Rick Pitino: shots fired at the ACC, Syracuse, and Pitt

I love that Rick Pitino has a personal blog. He doesn't, for a second, hold his tongue on how he feels about certain issues. If you remember, just last week Pitino compared Pitt and Syracuse leaving to a scene in The Godfather.

In his latest blog, he takes a not-so-subtle shot at those two schools:

If my information is correct, the ACC, namely certain basketball coaches, did not like the amount of exposure BIG EAST basketball was getting nationally and the amount of tournament teams selected the past couple of seasons. Their feelings were made known at conference meetings. Now true or untrue, you can’t tell me that Pitt and Syracuse are making ACC football significantly better. In the last few years, they have laid off more football staff coaches than Bank of America did with its employees last week. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but let’s take a step back.

The leadership of Pittsburgh and the affiliation of head coach Jaime Dixon are major reasons Texas Christian joined the BIG EAST. Distance questionable, but an extremely good move football-wise. Before their bodies were warm, they pulled a dixie to the ACC. So let’s not cast blame on any one person. BIG EAST basketball became too strong and certain factions didn’t like that fact. Remember, the ACC had that reputation and dominance in basketball for years.

Tell 'em how you really feel, Rick.

Later on in the post, Pitino gives his own advice on what he thinks the Big East should do to replace Pitt and Syracuse. To start, he says add Temple in all sports. They have a great basketball program, they've already been a part of the Big East in football, and they are located in the middle of Big East country in Philly. Next, he says add Air Force, Navy and Army in football only and promote Villanova up to the Big East in football. These aren't new ideas -- all of them have been floated many times throughout the blogosphere and the twitterverse -- but it is interesting to see them coming from a well-known head coach.

The irony in all this? It comes out on the same day that a reporter named Greg Swaim floated the rumor that Louisville has a standing offer from the Big 12.