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
GO HEELS
May 13th, 2010
9:48 am
The ACC may not be the hunted the hunter may have become the hunted being the SEC….. ACC comissoner Swofford stated in a press conference that all 12 teams were comfortable in the ACC… Va will not be competitive the first bet in the SEC… It wouldnt be a good move for Va Tech b/c they will be losing the dominate position that they have established in the ACC… Im expecting for the tables to turn and the ACC will invite Vandy and SC and perhaps Pitt and ECU…. I think the ACC will bend a little and except ECU despite Academic issues…
It will turn alot of currensy with them being in the ACC ,you dont have to spend boat loads of money for travel expenses…. Pluse ECU fans travel very when playing in state schools and visa versa for the other NC schools…
OB-1
May 13th, 2010
10:32 am
Go Heels, I could agree with all but ECU, just insert U Conn instead as a rival for BC.
Hey "Go Heels"
May 13th, 2010
1:05 pm
Stats don’t mean sh*t if you still can’t get over .500 in the ACC. What’s been your record the past 5 years with all those great stats? We hear this year after year about UNC and yet still no results. Stats are great but results are better…..You’re ripping on a team that beat you 24-7 last year and were ACC Champs. Talk some trash when your team actually does something meaningful in the conference….Until then…congrats on those stats!
GO HEELS
May 13th, 2010
1:06 pm
QB-1 I agree with 100% but I just dont think the ACC is that cut throat…. We already took away Va Tech Miami and BC then we will be taking Pitt and UCONN from the Big East…..WOW…LMAO…. But it could happen….
GO HEELS
May 13th, 2010
1:14 pm
IM saying that Nesbitt want win the Hiesman…. By any means or even be considered….We beat you guys the year before last when you guys were so great but u got SMASHED by LSU with that garbage offense…. We beat Miami BC Dook two and three years straight we jus lose to teams who we are suppose to beat because of QB PLAY….. Ga Tech has to learn new defensive scheme which you guysdont have the LB’S for you guys may not have a overall record above 500
Hey "Go Heels"
May 13th, 2010
2:20 pm
That “garbage offense”?!?! Maybe YOU should do some research. Tech put up 406 yards total offense on your Heels last year (317 of that rushing). Add in 42 minutes time of possesion! If it’s “garbage” why can’t your highly touted big time recruited defense stop it?! Like I said, become relevant and get over .500 in the ACC…then talk trash. What leg have you got to stand on here? You’re riping on Tech’s offense?!? A team that just won the ACC and was second in the country in rushing!?! Sounds like someone’s just a tad jealous…..
Hey "Go Heels"
May 13th, 2010
2:26 pm
Oh and I agree with you….Nesbitt will not win the heisman. But he’s damn sure better than Tyler freakin Yates or any other garbage QB you’ll trot out over there.
GO HEELS
May 13th, 2010
4:56 pm
Hello if you had that long of positions evidently our offense wasnt producing we had millions of three and outs…. U can put the Panthers defense on the field 45 mins and you will still get alot of total yardage the kids are human…. If you had 405 yds total yardage and scored 24 points that isnt very impressive….. Iam going to give you one name Bryn Rynner…. future hiesman…
Expand This! The ACC Should Look North « College Basketball
May 13th, 2010
8:53 pm
[...] So what the hell does all this mean for the ACC? [...]
Hey "GO HEELS"
May 14th, 2010
10:01 am
You still have not responsed to my original point. Why are you talking trash when the Heels have done nothing of recent memory in the ACC? NOTHING! Tech has owned you over the past 10 years and they have and ACC Championship. These big time recruits are still not bringing you championships so maybe it’s coaching? Or maybe you should wait until your team actually does something before you boast about how good they are. Especially when you’re on a blog talking trash about the Champs ” garbage offense” that owned you last year. Let us know when your team does something. Until then….UNC will always be over rated!
Pitt Blather — The Rantings Continue Permalink » It Is Nothing But Speculation Expansion
May 14th, 2010
10:33 am
[...] contract. As usual things revolve around ESPN if the ACC wants national attention. There have been rumors about Fox Sports and NFL Network deals being bandied about but in the end remaining on ESPN is important. They’re the “masters of the college [...]
Football Folly
May 14th, 2010
4:35 pm
Here’s the plan…the ACC goes out and gets West Virginia, Louisville, Memphis and UConn right now. They meet with Fox and the NFL network and offer the two a package with their Football, basketball, baseball and soccer togeather and ask for 3.5 billion from the two for a 12 to 15 year deal. Fox gets the best basketball league in the land plus they split costs with the NFL network. It makes them a top 3 player and is a deal for Fox which gets 3 or 4 sports to cover at a reduced rate (since the NFL network would offset some of the cost). It’d be a win-win for all involved.
Then if the SEC raids the ACC it is less likely that any of the schools would leave and if they did the league would still have solid footing in sports (they might have to grab an ECU, Syrcause, South Florida or Temple, but it wouldnt be a league-killer.
Vol Fan
May 16th, 2010
9:46 am
The ACC and SEC could form a TV alliance. They could play 2 ACC-SEC games a year in football. It would beat the heck of the current non-conference games we are stuck with. The ACC/SEC alliance would blow the Big 12/Pac 10 out of the water.
Fred
June 6th, 2010
6:46 am
The best move in my opinion for the ACC is as follows (to best prevent an SEC raid and maintain its top 2-3 overall academic rankings currrently 1) IVY 2) ACC/BIG 10 3) PAC 10…the rest.
Add: CUSE/UCONN/WVU/PITT to the northern block along w BC & MD,, VT & Miami (Lville & Memphis as alts.
All bring major new markets,world class top tier programs and research dollars. The case for outlier WVU is that they are winners, fully commited to athletics as their results have shown and their biggest plus..theu.consistently, put asses in the seats which the ACC needs. If desperatey for at bowl parings time
Fred
June 6th, 2010
7:00 am
WIth the above combined basketball pedigree, the new unrivaled ACC basketball would be shoot through the roof with the adition of an ACC network covering Newy/NE som w
football folly
June 8th, 2010
10:42 am
Whats with all the chatter about Swafford & the ACC boys talking to the Irish? Man I hope that doesnt happen! I just dont see it working. If Im the clowns at the ACC I go after Louisville & Memphis RIGHT NOW. Why? Because it makes the Carolina and old school basketballers happy, it keeps the footprint somewhat intact, by expandingto 14 you gain a level of proection from other expansions and you become a bit more in control of whats happening to the league in all this.