So for him to say that Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum is “louder than any building in the ACC, I’ll tell you that” is saying something. Take a gander at the video.

Louder than the Dean Dome. Louder than Cameron Indoor Stadium. O'Brien's 11 words said a lot.

Such a strong statement makes one wonder if O'Brien even realized he was being recorded. But the creator of the video, Andrew Schmitz, told SN, "He knew exactly what he was saying. He said it at least twice to me. Made him specifically restate it."

Coming on the heels of a big upset of a top-10 ranked team, certainly it was an honest moment from a broadcaster who has called his share of games in ACC country.

And it sure says a lot about the home-court advantage that Iowa State enjoys.


MARYLAND STILL FACES LAWSUIT


A North Carolina appeals court Tuesday preserved a lawsuit that could force the University of Maryland to pay a $52 million fee for leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The ACC sued Maryland after the school said last November it was leaving for the Big Ten Conference. That lawsuit came after the ACC voted to increase the exit penalty to three times the conference's operating budget, which the appeals court calculated at nearly $52.3 million.

A state Court of Appeals panel rejected Maryland's bid to dismiss the lawsuit. It was filed in Greensboro, where the ACC is headquartered. The three-judge panel's unanimous decision means Maryland has no automatic right to a state Supreme Court appeal. But the higher state court could choose to hear an appeal.

The $52 million fee is the highest penalty ever assessed on a school for leaving an athletic conference and would be nearly equal to the school's yearly athletic budget, Maryland's attorney general's office said in May. The school's athletic department last year cut seven sports teams as it struggled with multimillion-dollar annual losses.

Maryland's representative on the ACC's Council of Presidents, which has the authority to alter the conference's governing constitution, voted against increasing the penalty from what the court calculated would have been a fee of about $17.4 million.

Despite Maryland's negative vote on increasing the exit fee, "each member, including the University of Maryland, has agreed to be bound by the vote of the Council," Judge Robert N. Hunter Jr. wrote in the appeals court's decision.

The university sued the ACC in Maryland in January, calling the amount an illegal penalty. A Maryland judge has put the school's lawsuit on hold until North Carolina courts issue a final judgment. Maryland's ACC departure is scheduled for July.


WHERE WILL THEY PLAY?


Xavier and Cincinnati want to keep their annual rivalry, but school officials haven't decided whether to play at a neutral site or return to campus after a brawl nearly sidelined the series.

Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock said in an interview Tuesday that the schools want to maintain the annual game, which is one of the city's sports highlights.

There was talk about ending the rivalry two years ago after a brawl erupted with 9.4 seconds left on Xavier's court. Four players from each team were suspended and video replays of the punching and shoving received national attention.

The game had alternated campuses each year, but it was moved to a downtown arena for two seasons after the brawl. Cincinnati won 60-45 last year in a game that was amicable. The schools will see how the game goes on Dec. 14 before deciding the site.

"Long-term, what we've talked about is certainly continuing to play the game," Babcock said. "Neither one of us has a desire to end that series.

"The big question is where the heck are you going to play, and that we haven't ironed out. We've left it at, 'Hey, we want to see how this second year goes down there.'"

Babcock said the schools' presidents and trustees will be involved in the decision. The campuses are separated by only 2½ miles, and they've played each other 80 times.

Contributors: Roger Kuznia and The Associated Press