The Atlantic Coast Conference had quite the weekend.
First, the ACC acquitted itself on the football field. While Florida State and Maryland were competitive in losing to #1 Oklahoma and West Virginia respectively, Clemson and “The U” beat the dog piss out of Auburn and Ohio State. Georgia Tech’s smackdown (768 yards total offense?!!) of Kansas over the weekend should not be ignored as well.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, the ACC kicked off the super-conference era in accepting Pittsburgh and Syracuse into the conference. Along with unanimously agreeing to increase its exit fee to $20 million, the ACC has all but insured its stability in conference expansion. It’s safe to say that no conference would dare poach a team or two from the ACC anytime soon.
I was not only happy to see the conference of my youth become so aggressive in conference expansion, I was stunned. ACC Commissioner John Swafford swore that he was going to keep things as was with 12 schools. I assumed that he was going to leave the ACC as the last conference into the super-conference party, thinking that at least 2 schools (Virginia Tech, Clemson or maybe Maryland) would be poached by the SEC or B1G (what a goofy logo, by the way) under his watch.
Then again, that was what made his moves even sweeter. By getting out ahead in the super-conference race, not only did it insure the ACC much needed stability, it makes the ACC a desired destination. All of the sudden word came out that at least TEN SCHOOLS wanted membership into the ACC. Now UConn wants ACC membership in the worst way.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that it makes the ACC the top college basketball conference in the country? Hell, even Duke’s Coach K and UNC’s basketball coach Roy Williams are cool with the 16-school league idea. It’s a win-win all the way around for the top revenue sports.
All and all, it was a great weekend for the ACC. How do you like us now SEC?
Categories: college basketball, college football, sports story
I guess TCU has egg all over it’s face. Looks like they bet on the wrong horse. Can they get out?
Do you think Syracuse and Pitt will be released from the 27 month wait? It does neither conference any good to have them as lame ducks for over two years.
I think Syracuse and Pitt will force their way out of a 27 month wait.
TCU has got to be thinking “holly crap!” right about now. Serves it right for joining a weak-ass football conference on shaky ground like the Big East in the first place.
Clown,
Lay off the crack pipe. The ACC had a good weekend. Since the inception of the BCS, the conference has produced 1 BCS Champion and that was F$U in 99. You can’t claim the U because they were in the Big East. As a matter of fact, F$U is the only team to appear in the title game. What is the ACC record against the elite of the power conferences? I wouldn’t call *U an elite program because they paid for a championship last year.
Ahhh, leave it to an SEC fan to rain on the ACC parade. Keep doing so when Notre Dame joins the league…
By the way, nice *U reference (that would be Auburn, folks). How ‘Bama fan of you…
I seriously doubt Notre Dame will join any league. You do know they have a contract with NBC and a tie in with the BCS that puts them in a BCS bowl if they win 10 games.
But here’s the deal, the college landscape has changed SO MUCH over the last decade. We are seeing these superconferences because of the $$$$. Sure Notre Dame has its NBC contract, and the Irish really do not need the money. The issue is how difficult it will be to schedule opponents late in the year because, frankly, no other school would have the flexibility to do so.
Plus, since the Irish lost the first couple of games this season, what the hell else could they play for? A national title is obviously off the table. A conference title? No, because they are not an independent. So the Irish are in essence playing out a string.
And once the Big East comes crashing down, where would Notre Dame’s Olympic sports compete?
Gotta disagree, Klownman,
#1 – The Irish will never have trouble scheduling opponents late in the year, early in the year, middle of the year, leapyear, any year. Notre Dame is the #1 draw in college football. (No one else is close). Most schools schedule an open date. Filling it with Notre Dame would be a dream come true.
#2 The Irish are not playing out the string. Get this – even though they’re not in the Big East for football, they take up a Big East slot when the Bowl invitations go out. So, a conference with a Big East tie in will be salivating to get Notre Dame. (But they can’t take Notre Dame over a Big East team with two more wins).
I agree with Sed. Notre Dame won’t join a conference for football unless something happens to their NBC deal. They simply don’t need a conference for football.
I didn’t mean a conference with a Big East tie in. I meant to say a Bowl with a Big East tie in. Oops.