Not true at all. Who says it's on the verge of collapse? No one has left the ACC except one of its bottom feeders in football: Maryland. Until schools like FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, etc. actually bolt, they are nowhere near collapse. If their football schools leave then it still stays...just as a basketball conference with decent, not great football.
All Realignment Talk Here
- Thread starter otis
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Not true at all. Who says it's on the verge of collapse? No one has left the ACC except one of its bottom feeders in football: Maryland. Until schools like FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, etc. actually bolt, they are nowhere near collapse. If their football schools leave then it still stays...just as a basketball conference with decent, not great football.
I'll be happy for Jim Boeheim if the ACC does collapse and Syracuse comes back. Much as I hate Syracuse and them saying their NY's team, they make good rivals and a Big East without hall of fame Boeheim just doesn't feel right.
I got a vacation property just below Syracuse so them coming back will mean St. John's games up there.
And getting rid of Rutgers makes us all happy.
I got a vacation property just below Syracuse so them coming back will mean St. John's games up there.
And getting rid of Rutgers makes us all happy.
I'm not so sure of that. There will be a "big 4" conferences and the ACC is not one of them. That line in the sand has been drawn already. The entire ACC is trying to get into one of the Big 4, that is clear. I think several ACC teams will leave. I'm almost positive UVA and Georgia Tech or UNC to the Big 10 will be next. I'm also pretty sure either SEC or Big 12 will grab FSU.
Most of the article seems believable, but I have a hard time seeing UNC leaving Duke behind. Being a 17th member of the Big 10 doesn't make sense for them or the Big 10, especially if other conferences are worried about going above 16 teams and having the Feds get involved, as the article suggests. I'm also struggling with Louisville moving on if an ACC/Big East combination has any possibility. It seems like a strong ACC basketball conference with some watered down football is a possibility (hmmm...sort of sounds like the current ACC).
You really think UNC cares about Duke? All schools care about their own survival. UNC is a massive state institution while Duke is a smll private school. You can bet that nobody with a massive football ambitions wants to get caught outside the "Big 4". That includes UNC who has a lot to lose if they get caught in a league with just Pitt, Cuse, wake, duke etc. Loyalty has been thrown out the window a long time ago.
I was the one who made the comment about UNC and Duke. Maybe you're right, but UNC has forever been in a league with weak football teams and I haven't seen any "massive football ambitions" from them to suggest they were looking to improve their football and take their act to a stronger league. That's a school with some deep traditions, so is it unrealistic to believe that they'll receive significant backlash from alumni and boosters if they ditch Duke and the ACC so their lousy football team can go winless in the Big 10 (or many they beat Indiana half the time)?
We all have to root like crazy in for the ACC to fall apart. And even if it doesn't fall apart immediately, then even just rumors of the ACC's demise helps us in recruiting battles. As far as East Coast schools now, it seems like a more level playing field. The ACC is in the same boat as the Big East has been for quite a while now - with worries about the future. Now a competing ACC school (i.e. Syracuse) can't say: Oh, don't go to a Big East school - you don't know how the conference will shape up. I betcha that hurt us in some of our recruiting battles last year. Now it seems more even.
[I was the one who made the comment about UNC and Duke. Maybe you're right, but UNC has forever been in a league with weak football teams and I haven't seen any "massive football ambitions" from them to suggest they were looking to improve their football and take their act to a stronger league. That's a school with some deep traditions, so is it unrealistic to believe that they'll receive significant backlash from alumni and boosters if they ditch Duke and the ACC so their lousy football team can go winless in the Big 10 (or many they beat Indiana half the time)?[/quote]
I think I remember UNC being ranked in the top 25 one or two times in the last 10 or 15 years. Weren't they ranked when they had Julius Peppers (spelling?) terrorizing opponent QBs? And more recently, didn't they just get caught helping their football athletes for cheating or something with grades? If they are cheating, that to me says that they are serious about putting resources into trying to improve their football. :ngrin:
I think I remember UNC being ranked in the top 25 one or two times in the last 10 or 15 years. Weren't they ranked when they had Julius Peppers (spelling?) terrorizing opponent QBs? And more recently, didn't they just get caught helping their football athletes for cheating or something with grades? If they are cheating, that to me says that they are serious about putting resources into trying to improve their football. :ngrin:
Good point, although for a guy like Lawrence, it probably has little impact since he's also considering UNLV which doesn't play in a great conference. And, for Jordan, same thing goes for Temple in a weak conference. The weakening of the ACC can't hurt, but may not be a driving force for these two guys.
I think I remember UNC being ranked in the top 25 one or two times in the last 10 or 15 years. Weren't they ranked when they had Julius Peppers (spelling?) terrorizing opponent QBs? And more recently, didn't they just get caught helping their football athletes for cheating or something with grades? If they are cheating, that to me says that they are serious about putting resources into trying to improve their football. :ngrin:[/quote]
Yeah, because cheating puts them in a unique group...and that's the best indication of a serious football team? They last won the ACC when LT played there. Their last coach with a decent winning record was Mack Brown back in the mid to late 90's. Please.
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LMAO MCNPA!!!
"Massive football ambitions"???
That explains Maryland and Rutgers to the Big where in 2-3 years they will be so far removed from BOWL contention, they may as well as joined the Ivy League. UNC and college football are not to be spoken in the same sentence. Since this is a basketball forum I question how a school like Rutgers will ever be able to recruit basketball studs by saying...hey, we are RU, we finished 14th in the Big, you have a future with us.
When all is said and done there will be 5 big football conferences with 3 of their top teams going to bowl games while the rest watch from their arm chairs.......but their ADwithal have an extra $16 million to pay coaches that cannot win, players they cannot recruit and TV audiences that will lose interest in diluted competition.
I was of course using a little poetic license was I was talking about cheating as indication of how they perceive their football. The fact is that UNC draws 45,000 to 62,000 for their bigger football games. Check it out on-line. That ain't no joke.
The point that I'm making is that athletic directors at these big time college campuses are all looking out to protect their little fiefdoms. As we have seen from all the conference re-alignment moves, is that it is dollars and the hope for long-term survival that matters most. At this point the worries about traditions seem to be secondary considerations.
If Syracuse can leave the Big East rivalries to play schools almost a thousand miles away, and if Texas would consider leaving the Big 12 for the Pac 10.. then why couldn't UNC consider moving as well if they can get a bigger paycheck to support their entire athletics department? They can always schedule Duke non-conference, similar to what Syracuse plans with Georgetown. It's a more than reasonable to think that this is a distinct possibility that they would bolt.
If you can get $25mm a year for your athletic department vs. $15mm - and you are the head of your athletic department, don't you go for it and schedule your lost traditional rivalries as non-conference opponents? Seems reasonable to think so.
And in all respect, it may be more important was the University of Virginias, the Clemsons, the Florida States, the NC States, the Georgia Techs think. They will decide the fate of their conference. I would bet a lot of money they don't give too much of a hoot about their annual smack-down they receive every year from Duke basketball. Those ADs for sure will think first more about the money than dragging themselves to Durham every year to get pasted by Coach K.
The point that I'm making is that athletic directors at these big time college campuses are all looking out to protect their little fiefdoms. As we have seen from all the conference re-alignment moves, is that it is dollars and the hope for long-term survival that matters most. At this point the worries about traditions seem to be secondary considerations.
If Syracuse can leave the Big East rivalries to play schools almost a thousand miles away, and if Texas would consider leaving the Big 12 for the Pac 10.. then why couldn't UNC consider moving as well if they can get a bigger paycheck to support their entire athletics department? They can always schedule Duke non-conference, similar to what Syracuse plans with Georgetown. It's a more than reasonable to think that this is a distinct possibility that they would bolt.
If you can get $25mm a year for your athletic department vs. $15mm - and you are the head of your athletic department, don't you go for it and schedule your lost traditional rivalries as non-conference opponents? Seems reasonable to think so.
And in all respect, it may be more important was the University of Virginias, the Clemsons, the Florida States, the NC States, the Georgia Techs think. They will decide the fate of their conference. I would bet a lot of money they don't give too much of a hoot about their annual smack-down they receive every year from Duke basketball. Those ADs for sure will think first more about the money than dragging themselves to Durham every year to get pasted by Coach K.