Louisville, AAC agree on departure
Louisville and the the American Athletic Conference reached an agreement on the school's exit from the new league and its move to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
AAC members voted to end Louisville's membership on July 1, 2014. The Cardinals will begin play in the ACC for the 2014-15 season.
"I am pleased to announce this agreement and pleased that Tom Jurich and I worked together in a spirit of friendship to complete it," American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said in a statement. "I have great respect and admiration for Tom and for the manner in which Louisville conducted itself in our negotiations. We wish Louisville the best and appreciate what they have meant to our conference."
The AAC was created when seven Catholic schools broke away to form the new Big East. Louisville was one of the schools in the former Big East that make up the AAC.
"I'm glad to have been able to work face to face with Mike Aresco to reach a fair settlement for us to depart the league a year early," Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich said. "All of us at the University of Louisville appreciate what the former Big East and American Athletic Conference have done for us and I see greatness ahead for the league under Mike's leadership."
Meanwhile, the ACC annnounced that its men's postseason basketball tournament will be played at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., in 2016. The tournament was last played there in 2005.
"We are excited to bring the ACC tournament back to the nation's capital in 2016," Swofford said. "Verizon Center is a tremendous showcase for our event, and the Washington D.C. area is an appealing tourist destination for our member institutions, as well as the alumni and fans of our teams. We received a lot of positive feedback after our 2005 tournament in Washington, and we look forward to duplicating that success in 2016."
The 2014 and '15 ACC tournaments will be played in Greensboro, N.C.
