Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Meanwhile Vanderbilt is still in the SEC - I mean good for them for being lucky and being in the right conference but they're a similar Wake school with not much to offer sports wise and a smaller school.
You have to wonder at what point the SEC and Big 10 might shed teams that are getting huge payouts and not contributing much. I saw somewhere that Vandy would get an $80M a year payout from the SEC, and it compared to what Notre Dame is getting from its TV contract (about $15M/yr).
I don't know.. I could see Wake Forest possibly using the ACC's implosion as an excuse to reassess its priorities and deciding to step down (in truth, I think a lot of the lower FBS schools should do this and if there is a P2 vs rest of major college football split I think a lot of the ODUs, JMUs, Appy States, may perform a similar reassessment).
Interesting side note on Clawson: He was the football coach at UR when my wife went there... and his alma mater is actually my father in law's (Williams).
Of course, with all this realignment nobody really has a clue what is going to happen. But as always, the moves will be quiet and sudden. If later today, a massive shift were announced it would shock me... but not surprise me... if that makes sense.
Taking a step down is always extremely difficult due to the optics, donors, fans, etc. That's why I think it would take a wholesale fracture of the NCAA before anything like that would happen on more than a one-off basis. If that fracture happens, all bets are off for how NCAA football moves forward in terms of FBS/FCS distinction, etc., never mind the collateral impact on all other sports.
(Clawson and I are from the same neck of the woods and Williams was my top college choice until it came time to weigh financial aid packages...lots of connections going on here! )
Taking a step down is always extremely difficult due to the optics, donors, fans, etc. That's why I think it would take a wholesale fracture of the NCAA before anything like that would happen on more than a one-off basis. If that fracture happens, all bets are off for how NCAA football moves forward in terms of FBS/FCS distinction, etc., never mind the collateral impact on all other sports.
(Clawson and I are from the same neck of the woods and Williams was my top college choice until it came time to weigh financial aid packages...lots of connections going on here! )
Yeah, the optics of moving down are tricky. As you stated, a split could make that more palatable. It's even possible that upper FCS and lower FBS sort of "combine" anyway make a "move down" less obvious or noticeable (except for a school like WF that could be up the creek).
I think what we might see too is a football only split where conference affiliations in football are more loosely based than conference affiliation otherwise. For instance, Vandy could compete in the SEC in other sports but bow out in football since they have essentially zero hope of remotely competing in a newly expanded league (but potentially gaining a small amount of benefit in some additional revenue sharing or not).
College sports will look WAY different in 5 years... that's the only certainty.
My my my....how the tables have turned just 8 years later Mr. ACC, bwahahaha!.... signed Maryland fan
Because nothing says fun like watching your team play Michigan and Ohio State. Sure, the Terps lost 59-18 and 66-17 respectively... but they were THERE and it was AWESOME!
My my my....how the tables have turned just 8 years later Mr. ACC, bwahahaha!.... signed Maryland fan
No way the B1G or SEC keep underperformers..,the idea of hiding under the shield of a conference is gone. There will be a P2, the finally a P1. Schools like MD will likely be seeking a new home soon. TV markets aren’t the sole driving force anymore, brands and high level matchups…it is now the NFL. I just don’t see how a conference can justify paying teams $100 million dollars to get slaughtered yearly.
It would be fun if there was a relegation/promotion system like soccer teams in England. Like imagine some end of the season rivalry games with relegation on the line.
No way the B1G or SEC keep underperformers..,the idea of hiding under the shield of a conference is gone. There will be a P2, the finally a P1. Schools like MD will likely be seeking a new home soon. TV markets aren’t the sole driving force anymore, brands and high level matchups…it is now the NFL. I just don’t see how a conference can justify paying teams $100 million dollars to get slaughtered yearly.
Hey now... Maryland was within 3 scores of Penn State this year. And only lost to Iowa by 37. Overall, strong improvement since 2019 where they lost 5 games by 30+ and 4 by 40+.
Apparently Georgia Tech is thought to be a very hot commodity and has interest from both the Big Ten and the SEC. Mainly due to the combination of having the Atlanta media market and being a great academic school. All rumors seem to point to Clemson, FSU, and Miami joining the SEC, which the OP mentioned and makes sense. I also think that Georgia Tech will end up in one of the 2 power conferences (Big Ten or SEC) for the reasons listed. The SEC obviously makes most sense location wise, but either way, I think they will end up in one of the 2 conferences.
As someone who grew up in MD and loved ACC sports, it's sad to see it weakened. Outside of Clemson (and after FSU quickly declined after Jimbo left), it just became such a weak football conference. If in addition to Clemson and FSU (before Jimbo's departure), Miami (of old), VT (of old), and Louisville and UNC could have been more competitive nationally in football, they may have had more revenue opportunities. Also, Notre Dame may have been compelled to eventually join, which could have made them a legit conference.
Outside of Clemson and FSU, whenever they went up against the Big Ten/SEC's best they got it handed to them. The league just had a weak reputation. I remember a UMD team that got slaughtered by the Big Ten's best, destroyed a solid VT, which was just surprising. I also remember a weak Rutgers team slaughtered UNC one year, which was just embarrassing.
As it stands. I think as many others, that the remaining ACC teams will become a "basketball conference," the way the old Big East was (after Miami, Syracuse, BC, VT, and Pitt left to join the ACC).
UNC has some decent football and overall sports history. It's sad that they will be relegated to a lower tier conference. Even UVA. I am sad for all of the ACC though, as the conference I grew up watching with all that history, will not be the same soon.
Hey now... Maryland was within 3 scores of Penn State this year. And only lost to Iowa by 37. Overall, strong improvement since 2019 where they lost 5 games by 30+ and 4 by 40+.
Yup. UMD and Rutgers have both suffered 40-50 point losses year after year to the Big Ten's best (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc.).
Although they have beaten Michigan once and played them competitively once. They lost to OSU by 1 point (52-51). They've beaten MSU and Iowa once or twice. And they've beaten Penn State twice (including 2 years ago) despite also losing by close to 50 a handful of times.
So bottom line. I think this is a revenue grab, and Big Ten isn't going to be getting rid of under performing teams. Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, and Illinois all are bottom tier, but they stay competitive enough throughout the years. Northwestern and Purdue even on low budgets are pretty competitive every few years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
