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There were no high-fives or major celebrations Monday out of the Providence, Rhode Island, offices of the American Athletic Conference.But commissioner Mike Aresco can admit to exhaling after the Big 12 announced that it would not expand, calling the months-long decision-making process a colossal distraction.There were so many rumors that I sort of stopped reading a lot of the things, Aresco told ESPN on Tuesday. I would glance at them and I would note it and I would realize that in the end, nobody really knew what was going to happen. None of us did. And so you just basically make sure day to day that you try to stay focused on conference business. The other thing was communication -- I tried to communicate pretty regularly with our schools. Somebody said, Has it been awkward communicating with your schools about this process? And even today we had a conference call, and I said, No, not all. It hasnt been awkward at all, and Im not saying that disingenuously.They understood that I was going to try to be sensitive to their situation. They were going through a lot. This has been really tough and so it was up to me as a leader here at the conference to make sure I was sensitive to what they were doing.The Big 12 announced Monday that it would not expand, after three months of exploring the option. The conference had video interviews with nearly 20 candidates, in addition to September in-person interviews with 11 different schools, including seven from the American: UCF, Cincinnati,?UConn, Houston, South Florida, SMU?and Tulane.Aresco has been the Americans commissioner since 2012, back when it was still the Big East. Since then, the league has renamed itself and seen the non-football schools break off and create a new Big East.Aresco has also overseen a number of defections and expansions, from Notre Dame moving its non-football sports to the ACC, Rutgers moving to the Big Ten and Louisville to the ACC; to adding Houston, Memphis, SMU, UCF, East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa from Conference-USA.Navy began playing in the American last year as a football-only addition, too.You just had to try to control your emotions and realize it wasnt personal; it was the business of college sports as we know it, Aresco said of the Big 12 drama. You try to empathize with everyone because this is a tough deal for everyone: for our schools, through people in the Big 12, for (Big 12 commissioner) Bob (Bowlsby). Its been tough on everyone. Im not going to comment on the Big 12 process, but it was a long process and we had to basically try to tune out the distractions as best we could.As the Big 12 news made its rounds Monday, a number of rejected targets issued statements reiterating what their schools have to offer.Aresco says he views all of the Americans schools as Power 5 programs in that sense, and he sees no reason the league cannot be elevated to Power 6 status eventually, calling the recent attention placed on the leagues elite schools through this process a silver lining.Weve probably gotten more attention in this process than we got in the couple of years prior, Aresco said. I think our brand is national now. I think the AAC, the American, the fact the light was shining on our schools, they were the targets for the most part. We had a certain status. I think thats really important and I think its important to capitalize on that.From here, Aresco hopes to launch a Power 6 campaign for his league that includes benchmarks, goals and guideposts, as the plan had been on hold amid the uncertainty of Big 12 expansion. He is hoping that the recent success of many of its marquee football and basketball programs will play a vital role, especially as the American aims to draw more revenue from a new television deal.The American is currently in Year 4 of a seven-year deal with ESPN that runs through the 2019-20 season. Air Jordan 5 Retro UK . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Jordan 5 Cheap For Sale . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. http://www.airjordan5uk.com/ . There was no hesitation from the 40th-ranked Pospisil, from Vernon, B.C., who admitted that he cut back on his training sessions over the last few days to conserve energy as the long ATP season finishes next week at the Paris Masters. Cheap Air Jordan 5 UK . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Air Jordan 5 UK Sale . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke?waited until it was time to play No. 17 North Carolina to finally cut out all the mistakes that kept haunting the Blue Devils in close losses. They ran the ball with a physical edge and tightened defensively, then ended their Senior Night by sprinting across the field as time expired to reclaim a lost rivalry trophy.Daniel Jones ran for two scores and threw for another to help the Blue Devils upset the Tar Heels 28-27 on Thursday night to secure their first Atlantic Coast Conference win. Duke (4-6, 1-5 ACC) was flirting with its first winless league record since 2007 after a tight loss at No. 6 Louisville and a pair of three-point losses to Georgia Tech and No. 14 Virginia Tech.I laid all of that out there: heres the path weve been on, heres how you correct it, Cutcliffe said. Theyre smart. They listen, they believe. And thats huge that they keep buying into each other, the loyalty. So that joy, thats huge.Jones, a redshirt freshman, ran for 94 yards as part of a ground game that kept moving the chains against the Tar Heels (7-3, 5-2 ACC; No. 15 AP). Shaun Wilson ran for a game-high 107 yards and a score of his own, Duke finished with 227 yards rushing and converted 10 of 17 third-down chances.Our offensive line was doing a tremendous job all game, Jones said, firing off the ball and being physical and creating that physicality that we want as a team.That formula was on display at the end, as Duke took more than 6 1/2 minutes off the clock with a long drive from its own 1 before punting back to UNC.The Blue Devils then came up with a final stop, with Alonzo Saxton II picking off Mitch Trubisky near midfield with 1:02 left on a night that ended with Duke players sprinting across the field to re-claim the Victory Bell presented to the winner of the long-running rivalry.More surprisingly, Dukes defense gradually lockked down the Tar Heels high-scoring offense, which finished with just 31 yards in the final 15 minutes.ddddddddddddvery time we would make a play, we would shoot ourselves in the foot on the next one or something would happen, Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora said.There was no consistency whatsoever.THE TAKEAWAYUNC: The Tar Heels likely saw any chance of repeating as the leagues Coastal Division champion die with this loss considering they had to keep winning and hope for the Hokies to lose once. But there was a familiar problem with being physical enough to stop the run, on top of the surprising offensive struggles after halftime.We missed a big opportunity, Trubisky said.DUKE: After a couple of close losses, Duke showed it had enough fortitude to bounce back and play a clean game even as it flirted with the programs first winless ACC record since 2007. Notable in Thursdays performance: no turnovers for the second straight week.STREAK SNAPPEDThe Tar Heels came into this game with nine straight wins on an opponents home field, tied with No. 2 Clemson for third longest in the nation behind No. 1 Alabama (11) and No. 11 Oklahoma (10).BLOWN LEADNorth Carolina got off to a sprint of a start, jumping to a 14-0 first-quarter lead behind a sharp Trubisky. The junior completed 12 of his first 15 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns, but threw for just 97 yards on 12-for-18 passing with two interceptions from there. UNC managed only two second-half field goals.UP NEXT UNC: The Tar Heels step out of conference play to take on The Citadel. Theyre 4-0 in that series with the last meeting coming in 2009.DUKE: The Blue Devils play at Pittsburgh, the first of two straight division road games to close the regular season. ' ' '