Ramblin Buzz
Varsity Lurker
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 164
I believe this a huge point in ACC athletics history and rivals Tech's leaving the SEC back in the '60s. Conference expansion will happen within the next few years, be it the ACC, Big Ten or Pac-10 first. But with the ACC having the fewest members of the 6 conferences, and having the one of the weaker football conferences of the 6 (national perception), the ACC needs to lead this round of expansion IMHO. If not, the ACC could be left behind scrambling for the leftovers and perhaps in a situation that will never allow them to catch up.
Miami is the focus and the key to everything right now. We must get Miami first. However, only adding Miami puts the ACC in a bad situation. It will not allow for the Championship game in football, which will mean lost TV revenue AND it will start the expansion process for other conferences, much like Penn State did when it announced it was joining the Big Ten. If the ACC only takes Miami, I'd expect the Big Ten to push very hard immediately for Syracuse, which is one of the schools the ACC wants to add. Syracuse brings solid football and basketball, great fan support and the TV markets. I don't think the ACC wants to lose Syracuse to the Big Ten. I would prefer Virginia Tech and West Virginia due to longer road trips. But I realize TV is important and will play a big role in the decision. And I will add that a road trip to Syracuse or Boston College is not much different than Maryland. None of those are really "driving" road trips per se, so an extra hour flight does not make much of a difference between Maryland and Boston. Besides we have played @BC in '97, vs Syracuse (@NY) in '01 and @UConn in '02, so we have been playing up there already.
In expanding to 12 members, I find very few negatives and mostly positives. The negatives being the basketball schedules (playing opposite division teams only once), a few long road trips in football and (ack) fewer ACC tournament tickets (which I can't believe is actually an issue). The positives are MANY. Enhanced quality of football and basketball (more NCAA Tourney teams and bowl teams), ACC Football Championship game, MORE TV dollars in all sports, super baseball conference, improved woman sports, but most of the national perception of the ACC would change dramatically. On any given Saturday when one watches ESPN's College Game Day following the day's action, you will see all the highlights of the prime games from the Big 12, SEC, Big 10, etc before you finally get to the ACC scores (and maybe highlights). The primary reason is that the ACC's top match-up each week is FSU vs Team X and then maybe a GT vs UVa or a NC State vs Clemson type match-up and that's it. With only 9 members there are not 2-3 TOP conference match-ups week to week to keep the ACC in the news. Just look at the ACC football TV schedules to see this. The ABC game is usually OK each week, and sometimes the ESPN (or ESPN 2) match-up is so-so and then the poor Raycom-JP game turns into the Duke or Wake "game of the week". With the additions of Miami, BC and Syracuse/VT, it adds an additional game or two each week that has conference title implications, if not national implications. It will enhance the overall TV appeal of the ACC five fold. It should enhance the ACC recruiting of Florida, as the ACC would own 2/3 of the major schools in the state.
As for hoops, the ACC has become a top heavy conference over the past 5 years, if not longer. Maryland and Duke can compete for national titles every year, but no one else can compete for ACC titles. 10 years ago 5 to 6 teams competed each year for the ACC title. It is what made the ACC great. Those days have disappeared along with the star players that stay all four years. The ACC now struggles to get 4 NCAA Tourney bids. The addition of these schools should get the ACC to the 5-7 teams per year level, which equals more $$$$ for every one, plus a stronger conference.
I don't have to say much about baseball. My gosh....GT, FSU, Clemson, Miami, Wake, UNC. Pretty good hardball if you ask me.
I realize there are some that don't like this expansion talk, but I for one see it as the biggest news in GT sports since leaving the SEC back in the early '60s, which is a decision that GT has been trying to overcome for 40 years.
Thoughts???????????????????????
Miami is the focus and the key to everything right now. We must get Miami first. However, only adding Miami puts the ACC in a bad situation. It will not allow for the Championship game in football, which will mean lost TV revenue AND it will start the expansion process for other conferences, much like Penn State did when it announced it was joining the Big Ten. If the ACC only takes Miami, I'd expect the Big Ten to push very hard immediately for Syracuse, which is one of the schools the ACC wants to add. Syracuse brings solid football and basketball, great fan support and the TV markets. I don't think the ACC wants to lose Syracuse to the Big Ten. I would prefer Virginia Tech and West Virginia due to longer road trips. But I realize TV is important and will play a big role in the decision. And I will add that a road trip to Syracuse or Boston College is not much different than Maryland. None of those are really "driving" road trips per se, so an extra hour flight does not make much of a difference between Maryland and Boston. Besides we have played @BC in '97, vs Syracuse (@NY) in '01 and @UConn in '02, so we have been playing up there already.
In expanding to 12 members, I find very few negatives and mostly positives. The negatives being the basketball schedules (playing opposite division teams only once), a few long road trips in football and (ack) fewer ACC tournament tickets (which I can't believe is actually an issue). The positives are MANY. Enhanced quality of football and basketball (more NCAA Tourney teams and bowl teams), ACC Football Championship game, MORE TV dollars in all sports, super baseball conference, improved woman sports, but most of the national perception of the ACC would change dramatically. On any given Saturday when one watches ESPN's College Game Day following the day's action, you will see all the highlights of the prime games from the Big 12, SEC, Big 10, etc before you finally get to the ACC scores (and maybe highlights). The primary reason is that the ACC's top match-up each week is FSU vs Team X and then maybe a GT vs UVa or a NC State vs Clemson type match-up and that's it. With only 9 members there are not 2-3 TOP conference match-ups week to week to keep the ACC in the news. Just look at the ACC football TV schedules to see this. The ABC game is usually OK each week, and sometimes the ESPN (or ESPN 2) match-up is so-so and then the poor Raycom-JP game turns into the Duke or Wake "game of the week". With the additions of Miami, BC and Syracuse/VT, it adds an additional game or two each week that has conference title implications, if not national implications. It will enhance the overall TV appeal of the ACC five fold. It should enhance the ACC recruiting of Florida, as the ACC would own 2/3 of the major schools in the state.
As for hoops, the ACC has become a top heavy conference over the past 5 years, if not longer. Maryland and Duke can compete for national titles every year, but no one else can compete for ACC titles. 10 years ago 5 to 6 teams competed each year for the ACC title. It is what made the ACC great. Those days have disappeared along with the star players that stay all four years. The ACC now struggles to get 4 NCAA Tourney bids. The addition of these schools should get the ACC to the 5-7 teams per year level, which equals more $$$$ for every one, plus a stronger conference.
I don't have to say much about baseball. My gosh....GT, FSU, Clemson, Miami, Wake, UNC. Pretty good hardball if you ask me.
I realize there are some that don't like this expansion talk, but I for one see it as the biggest news in GT sports since leaving the SEC back in the early '60s, which is a decision that GT has been trying to overcome for 40 years.
Thoughts???????????????????????
