I for one am ready for Clemson to make some moves, I think the ACC is a sinking ship like Sem keeps pointing out. But at the same time…i really dont know. FSU is a big topic of conversation nationally. VT is too. UNC should be greatly improved under new leadership. Wake and Duke are both better than ever before….in fact the only team that seems to be on the slide is BC. Top to bottom i think we are one of the more well rounded conferences in the country and that makes for better football and better competition.
From a recruiting and exposure standpoint it makes great sense to move. And i cant say that i have any sort of ACC pride, ive always cheered for schools my family has had history with first, and then cheer agaisnt fans ive had bad experiences with. So i cheer for TAMU because my grandfather went to officer school there, and cheer against miami because of the annoying kid who lived next door to me in college who cheered for miami because he liked their colors.
I really could care less about most of the ACC as individual schools or as a conference as a whole. But what i will miss are some of the rivalries. NCSU in particular. The Textile Bowl hasnt been received a lot of attenion from anyone recently. But its a great friendly rivalry game that we stand to loose if we move to the big 12. GT is annother although i cant say that ill miss going to atlanta.
Ive said this before, but idealy what i wish would happen is Clemson, FSU, NCSU, GT, and a couple other schools form their own conference. Basically take the top half of the ACC and pilfer schools from other conferences. So Miss comes to mind as one, App State would be annother….we could even elect danny ford as comish LOL.
but since that will never happen, and unless the ACC has an amazing OOC year (the acc is supposed to have one of the best OCC schedules in the nation this year) im pretty sure its the highway for clemson.
Then id want clemson’s OOC schedule to look like this every year: small instate school (furman, wofford, PC, citadel, coastal, csu), alternating old ACC rivals (NCSU, GT, UNC, VT, Miami), and of course the cockfans for the last game of the regular season (bring back Big Thursday and make friday a state holiday ). Given the size of the B12 i dont think its nearly as important to go half way across the country to play a team for exposure.
As sick as I am of this expansion talk, I am going to break my own rule and talk about the silly subject. The only reason I’ll chime in is because my position has changed somewhat.
I don’t think Clemson or FSU should leave for the Big 12 unless there is ZERO chance of a move to the SEC or if the ACC is beyond repair…........and I don’t think either of these options have played out.
The Big 12 was on life support last year and now it is the flavor of the month! Seriously? The ACC can be salvaged IMO. I don’t know if doing the things needed will occur, but it can. Notre Dame absolutely must be part of the equation. Like them or not, they will add a huge level of stability and clout to the ACC. They just will. I still think Swofford needs to go and bring in someone that has no ties to any ACC school. I think as long as Swofford is in the ACC, the perception of the “Tobacco Mafia” will continue. Adding 2 teams with a new ACC Comish will empower the ACC to be able to renegotiate the ACC TV deal and that seems to be needed.
Income distribution also needs to be looked at with tier 3 rights. Frankly, too many schools are not pulling their weight in football or basketball and should not get an equal cut of the money. UNC and Duke makes a lot of money in BB and should keep a greater cut of the money as an example.
The SEC makes the most sense if FSU and Clemson are to move in both geographical similarities and recruiting. It would be better for the school and better for the fans. I just am not ready to rule out the SEC until they pick the next 2 teams. I think the SEC will take a close look at expansion once the format is decided.
“Given the size of the B12 i dont think its nearly as important to go half way across the country to play a team for exposure.”
Have you ever flown to New York, Boston or Pittsburgh? Do you feel a special rivalry with these schools? Do you get excited at the thought of big games coming up with Syracuse, Boston and Pittsburgh? That is what I thought and neither do I. Unfortunately neither does the rest of the country. They want to see what Clemson, FSU and VT can do on saturday and that is about it because those three teams actually try and play football. People in Texas and Okahoma know this and that is why fusion is taking place.
Flights from Auburn to St. Louis may seem a bit strange at first also. That is the way college football is head however. Colloquialism has never been a high priority in the Big Ten either. It is a long way from Penn State to Nebraska but that is why they are making 25 million a year on football.
The ACC left the original confines sometime ago and is reaching further with little football to offer. Yes I suppose another independent league could be formed but it won’t be on TV, it won’t be profitable and fan interest will dwindle and if any of said teams discover a new coach and he is good, that coach will be hired by one of the big four leagues. You will see this happen in the ACC as TV contracts and fan interest grow smaller. This is not about neighborhood football rivalries, this is about survival. Do you want your college to play the best and beat the best on a national stage and get paid for it.
The national TV audience does not get up on saturday morning and think wow I can’t wait for the Duke, Wake game, Boston College vs Syracuse etc. They want to see what happens when the national powers clash. The neighborhood concept is what killed ACC football but it will always be a good basketball conference, there is that. Those who don’t focus on basketball maybe should have given some thought to replacing Swofford long ago because he has turned the ACC into the Big East football wise and he has alienated a bloc of what football schools were in the conference.
There will still be local high school football games for the nostalgic to celebrate in the local area.
Yes I suppose another independent league could be formed but it won’t be on TV, it won’t be profitable and fan interest will dwindle
Really,
You dont think a league with Clemson, FSU, GT, VT, and Miami would be able to find a TV contract. Clemson alone has the 10th largest TV viewership in the nation, anywhere they go should be able to get a TV contract on that alone.
My conference vs the current acc would look like this:
Clemson
FSU
VT
NCSU
GT
Miami
App State—————compare duke
So Miss——————compare UNC
UCF———————-compare maryland
ECU———————-compare BC
Vandy*—————-compare Wake
Ole Miss*————- compareVirginia
*i know it would be hard pressed to pull these schools out of the SEC, but the prospect of winning a conference has to be enticing
**im not saying compare school a with school b, but look at that conference and footprint vs the current ACC
and no, thats not my “fantasy conference”
that would be the current SEC, but take out TN, KY, Vandy, Miss State, and Mizzou, replace them with Clemson, FSU, NCSU, VT, and GT
Yes I suppose another independent league could be formed but it won’t be on TV, it won’t be profitable and fan interest will dwindle
Really,
You dont think a league with Clemson, FSU, GT, VT, and Miami would be able to find a TV contract. Clemson alone has the 10th largest TV viewership in the nation, anywhere they go should be able to get a TV contract on that alone.
My conference vs the current acc would look like this:
Clemson
FSU
VT
NCSU
GT
Miami
App State—————compare duke
So Miss——————compare UNC
UCF———————-compare maryland
ECU———————-compare BC
Vandy*—————-compare Wake
Ole Miss*————- compareVirginia
*i know it would be hard pressed to pull these schools out of the SEC, but the prospect of winning a conference has to be enticing
**im not saying compare school a with school b, but look at that conference and footprint vs the current ACC
Dude..You are a fellow Clemson fan and I got nothing but love for ya, so what I am about to say is done with the greatest of respect!..
Dude..You are a fellow Clemson fan and I got nothing but love for ya, so what I am about to say is done with the greatest of respect!..
LAY OFF THE PEYOTE!
Ill try, but its so delicious
Seriously though, i know none of this is happening, but i enjoy discussing hypotheticals while theres nothing else going on. Were in the dead period right now, if there was something actually happening i wouldnt be wasting my time or yours on this crap, but for right now just have some fun with it.
What would be your fantasy conference, if $$$, tv contracts, and current conference membership wasnt an issue?
Why not just wait for a few more years and see if the ACC can pull it’s head out of it’s anus? If in 3 seasons the ACC is still not winning BCS bowls, refs are still cheating and it looks like no increase coming from the 5 year “look in” then I’d say explore your conference options.
I am going to weigh in on this topic as well (although I am sticking to my guns, it is silly stuff at this point), what the heck.
If there were a major shift in conferences via realignment, as a VT fan I would want to go to one conference, and only one: the SEC (again, happy where we are currently). The primary reason for the SEC? It IS a football conference, it’s Southern and in the South, CFB is the biggest game in town. I have always had a profound respect for the SEC and the gauntlet that teams must run through that conference to reach a BCS bowl. I do not think any other conference holds that appeal/respect level. That being said, I do believe that if the ACC weathers this squall (not a storm yet), our conference has the potential to reach major milestones (MNC champs, BCS appearances/wins,etc) in the next couple of years. I think this coming year may be one of them (not ready to say MNC champs this year-yet).
I was not happy with the reach by the conference into the Northeast either, but it is done and we should move on and try to build those schools up in Football. I believe that the ACC decision makers have now gotten the ‘message’ from the various teams’ fans on how important the football aspect is to the majority of us. I think I can go out on a limb and say that most of us are football first, by far.
Bottom Line: Let’s win the games and we strengthen our brand. That goes for all of us.
you touched on a couple of really good points and i agree my first choice in conference realignment is the SEC. I guess im just frustrated with the ACC. The refs are the worst ive ever seen in any sport at any level. the expansion has the appearance of being for B-Ball, i mean what do you think of when i say “hey the Orange won their big game tonight”, swofford really ticked me off the way he handled UNC’s scandal when compared to Clemson’s which is probably why i got so swept up in the whole moving issue to begin with.
But ill agree, id rather give it a year, see what develops, what the BCS decides to do, and how Clemson’s year turns out. Im not dying to the big 12, but i want to see some serious changes to the ACC.
I don’t get why you all think Pitt and Syracuse are not football schools…they both have more championships and heisman trophies than any of our schools and they both were picked for market/ and luring Notre Dame.
Because they haven’t done anything in decades. You are living on history SoPines
You all know my stance…but I will say this. I’m done with waiting and watching…...we’ve been doing that. No point in delaying anymore, its been going on since the late 80s, why should I expect it to change now?? That 5 year look in is way to far away, and we’ll at least have an idea of the BCS here in a few days. No point in delaying.
To be the best you have to beat the best, to beat the best you have to play against the best. The ACC is not, and never will be the best.
Sopines you still don’t get the big picture, that nickel and dime money Swofford came up with means nothing. One revealing thing in that article is this:
“Alas, the ACC does not release such numbers, but conference sources expect this year’s per-school “
Why doesn’t the ACC release it’s chicken numbers? My guess is they are making close to what they other leagues are but the ACC takes an entire cut, then negotiates away third tier for chicken feed. It would reveal poor management.
The Tallahassee Democrat is also nothing but a fish wrapper full of gator graduates.
“Fan reaction: Barron told the BOT that he has received more than 100 e-mails ranging from individuals with messages ranging from “go (to the Big 12) or be fired”
It is also interesting that Barron thinks conference titles should be a factor in the playoff decision process. Jimbo Fisher does not and says football fans need to see the best teams compete for the national championship, whoever they are.
). Given the size of the B12 i dont think its nearly as important to go half way across the country to play a team for exposure.
