It's been a couple days Notre Dame announced it's move to the ACC (except football and hockey) and I gotta tell ya, I still don't get it. I don't understand why Pitt, Syracuse, or Notre Dame left the Big East for the ACC. All three would have been elite teams in the Big East and they go to a conference dominated by three teams in Duke, UNC, and Florida St. That's for basketball. In football, ACC has never been known as a power conference, but neither has the Big East. If I were those three times, I'd prefer staying where I'm the top dog, but I do have a Big East bias.
Being top dog makes it easier to get to the NCAA tournament, which is the most important thing for a college sports program. The program receives more money the deeper it goes in a college postseason. Going to a conference that's jam packed with both new and old rivals isn't going to help you get to the tournament. It will help to expose your team to how mediocre it really is though. I'm sorry but I don't think Syracuse, Pitt, or Notre Dame are in the same league as Duke and UNC. Plus the 'bad' teams of the ACC are better than the bad teams of the Big East; therefore, it's going to be harder for the three teams to get 'easy' wins. Of course, the flip side is that the three teams will show the world what they are made of and be right with Duke and UNC.
While it doesn't make much sense for Notre Dame because they are still keeping most of their football independence, the move does make sense for Syracuse and Pitt. The preceding paragraph shows why it's not good for basketball purposes, and both teams would agree with me, but that's not the reason why the moved. The reason they moved was because of football. The ACC does not come close to the football powers of the SEC, PAC-12, and Big 12, but it is lightyears better than the Big East, and simply put college football makes a lot more money than college basketball. So while I sit here and say that they aren't going to be viewed as highly in college basketball, which might cost them some money, they will gain it all back by joining a much better football conference. This comes with neither team having a football program that jumps out at you.
Even if it's questionable why the three teams joined the conference, you have to hand it to the ACC for bringing them on. By looking from their standpoint, it's a win-win no matter what. In name alone, the conference is bringing in three of the most storied schools in the country. Teams never lose that kind of reputation. You will never hear someone say, "Hey didn't they used to have a great basketball program?" That's because no matter what happens you can't change the past. So if historically they've had a good basketball, or football program, than they will be forever known as the school with the good basketball or football program. If all three of teams manage to not win a game in 2013 (which is virtually impossible), the ACC will still stand to make a lot more money than they would without them. When the conference makes more money, then the schools in the conference make more money, which allows them to improve their program and make themselves better. It is a continuous cycle of money-making that eventually could put ACC up there with the SEC, PAC-12, and Big 12 in both basketball and football. As of right now ACC stands for Atlantic Coast Conference, but they may want considering renaming to A Champion Conference because that's where there headed.
References
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8369070/notre-dame-sports-football-hockey-acc
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8375714/commissioner-mike-aresco-says-big-east-prepared-negotiate-notre-dame-buyout
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/2/year/2012/acc-conference
http://espn.go.com/college-football/conferences/standings/_/id/1/year/2011/acc-conference
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