Syracuse to bolt for ACC next July

[Spotcheck Billy]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Big East has reached an agreement with Syracuse University, allowing the Orange to leave the league a year early for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Syracuse announced last year its intention to join the ACC, but under Big East bylaws, the school needed to serve a 27-month exit period. Instead, the Orange can depart July 1, 2013; the school also must pay a fee of $7.5 million.

"We look forward to the new academic and athletic partnerships and the extraordinary competitive opportunities that membership in the ACC offers," Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross said. "We are excited about both our final season in the Big East and our long-term future with the ACC."

"This closes a chapter and opens a new one filled with exciting possibilities for the Big East's future," interim commissioner Joe Bailey said. "With the recent addition of eight schools to the Big East, the future for the conference has never been brighter."

Pitt also will leave the Big East for the ACC, but its departure date is uncertain.

A source close to the Big East told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Monday that Pitt was expected to leave by fall 2013.

Pitt filed suit in May claiming the Big East waived its right to enforce a requirement that schools give 27 months' notice when leaving the conference. The suit asserts that the school should be allowed to move to the ACC without penalty by the 2013-14 conference year.

Pitt and Syracuse announced in fall 2011 that they were leaving the Big East and joining the ACC. Pitt paid half of a $5 million exit fee and agreed to remain in the Big East until July 1, 2014.

That set off a chain reaction that had West Virginia and TCU -- which had agreed to join the Big East in 2012 -- leave for the Big 12 instead. The Big East then extended membership offers to Boise State and San Diego State, among others.

Pitt has argued that because the Big East allowed those two schools to leave the conference immediately, Pitt is no longer required to fulfill the 27-month waiting period. There were hints earlier this year that the conference and the school were nearing a resolution.

[GGGG]

$7.5 million...a little more than I thought.