By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When Miami and Virginia Tech announced in June they were leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference, speculation immediately centered on Louisville as a possible replacement.

The University of Cincinnati, which Tuesday accepted an invitation to join the Big East, wasn't in the mix at first.

UC's Bob Goin, who took over as athletic director in 1997, immediately set out to change that.

"I wanted that option," he said.

Goin sent a document to all Big East presidents and athletic directors extolling the virtues of UC and asking them to take a look. He didn't directly talk to Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese but worked behind the scenes with Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway, West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong and Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel.

In late July or early August, Goin, who engineered Florida State's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, suspected the Bearcats would be invited.

"I was on vacation in Maryland when I received a call from Jake Crouthamel," Goin said. "He asked me if I cared whether they stuck together or split (into two separate leagues).That meant they wanted my opinion. That pretty much told me we were in."

Goin initially worked with then-UC president Dr. Joseph Steger, but on July 22 Dr. Nancy Zimpher was hired to replace Steger. She wouldn't begin work at UC until Oct. 1, but she immediately was brought into the loop regarding the Big East.

"He called me nearly every day," Zimpher said of Goin. "Sometimes twice a day."

Zimpher understood how much membership in the Big East would mean to the university.

"I think everybody was nervous that if they even said it out loud that superstitiously it might not happen," she said.

In October, she and Goin met in Pittsburgh with West Virginia president David Hardesty and Pittsburgh chancellor Mark Nordenberg to answer questions on UC.

Meanwhile, she was in contact with the UC Board of Trustees, which ultimately approved the move upon her and Goin's recommendations. She sought and received a unanimous vote from the board a few days before the invitation was issued.

UC was officially invited and accepted the invitation Oct. 24, during a phone conversation between Zimpher and Tranghese.

Finally, on Tuesday, she and Goin and the rest of the UC community were able to make the announcement that had become the worst-kept secret in sports.

"We've been living with this for quite a while," Goin said, "knowing that we were in. But it's not over until the final invitation comes."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com