.

The irony is that expansion was all about football, where the eight-game conference schedule may never change. Most of the ACC basketball coaches at the time were against adding new league members. In part that was because they feared 18, then 20 and maybe 22-game conference schedules would follow.

Don't bet against it.

-- Caulton Tudor, (Raleigh) News & Observer