Out is the BCS, and in is the four-team seeded playoff.
Looking at what it means for the ACC… 1) Shot at a national title doubled…in theory
This is the obvious but, to some, not-so-obvious part of the whole deal.
Basically, the ACC, which has only come close to placing a team in the BCS Championship once recently (Virginia Tech, 2007), now doesn’t have to crack the top-two, but rather, the top-four, for a shot at being the nation’s best.
Is a four-team playoff the best scenario for the conference? No – but we’re talking about the national championship here. It should be for elite teams, and the ACC’s best has been anything but of late.
The 2011 ACC divisional winners, with elite finishes, would have certainly been a part of a retroactive four-team tourney.
All Virginia Tech needed was a win over those pesky Tigers in Charlotte and they would’ve made it. After starting unranked, Clemson was fifthin the BCS rankings by late October, before losing three of four into the ACC Championship Game.
All the talk of ACC teams “just needing to win” can sound like hollow politicking, but to a certain extent, it’s true.
2) Secured “major” conference status until 2026
For the last month or so, the ACC’s status in the upcoming playoff era was, depending on who you listened to, in danger.
When the SEC and Big 12 announced their Champions Bowl, hysteria reigned, as four conferences (those two plus the Big 10 and Pac-12) had pulled away from the crowd.
But then slowly, those conferences that had supposedly broken off from the rest – began talking up the “Big Five” alliance, kicking the Big East out (Boise State added and all) and treating the ACC pretty much like one…of…them.
And Tuesday’s announcement and the news around it secured the ACC’s seat the table.
John Swofford confirmed the ACC has secured a major bowl slot, which is reportedly the friendly confines of the Orange Bowl, likely facing an at-large team.
Yet to be determined in all of this is the ACC’s cut of revenue from the deal, which could obviously sour the “Big Five” idea if it’s less/significantly less than its brethren, but at least symbolically, Swofford has kept the conference in the picture.
I’m not saying the ACC has played like a “major” conference on the big stage. I mean – I was in the pressbox at this past January’s Orange Bowl. Saw the whole thing.
But it’s not me or you determining the ACC’s role in the playoff age – somehow, they’re in the mix and maybe by the next round of negotiations (in the 2020’s), the conference will actually be more worthy of the “major” designation.
3) Reset button on the big bowl record?
The BCS is dead (come 2014), and so is this phrase (with updated record): “The ACC is 2-13 in BCS bowls.”
There are no more “BCS” bowls, but with the same folks in power, the former power bowls plus a couple more (crossing fingers for the Chick-Fil-A’s spot), are still in place.
It’s a fresh start in a way, and with teams like Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech stockpiling talent on the recruiting trail lately – that win percentage could be turning around soon.
***
Oh, and Clemson and FSU – they’re still in the ACC if I’m not mistaken, and that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon.
The way I understand it, the only way the ACC really can cash out id if they are in the tournament every year and I don’t see that happening. You can bank that in most years the SEC,B12,B1G,PAC12, will get the lions share of those bids and receive a huge financial chunk every year. That is why it may come down to long to money’s for Clemson and FSU.
There’s so much rumor and innuendo and possible scenarios filling my head that it’s hard to form a coherent thought. I don’t know how reallignment is going to procede or how teams will be selected for the playoff or whether the ACC has a future or not. But, I do know that the common thread to everything that happens with CFB is MONEY.
Money is what started expansion in the first place. 12 team leagues = conf. champ game = money.
Money is why the SEC went to 14 teams. More teams, more markets = bigger tv deal = more money. This is why I don’t believe expansion is over when/if the Big XII lives up to it’s name again
Money is why CFB, and every other sport for that matter, has not only implemented a playoff, but in most cases expanded the playoffs to extra rounds or games. This is why I believe the 4-team playoff will be short-lived and expanded in the near future. And also why there’s a Mr. October AND a Mr. November.
CFB is a business, with the NCAA as it’s CEO. Each school that fields a team is a brand. As long as the NCAA is the beneficiary of a strong business it will not allow it’s brands to be damaged, through exclusion, by it’s other brands. The idea is to grow the business, not consolidate power. It is also not going to allow very valuable brands like Clemson, Miami, VT, GT, FSU (if they don’t move on) to wither on the vine. The NCAA has a very strong incentive to promote inclusivity in the playoff process. Like some other posters have stated the ACC teams just need to win more.
Now, if the day comes that the football powers want to break away from the NCAA and form their own association, again, as a Clemson fan I’m not worried, I know that it will include the best teams regardless of conference. Clemson and the other ACC football schools will be included.
I agree…and if the schools win more it will. Largest population base of any conference and where all the growth is in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.
It is good you at least try and explain it to them dawgsday. It may not sink in though.
ACC teams make 7 to 9 million less than the Big 12 right now. Are you trying to tell me you think Wake and UNC make as much as Oklahoma? In fact you make 15 million less than Oklahoma now.
Wrong again. But thats fine. You have a habit of that.
The Big 12 has had a one time payment of more due last year (18 mil to 16.8 mil) due to the payments of schools RUNNING FROM THE CONFERENCE and then getting to divide a 12 team deal 10 ways.
But Seminole just gets to make stuff up…just like all his “sources”.
Al Capone could have used you as an accountant. Is the ACC criminal from the the front office, to the refs on down to the fan base? If I were you I wouldn’t get near a lightening rod.
Why are we comparing the bottom of the Big 12 with FSU anyway? Do you not think FSU would be in the upper tier of any conference they play in? Not that it matters since base pay from the conference will be the same but SoPines picked out one of the worst schools possible in the conference just to try and bolster the ACC’s look.
So…when comparing Alabama and Duke, the figures here say…. See what I did there?
Funny thing is, lowly Iowa St had an average attendance this past season higher then 4 ACC teams. Almost 5 (Virginia squeaked out by one spot).
Sorry, took a break from message boards for the weekend.
I am willing to accept the question of these sources since they just come from a google search.
Compare whatever you want…either way the ACC has made more and no one has convinced me yet that that will change. Based on the fact that there is no movement I suspect FSU and Clemson agree…
WVU and TCU do not replace the 4 that left and even with new tv deals the conference has been told that they arent getting more money. I am sure 2011, for which I cant find data was a banner year splitting exit fees and a 12 team deal 8 ways.
