Swofford says ACC hopes to find 'home' for title game

<p>The Atlantic Coast Conference is leaning toward finding a permanent home for the league's football championship game instead of moving it annually, commissioner John Swofford said Tuesday.</p><p>"The thing we want to make certain of is that it goes to a venue and city that will truly wrap its arms around it and make it something special," Swofford said during his annual football forum at the ACC Football Kickoff.</p><p>Swofford's comments came at the close of the three-day preseason event, which was the first for the league since adding Miami and Virginia Tech in last year's contentious expansion process.</p><p>Boston College will become the ACC's 12th member next year. That will give the league the number of teams required for the lucrative title game, which is projected to produce $6 million in extra revenue.</p><p>The extra game was one of the key components of Swofford's ambitious plan to make the league _ once known as a basketball conference _ the nation's best in football.</p><p>The ACC began reviewing proposals last month from seven cities _ Charlotte; Baltimore; Miami; Jacksonville, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. _ to host the championship game.</p><p>Swofford said he expects the ACC to choose a site by early fall, giving the league and the site about a year to prepare.</p><p>He also said the conference possibly could give a two-year contract to the selected city, with the ACC holding a two-year option to extend the deal.</p><p>Swofford said the league was very pleased with the proposals, which he described as beyond expectations.</p><p>"It's almost a case of simply trying to figure out what is the best decision," he said. "I don't think we can make a bad decision."</p><p>Swofford also said the league would review its bowl game tie-ins when several of the contracts expire after next season. The ACC has six bids, including the Bowl Championship Series berth that goes to the league champion.</p><p>The league has not added any bowl games despite bringing in the Hurricanes and Hokies, two established football powers. That sets up an intense competition for postseason spots.</p><p>"I think we'll have some other opportunities that wouldn't have been there without expansion," Swofford said of finding new bowl affiliations. "I think that comes with the quality depth we'll have."</p><p>In addition, the league will use crews of officials for games this season after years of making assignments on an individual basis, said Tommy Hunt, the league's coordinator of football officials.</p><p>The league will have eight crews of seven officials each. Hunt said the plan would allow officials to get accustomed to working with a unit, which could improve consistency and performance, right down to the use of hand signals to communicate from different areas of the field.</p><p>Officials are not allowed to work games involving their alma mater, so a handful of officials would be used to fill in where needed, Hunt said.</p>