ACC adopts 72-player limit for conference road games

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference has voted to cap football travel squads for league games, a cost-cutting measure that should save schools thousands each year.

ACC athletic directors passed the proposal Wednesday at the conference's annual spring meetings. It goes into effect this fall.

Other Bowl Championship Series conferences have a 72-man limit on travel rosters. The ACC limited its title game teams to 72 players, but previously had no cap on the number of athletes who could travel and dress for league games.

The conference also awarded its baseball tournament to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for three years, beginning in 2011. Myrtle Beach beat out Jacksonville, Greensboro, N.C., Greenville, N.C., and Winston-Salem, N.C. The tournament will be played at BB&T Coastal Stadium, the Carolina League home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, an Atlanta Braves farm team.

Jacksonville hosted the tournament from 2006 to 2008. It will be played in Durham, N.C., this year and Greensboro in 2010. Attempts to play in Boston's Fenway Park fell through.

A proposal to increase the number of conference basketball games from 16 to 18 didn't pass Wednesday. The measure would have made scheduling easier and reduced the number of payout games for ACC schools. But Karl Hicks, the conference's associate commissioner for basketball, said coaches wanted to keep their options flexible for lining up strong intersectional games.

The league also gave commissioner John Swofford authority to push for an early signing day for football. Coaches hope Swofford can get a December signing date passed at the Conference Commissioners Association meeting next month in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Football is currently the only NCAA sport without an early signing day.