Long time lurker, 1st post on all this happenings.…Lets look at this as a whole.
2004: ACC started the demise of the Big East by adding Miami and VT, which at the time looked like great additions.
2005: ACC added BC from the floundering Big East.
2013: ACC adds Pitt and Syracuse.
2014: ACC completes current FT expansion by adding Louisville.
Looking back at this, the ACC took football programs in BC, Syracuse and Pitt at the time that really didn’t move the meter. Pitt has ended up the best addition of the 3 from a football perspective. Louisville had things going when they joined the ACC, but has recently tailed off.
During this same period of time the SEC, B1G, B12 and now defunct P12 added the following:
SEC: Mizzou, TAMU - 2014.
B1G: Nebraska (2011), Maryland, Rutgers (2014).
P12: Colorado, Utah - 2011.
B12: TCU, WVU - 2012.
So while most of the conference realignment started in 2011 to present, the ACC started it all back in 2004 with the first few dominoes falling in Miami, VT followed by BC.
Fast forward to 2021 to now, and everything has changed. Texas / OU gave plenty of warning to the B12 to fix the media rights. The B12 didn’t, so they contacted the SEC. 2022 played out the same way for the P12 when USC and UCLA after dealing with the worst media deal out there due to Larry Scott, gave George K time to fix the problem. He didn’t and the B1G quickly moved to add them when contacted.
1 year later, here we are. The B12 has fixed the losses of Texas & OU by adding some solid programs in UCF, Cincy, Houston, BYU and now Utah. ASU, Arizona and Colorado are perfect fits geographically. The B1G went out and delivered the final nail by grabbing 2 big brands in Oregon and Washington.
Reality is, how can anyone blame any P12 school for how poorly the conference was managed as a whole? As someone who lived out West for a decade it’s a sad day, but the conference has no one to blame but the leadership. This is not the fault of USC or UCLA.
ACC in a blink of an eye has gone from 3rd / 4th battling the now defunct P12 to 4th starting in 2024 behind the B12 from a football perspective. The B12 made all the right moves post Texas & OU departing, so what can the ACC do? Some may not agree with this, but it’s time to quit worrying about the so called academic prestige of the school and go and get who should be in the ACC now. WVU. From there It’s hard to figure out who the ACC can get from the geographic footprint that can help elevate the league. ND is not going to join the ACC FT. We might as well forget that.
So for the health of GT trying to rebuild a brand that has lot all national recognition with the decline of the hoops program since 2005, and of course the last 5 years of football, the ACC needs to settle FSU and Clemson to an extent down, so the big red button isn’t pushed. If FSU in fact pushes the red button, I hope GT can in fact quickly contact the B12 and secure a spot. While the B1G looks like the best fit for GT from an academic perspective, it sounds like they will take that risk on brands that are sort of down currently in Stanford and Cal. We all know by now the SEC will not extend an invite to GT. If the ACC folds, they have bigger brands currently they can pouch from the ACC.
I’ll end this long post with this. With NIL only in its infancy stages, and the reality that pay for play is on the approaching horizon (probably 5 years) I have a simple resolution.
The players can sign a contract with the school, get a salary which includes health care benefits, etc as a part of the contract. But once it goes to financial contracts with schools, the players will now have to pay their tuition. The full ride scholarships will cover food, travel and room and board.
