The crew at Casual Hoya fired a brilliant, if depressing, explanation of what the ACC expansion means to Georgetown University. In short, Pittsburgh and Syracuse joining the ACC is not good for the Hoyas.
Let me begin by saying that there is no way to understate the enormity of how badly Georgetown will be impacted by Syracuse and Pittsburgh joining the ACC.
The options for Georgetown and the Big East range from utter collapse to adding teams with no regard to geography or academics. As the Big 12 slowly dissolves, teams from that league will be left homeless. The Big East could add Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas and Kansas State. Georgetown playing Kansas once a year would have some cache, though hardly replace the storied Hoyas-Cuse rivalry. In addition to Big 12 castoffs, the Big East could reach out to Temple and Memphis. Both are schools with football and basketball and large television markets that would jump to the Big East in a second.
Other options include begging the ACC for basketball only membership or the creation of an all-catholic basketball league. While there are quality basketball teams in that scenario, like St. Johns and Villanova, the loss of large schools will impact any potential television contracts.
Though the Hoyas should remain a strong contender in hoops, the lack of a BCS level football team and inadequate on-campus athletic facilities will be tough to overcome if the nuclear bomb of college athletics truly hits with the introduction of 16 team super-conferences.