ACC needs an expansion plan–right now
Bear Bryant used to end his Sunday night television show with these words: “Don’t forget to call your Mama. I wish I could call mine.” I was lucky to be with my Mama on Sunday in Madison, Ga. Hope you had a great Mother’s Day as well.
The ACC Spring Meetings begin today at the lovely beach-front Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Amelia Island. Think the Big Ten’s possible expansion plans will come up? Yes it will because there are some athletics directors who are going to sit in the day’s first meeting with commissioner John Swofford and want to know three things: 1) What do we expect the Big Ten to do? 2) How do we expect the SEC to react? 3) What is our plan if No. 1 and No. 2 both happen?
It wasn’t that long ago that the ACC was expanding and dipping into the Big East for three teams (Miami, Boston College, Virginia Tech). The ACC was the aggressor in an effort to expand to 12 teams and bulk up its status as major player in football.
It hasn’t been a failure as some detractors would suggest, but neither has it been the rousing success that the football forces in the ACC had hoped. Florida State and Miami, which were placed in separate divisions to maximize their punch, are still struggling to get back on the national stage. The conference championship game has been a mixed bag, depending on the matchup. The ACC remains the only conference of the Big Six not to place two teams in BCS bowls in the same season. The landscape of college football has changed dramatically since the ACC last expanded.
The ACC did get a good initial TV contract from expansion but that contract ends after the 2010-2011 season. The ACC is in the midst of its negotiation for a new football deal and the numbers that are being offered, I’ve been told, are not particularly good given the marketplace, where the economy is down and the Big Ten and SEC are sucking up about 50 percent of the available dollars. Don’t be surprised if the ACC brings on another TV partner, like Fox or the NFL Network, hoping to generate more revenue.
The fact is that the ACC is as vulnerable right now as the Big East was back in 2003. Here’s why:
If the Big Ten expands to 16 teams the SEC may feel the need to follow suit. The SEC could look to the ACC and take some teams (like Florida State) to solidify its Southern footprint.
Here is another item that should concern you as an ACC fan. My buddy Blair Kerkoff of the Kansas City Star reports that the Pac-10 and Big 12 are having discussions about the possibility of forming an alliance and negotiating their TV deals as one unit. Together they would have more clout (and more television sets) than individually.
Here are the facts, folks, and I hope my friends in the ACC are reading this down in Amelia Island. If the Big Ten goes to 16 teams, the Big East is going to be out of the football business. The SEC and the Big Ten dominate the marketplace. They will get their money while the Pac-10, Big 12, and ACC are going to be scrambling for what’s left.
If those three conferences don’t already have contingency plans in place, they had better put them together—and fast. I know that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has said his expansion plans are still in a 12-18 month window. I don’t believe that and there are some very smart people who work in this business who don’t believe it either.
Because once the Big Ten makes its move, this thing is going to move very quickly. It’s going to be like a high-stakes game of musical chairs and somebody may get left without a quality seat, financially speaking, at the college football’s Big Boy table. And that could be our friends at the ACC.
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416 comments Add your comment
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
5:45 pm
Road Scholar
Don’t you Tech fans realize no person from the press is going to take a chance and risk their life to go down to highest crime area in America located on North Ave to write a story on a program whose own fans don’t even support the Tech program.
Cmon be realistic
Why don’t you use that Road scholar mind and come up with another safe location for Tech to conduct school and athletics without having arm guards and barred windows at every building
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
5:48 pm
Road Scholar – 3 words: “Non-revenue sports.”
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
5:52 pm
“highest crime area in America” – Hmmm…coaches must take armored SUVs and contract SWAT teams when the recruit in Belle Glade, Florida.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
5:54 pm
Delbert D.,
I hope and think the Duke series is a home and home.
Saban has been recruiting the North Carolina/ Virginia area with some success. We got 3 high profile recruits from that area last year- Phillip Sims 5 star qb out of Virginia, Alfy Hill a big time 4 star def end out of north carolina I think, and Kuandjio a 4 star off tackle out of Maryland whose brother is a 5 star offensive tackle this year and the no. 1 rated offensive tackle in at least one service. We have the inside track on landing him as well. There may be a 4th but I know that’s 3 very high profile recruits out of that area that we landed. Going back just gives us that much more exposure to cherry pick 3-4 very high profile recruits year in and year out in that region.
Also, we got some history with Duke whose Wade Stadium is named after Wallace Wade one of our national championship winning coaches who we have a statue of outside Bryant-Denny.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
5:58 pm
Delbert D,
I said last year but all 3 of those high profile recruits we landed from that area are in the 2010 class. 5 star Phillip Sims enrolled early and even played in the spring game. The other 2 report in the fall.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:01 pm
Tide Rising – Good; the Dookies will sell out that game for sure. I had forgotten about Wallace Wade and ‘Bama. Dodd always used to mention him whenever Tech played Duke. Plus, it’s always good when a high-profile SEC team visits an ACC school that’s off the regular schedule. Sounds like Saban is covering the recruiting bases really well.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
6:03 pm
havent been to belle glade but have to pass through North Ave once or twice a week.
As a UGA fan I really do feel for those poor students having to duck and cover when going to class at Tech.
If they do leave the campus armored transportation is provided for them.
They really should consider moving the campus out of North Ave to a safer location for the 58 fans that do try to support the JOKE BY THE COKE!!!!!!
SEC Wins
May 10th, 2010
6:03 pm
I believe the SEC will ask either Florida State,Miami or both to join…..possibly Georgia Tech and Clemson…what do you think??
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:09 pm
Tide Rising – Were those Maryland recruits from Montgomery County? I lived up there in the early ’90s. Pretty big population center just north of DC.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
6:12 pm
Hopefully not Tech
We don’t need a program that can’t fill a highschool stadium.
Clemson and FSU would be good, Miami doesn’t have fan support like the JOKE NEXT TO COKE but they would bring good recruits to the SEC
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:14 pm
Small Johnson – I guess the U Miami recruiters know the correct passwords, colors and hand signals to recruit in Belle Glade.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:24 pm
SEC Wins – I could see the presidents of Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and probably Alabama voting for Tech and Clemson, since they would be somewhat academic upgrades for the conference as a whole. So would Miami, but I can’t imagine those four, nor Florida voting in Miami.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
6:25 pm
Yes
Unfortunatley though, I think like UGA, their coaching staff has yet to utilize the talent.
Maybe they should utilize the middle school option veer I use at Tech. I mean we won the ACC the best conference in America
One of the suggestions I Coach Small Johnson have given to the athletic department is to allow free admission to all Tech games except for the UGA game since UGA fans always show up.
Free admission would bring in more fans buying more concessions which I believe could boost revenue for the school and help us one day move out this high crime neighborhood.
I can’t stay here much longer. No fan support doesn’t help with my ego. You know we always have fish to fry around here!
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:35 pm
Small – Ain’t gonna happen. Obama is going to elevate everybody to middle class. The neighborhoods around 10th and North Avenue will improve due to everybody’s generous tax contributions. Unfortunately, that means I will have to sell my home in the suburbs and move to a trailer in Lumpkin County.
Dunwoodyheel
May 10th, 2010
6:40 pm
UNC drew $700 million in research funding last year. The $10 million difference between ACC and SEC tv money is pretty inconsequential.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:40 pm
When are we supposed to start calling the President “Dear Leader” like ol’ Kim Jong-il?
Gatorman
May 10th, 2010
6:40 pm
Everybody is making this too hard. Clemson???, they haven’t had a really good football team since Danny Ford in the 1990’s. SEC add’s one school, FSU to replace Arkansas in the west and wrestle some importance in Florida away from UF. ACC drops BC and adds Pittsburgh and West Virginia who both have good basketball and football programs. Big 10 add Missouri, and Big 12 adds Arkansas to replace Missouri. Low and behold if Nebrask leaves, then TCU joins Big 12 too. All this other crap is just that crap.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:41 pm
Dunwoodyheel – Maybe that’s why MIT and CalTech don’t have football teams. They would be distractions.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
6:45 pm
Delbert D.
Arie Kuandjio and his brother 5 star and no. 1 tackle Cyrus are from DeMatha, MD. Not sure where it is in MD. Saban seems to be doing exactly what he needs. Get most of the top tier 10-15 recruits from the state of Alabama and cherry pick from top players from the other states For example we got one of the top 5 recruits out of South Carolina in John Fulton, 2 of Tennessee’s top 5 players and 3 overall from that state, 5 pretty good players from Georgia, 4 good players from talent rich Texas, 3 top recruits from that Carolina/Virginia region, and 2 of the top players from Mississippi. Oddly enough in the 2010 recruiting class we picked up zero recruits from the state of Florida and under Saban we usually get a couple of players out of Florida. Last year it was 3 from Florida but the big fish was Trent Richardson.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:47 pm
LSU, Arkansas and Kentucky shouldn’t have a problem with FSU, since they wouldn’t be shown up too much academically, although they are right on the edge of dropping to Tier 3. They are within competitive improvement range of FSU. Ole Miss and Miss. State would be highly insulted about any other non-tier 3 school being admitted to the conference. Pushes them further back in the cotton field.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
6:50 pm
Delbert
Good point
But here is something to consider. Instead of living in the trailer try to get some land with trees.
Buy some Tech tickets and advertise them as a give away for tech fans who will come out and cut those trees down and use the wood to build you a real house
The Tickets will be much cheaper and Im sure you will find 15 or 20 Techies to build that home among the 5.6 million people located near North Ave.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:53 pm
DeMatha is over near Silver Spring inside the beltway. I’m not familiar with that area. I lived in Gaithersburg and worked in Rockville, which is NW of there outside the beltway. DeMatha has produced a lot of talent in football and basketball.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
6:57 pm
Small – Log house beats single-wide every time. Did a rental in an aluminum dream for a few months while I was at a Navy school assignment. Heck, the submarine I went to later felt more roomy.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
6:59 pm
Small Johnson,
Contrary to popular belief Miami can’t fill a stadium either. I used to live in Miami and the canes would draw anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 tops but usually in the 50,000 range unless UF or FSU came to town.
I’m guessing a lot more people would watch if it were the television print the sec were looking to add but the bottom line to me is that a small private school like UM doesn’t add that much to the sec except in terms of academics. Miami only has an enrollment of 15k. Also, most of that population down there is transient, 20% of the people are from New York/New Jersey, many there’s a few from other northern states also, and a lot of Latins not just of Cuban descent but from all the Caribbean nations and from South American countries like Colombia, Brazil, etc. Not a huge football following and there are a lot of pro sports competing for the entertainment dollar down there. Not to mention the beach and everything else there is to do down there.
What I would be curious to know is if the dollars brought in from the television footprint would mirror the actual attendance figures that Miami draws which to me are very poor. Would it expand revenue dollars for the sec despite UM’s poor following in the area or not?
KGator79
May 10th, 2010
7:01 pm
Here is the thing. The SEC IF they were going to expand is most likely not going to give an offer to FSU or Miami. Both those schools nearly 20 years ago rejected the SEC. If we know anything about most who run the SEC is that they are too proud to risk that happening again. You reject them once, they wont offer you again.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
7:02 pm
Delbert
Another suggestion that me and my wife are considering is moving to north Ga.
There are plenty of granite stones to use for building and I think the Janitorial Engineers at Tech can figure out a way to make you a stone toilet.
Anyway use those tickets to bring in volunteers
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
7:09 pm
Small – This is a weird one…the Ga. State single ticket prices cost more than Tech’s. However, there is the safety factor to be considered. While walking to and the parking lot from a Ga. State game at the Dome, you could easily see anybody coming a thousand yards away. Unobstructed view; no tailgaters, no cars, no…nothing.
KGator79
May 10th, 2010
7:12 pm
Tide Rising….I’ve been saying for a while now that the Miami program is tinkering on falling to a point it can never recover from at least to the levels that most remember them at in the 80s and 90s. You use to think they could always bounce back just based off recruiting. Now kids in their own city are turning them away for South Florida, FIU and FAU. Not to mention when Meyer and UF walk into town and pick who they want.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
7:17 pm
KGator79 – “Meyer and UF walk into town and pick who they want.”
More like, “Fly into the schoolyard in a Huey Cobra…” these days.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
7:26 pm
Something just occurred to me. I guess any idea of naming “Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium” has been put on hold with Derek at UT.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
7:33 pm
KGator79.
That was generally always my opinion that they could bounce back based solely on recruiting in their own backyard. I am of the opinion though that if I was a recruit I would be completely unimpressed going to a game where only 40 or 50k show up as opposed to a UF or FSU or any other sec big boy. Not to mention that big time programs like Ohio State and Michigan try to come down and nab a few. Kinda sad to see where their football program has fallen but the bottom line is that without fan support any program dries up. I knew FSU was in big trouble several years ago when I watched Wake Forest go in there to a Doak Campbell stadium that was only 60-70% full and proceed to whup the noles something like 26-0. It was more shocking to me not that Wake beat em but that no one was going to the game. Same with Miami with the lack of attendance not to mention that they don’t even have their own stadium which is a big downer. If I were a recruit no way would I chose the U over UF or FSU. Just me of course.
Tide Rising
May 10th, 2010
7:41 pm
KGator79,
I don’t know if kids would really go to FAU or FIU over Miami though. That may be a bit of a stretch but I can see some of them going to USF. Also, unless they really do want to be close to home I would imagine they would rather be at a bigger time sec program than a dying miami program. We got Ed Stinson a 4 star jack type lb/def end out of there last year and he figures to be a contributor as a backup this year or next year at the latest.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
7:50 pm
I wonder what the percentage of alumni stay to work and live in the Miami area is. Private school, small enrollment…
Ormewood
May 10th, 2010
7:51 pm
Miami’s stadium is not even theirs. It’s a pro stadium miles from campus.
Small Johnson
May 10th, 2010
7:56 pm
Delbert
Tech games are pretty empty too of tailgaters and no cars except for all the gang banger cars sitting by Bubba Dump stadium waiting to rob Tech fans.
Do you think thats why only 50 or so show up to Tech games?
KGator79
May 10th, 2010
8:12 pm
Tide Rising…recruits are going to FIU and FAU who Miami has been targeting. FIU is quietly building a solid program. FAU has already won a couple bowl games in the last few years. Now Im not talking obviously 5 star studs, but they are taking those high quality 3 star guys that we use to see go to Miami. You add in Florida raiding the state for the elite talent and it just isnt a good combination. Just look at Miami’s latest recruiting class. Miami fan use to think Randy Shannon was the man in south florida (Recruiting wise) he had the connections, every high school coach would lean their kids toward shannon before any other college coach. Times they do change!
c'mon son
May 10th, 2010
8:20 pm
Why jump from a great chance to win the conference into a conference that has no chance of winning?
KGator79
May 10th, 2010
8:21 pm
The whole FSU attendance thing really gets me. FSU generally has a big following. I guess Im just remember the days of Gator games where even in our 6-5 days of the 80s the swamp was always sold out and loud. Maybe though in the day of every game being on TV if your program falls to that level you dont feel the need to actually go, just find what channel its on and save your money.
SEC MAN
May 10th, 2010
8:26 pm
BIG BEE, The SEC may be only 11 and 10 vs. the ACC the last two seasons but the SEC is also 11 and 10 vs. the ACC with 4 straight National Championships. How many titles did the ACC win the last ten years? I didn’t think you had much for that.
SEC MAN
May 10th, 2010
8:29 pm
Whatever we do I hope we don’t add Miami. Miami doesn’t play on campus and they don’t fill up their stadium. They also wouldn’t be a good cultural fit (see Lane Kiffin). Georgia Tech would be a good fit but they also struggle to fill their stadium. My guess would be Clemson and Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Don’t count out FSU either.
I am the dog
May 10th, 2010
8:37 pm
small D*#k…shut up your making all UGA fans sick. enough already. Please shut up and turn off your tandy, or go pull for some one else.
CatsFly
May 10th, 2010
8:40 pm
The ACC is in no way interested in allowing NCState to leave the conference. NCState is a fine university, always has been, and always will be. When I graduated HS in 1962 (and matriculated at UNC), only smart kids from my high school went to NCState. While they are more liberal in accepting students today, they still have outstanding science and technical degree programs, to include through the PhD level. People outside of academia might just be ignorant when it comes to evaluating colleges and universities.
Tony the Blowhard
May 10th, 2010
8:41 pm
Remember when TB was telling us all that “you better get Virginia now because they were headed to permanent “Top 5″ status because of Groh’s recruiting? Al Groh is the DC at Tech now. I love Blowhard’s “warnings”
Rob
May 10th, 2010
8:52 pm
One of the blogs on the espn site speculates that the Big 10 might be considering Vanderbilt, Maryland, and Georgia Tech. Apparently the argument is that they are all good academic fits located in major cities that are easy to travel to. It’s hard for me to see Vandy or Tech going to the Big 10, but Maryland (and the DC tv market) wouldn’t suprise me.
Delbert D.
May 10th, 2010
9:04 pm
Sec Man – I think Ga. Tech’s attendance figures would improve a lot if UT, Auburn, and Florida visited regularly instead of Miami, Virginia, and UNC.
GT fan
May 10th, 2010
9:18 pm
With that dumbo Swofford leading the way, the ACC will fail.
Phillip
May 10th, 2010
9:19 pm
I just get the sense that Tech and FSU are destined for the SEC very soon. I would be thrilled with that. Slive would probably match the Big TEN (whatever they would be), but I don’t have as good a feel for what the other teams would be. Clemson and Louisivlle could be interesting. But Tech and the Noles a certainty in my opinion.
Phillip
May 10th, 2010
9:20 pm
And another thought. Tech joining the SEC would be great for the AJC!
AtlHeel
May 10th, 2010
9:26 pm
I think the ACC should use expension as a way to recruit Vanderbilt to the ACC. Vandy is the only “true” academic school in the SEC. According to US News and World Report, Vandy is rated in the top 40 universities, along with Duke, UNC, UVA, Wake Forest, Ga Tech and BC. It creates more natural rivalries as a result. Yes, their football teams are not great, but they have become more competitive. I would much rather have Vanderbilt than Rutgers in the ACC. Not sure Vandy would move based on the amount of $$ they make in the SEC. The only ACC schools that would fit in well academically in the SEC would be Clemson and FSU. So they would be a good fit if they moved to the SEC.
GO HEELS
May 10th, 2010
9:40 pm
GIVE THE SEC FSU AND MIAMI
WHILE WE TAKE VANDY AND USC FROM THE SEC
ALONG WITH ECU PITT WVU AND LOUISVILLE
THAT WILL CUT DOWN TRAVEL COST FROM HAVING BC FLY ALL THE TO FLORIDA…
USC WILL BE PLAYING CLEMSON AND THAT WILL BE A CONF GAME WHICH WILL ADD MORE FUEL TO THE FIRE….NOT TO MENTION WVU VA ,VA TECH PLAYING EACH OTHER EVERY YEAR….
WE ALL KNOW THAT ALL THE IN STATE NC GAMES WILL BE SOLD AS THEY ALWAYS DO WITH UNC,,DOOK,ECU,NCSTATE, AND WAKE FOREST IN STATE RECURITING WILL BE CUT THROAT..