
This was the sad scene in Jacksonville at the 2007 ACC title game. Attendance was announced as 53,212.
The ACC wanted to be the SEC. It wanted the money, the clout, the conference championship game, the TV contracts and pollsters to give mid-level ACC teams the benefit of the doubt because, well, they were in the ACC.
But once again, the ACC looks like a souffle that keeps collapsing.
Georgia Tech lost to Georgia Saturday. Clemson lost to South Carolina. So both halves of next week’s ACC championship game in Tampa lost to mid-level SEC teams that are headed to third-tier bowl games. That’s not how a conference gets money or clout or a big TV contract or the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, the SEC title game matches No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama.
While Tech coach Paul Johnson tries to figure out how to motivate his players after Saturday’s lost to the Dogs, ACC commissioner John Swofford needs to figure out how to spin this almost annual disaster into a positive. Good luck with that.
The conference has never received the marquee Miami-Florida State match-up it was hoping for when it expanded and split into two strangely divided geographic divisions (Atlantic and Coastal). Here’s the ACC’s brief championship game history:
♦ 2005: The first game has been the high point. It was a good game (FSU beat Virginia Tech, 27-22), was well attended in Jacksonville (72,749) and TV ratings that exceeded the SEC and Big 12 title games.
♦ 2006: Tech and Wake Forest were the surprise finalists and played a dreadful, touchdown-less game (won by Wake, 9-6). That year, just as this year, the Jackets were coming off a season-ending loss to Georgia. Announced attendance on Jacksonville dropped 10,000 (62,850).
♦ 2007: Two teams from the distant north (Boston College and Virginia Tech) caused attendance to continue to plummet. The No. 5 Hokies won, 30-16, so at least it gave the conference a highly ranked team going into the bowls. But then Virginia Tech was upset by Kansas in the Orange Bowl.
♦ 2008: The game was moved to Tampa. But it was the repeat matchup the ACC couldn’t afford. This time, B.C. and VaTech drew only 27,360 — which means half of the tickets distributed/sold weren’t even used. The Hokies won, 30-12. Not that anybody noticed.
♦ 2009: This week’s losses and the economy likely will hurt attendance. Regardless, the game would’ve garnered a lot more attention if Tech and Clemson were coming off victories.
468 comments Add your comment
came to get my medicine
November 29th, 2009
7:57 pm
uga fans are syphilitics
came to get my medicine
November 29th, 2009
7:58 pm
case and point Snoop Dawg
rich
November 29th, 2009
7:58 pm
Hey ‘Where’s the apology’….who the Hell is GTU??? It’s not Georgia Tech University, you putz.
came to get my medicine
November 29th, 2009
8:00 pm
face it. syphilis takes a toll on the rednecks ability to function properly and come up with a burn that actually makes sense.
Brogen's Hero
November 29th, 2009
8:00 pm
Enter your comments here
Brogen's Hero
November 29th, 2009
8:04 pm
St Simons take your medicine like a man. I see you techster’s are already making excuses for losing. The ACC is a nice little conference but when your two best can’t beat medicore SEC teams, you suck. 30 – 24 Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Coach Richt
November 29th, 2009
8:05 pm
I think we should play Tech in Jacksonville so that we can finally win a game in Duval county.
7-5 dawgs are STRUGGLING for attention
November 29th, 2009
8:07 pm
7-5 is STRUGGLING
7-5 is just plain pitiful
7-5 looking at 7-6 after a very minor bowl game is really
struggling for attention
when your in-state rival is headed towards the Orange Bowl
and a final record of 12-2.
Dawg'94
November 29th, 2009
8:09 pm
Lets face it…..most Tech fans were in the middle school band & STILL dress up in Star Wars stuff. They know NOTHING about football. Tech & the ACC are TERRIBLE. 30-24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully we have Van Gorder back next year & Richt starts calling the plays again. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!
Vskee(BIGDAWG48)
November 29th, 2009
8:09 pm
No risk of the nerds having syphilis. Don’t worry, your pocket protectors provide comfort on nights like Saturday. If you’re having trouble figuring out simple shat fags…yellow is the color of piss…your school will never equate to anything close to that of UGA…and your mascot gets regularly exterminated where ever present…case and point…Saturday night.
Enjoy the ACC Championship game…I sure all 2500 fans will appreciate you all showed up. Are you all on TELLEOVISION for yo game? How bout sending us some cell snap shots of the extravaganza?!
GO DAWGS!!!
With Georgia Tech loss, ACC struggling for attention again | Jeff … | Georgia Today
November 29th, 2009
8:17 pm
[...] Read the original: With Georgia Tech loss, ACC struggling for attention again | Jeff … [...]
Vskee(BIGDAWG48)
November 29th, 2009
8:18 pm
7-5 says less about us but more about your sorry excuse for a team losing to us! The SEC is tired of taking VT to the woodshed. Clemson gets it regularly from SC and FS…well, they get beat down just like we do when they play Fl. Where and who is this steam train known as the ACC gonna ever get it together???? We would gladly welcome a couple of you guys to a real conference.
PITIFUL = Duke, WF, BC, ……..being in a conference with tech, maryland, ncstate, nc, virginia…etc
I just chunked in my mouth looking at the list!
Vskee(BIGDAWG48)
November 29th, 2009
8:22 pm
Now tech fans can go back to blogging about twilight and the next dungeon and dragons!
LOL….Go Dawgs!
Tyler
November 29th, 2009
8:22 pm
It seems that teams that aren’t in the SEC really have to prove themselves to be ranked as high as GT (#7). GT’s argument is their 10-2 record and their 2-1 record vs SEC teams. Let’s not forget that their two wins were against the bottom-feeders of the SEC (Vandy & Miss St). Now, with the two best ACC teams losing to two average SEC teams… I’m just not impressed!
Lets be honest
November 29th, 2009
8:28 pm
Playing at Bobby Dodd is like home field advantage for the Dawgs. You Techies haven’t won at home since the last millennium (1999)… Literally. How pathetic. Tech has the nicest high school stadium I’ve ever seen. WE OWN TECH! ALWAYS HAVE, ALWAYS WILL. 8 FOR 9 BABY!! DAMN IT FEELS SOOOOOO GOOD!
About acc, georgia tech’s, game, clemson | Find me About
November 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
[...] This was the sad scene in Jacksonville at the 2007 ACC title game. Attendance was announced as 53212. The ACC wanted to be the SEC. It wanted the money, the clout, the conference championship game, the TV contracts and pollsters to give mid-level ACC…Read Original Story: With Georgia Tech loss, ACC struggling for attention again – Atlanta Jour… [...]
Johnny Test
November 29th, 2009
8:40 pm
Bama Jacket… Glad it hurts so bad.. you should be used to it by now.. I hear your family tree is a straight line..
The A she she conference should drop football..
Reality… here are some facts for you UGA 30 Tech 24… 8 out if the last 9 and 60/39/5… Can you say dominated
Listen up dog fans
November 29th, 2009
8:40 pm
VskeeBIGDAWG 48, thats the type comment that gives your fanbase a bad name. I know you hear the same trash from the Tech side also, but whats the point?
CBB1
November 29th, 2009
8:42 pm
Hey Seattle Jack-off,
Your comment about the UGA fans dipping snuff, I have a good bit of friends who are Tech fans and they are the biggest freakin’ rednecks I know. Whether you agree or not, every college team has redneck fans. The only ones who don’t are the Ivy League. Those Tech fans of mine would rather spend their weekend curled up in a deer stand with their other redneck friends instead of at home curled up on the couch with their wife.
As far as Richt’s comment about Murray only knowing about half the UGA playbook-that is because UGA actually has a playbook. GA Tech doesn’t have a playbook since Paul Johnson only has 5 plays. I would much rather have Murray on our team instead of that pathetic excuse for a QB like Jaybo Shaw. He is a joke and will get killed in 2011 if he is your starter. I saw him play at Flowery Branch and he is no better now than he was then. Keep making excuses for Dwyer having a bad night. He ran up and down the field on us last year and UGA had him in their sights then. We just basically took him and your O-line & D-line to the woodshed. We will have all but 1 starter back on the OL next year, along with Sturdivant back from injury, so bring your entire DL back. I just hope you guys have a big, strong, fast QB who can throw after Nesbitt leaves or you guys won’t beat UGA the next 4 years.
As far as UGA fans trash talking to GA Tech fans-those friends of mine who are Tech fans are the most obnoxious of any fans I know. So don’t sit here and say UGA fans are a bunch of trash talking mutts when your fans are just as bad. Every team trash talks about their rival. I am a UGA alum, and I will admit it, I wanted to win this game last night as bad as any this year.
Johnny Test
November 29th, 2009
9:00 pm
TECH fan excuses….
It was only 6 points… you were totally dominated
You hurt our QB on purpose… grow up.. He played all but two series
The SEC refs cheat for ALA and FLA… They both would hang 50 on Tech
Tech beats SEC schools… yea Mississipp State and Vanderbilt with 8 turnovers and Vandy’s #1 QB out of the game
Who cares we are playing for the A-She-She Campionship… yea but nobody cares and you won’t beat Clemson
We’re going to the Orange Bowl… not really and if they could change their mind they’ rather have a 7 and 5 SEC team than a 10 and 2 A-She-She team.
Then it goes into … We are smarter and make more money.. really..
Then it’s your a redneck and live in a trailer… creative
We are talking football here twits and you just got beat for 8 out of the last 9 tries and this was the best team you could muster in the last 20 years… We are goning to be lots better next year.
In the famous words of a loyal Tech fan… Glad it hurts so bad and it is only the beginning of continued domination
Johnny Test
November 29th, 2009
9:04 pm
Proud Jacket Fan… You should change your name to Dumb Jacket fan… Please show us the source of information that says Tech has more SEC championships thanUGA.
Johnny Test
November 29th, 2009
9:09 pm
TC… this “hatchet wound of a program just dominated the best team you could put together in the last 20 years. That’s the difference, when we are down we are still better than Tech… That’s why we dominate.. Learn to love it… Glad it hurts so bad
Russ
November 29th, 2009
9:13 pm
Someone remind what they’re playing for again….5th place in the SEC East?
Vskee(BIGDAWG48)
November 29th, 2009
9:29 pm
It’s actually 2nd place in the east and DOMINATION OVER THE STATE…IDiOt!
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
9:46 pm
Johnny Test that moron has Tech confused with Alabama.
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
9:49 pm
CBB1, thank you for proving our point….quite the classy little fella!
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
9:50 pm
Johnny Test, go to ncaa.com…..all you need to know
Vskee(BIGDAWG48)
November 29th, 2009
9:57 pm
All I can Say iS 8 out of 9!!!!! 30-24….364!!!! I know you like numbers nerds! Dive into those for a while!
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
Vskee(BIGDAWG48), we DO like numbers….4 national championships….how many do ya’ll have? How about stadium capacity? Ya’ll have more seats in them….sadly, just means that there are more witnesses to the biggest waste of a program….all those wins stacked up and you can’t EVEN keep up with us on national championships! I’m sure you have some more numbers…last night’s score…overall record versus Tech…adds up to NOT much! Good win, though…
We own this newspaper and this state
November 29th, 2009
10:31 pm
Two words: Gridiron Club
We own you too NERDS!!!
Wreckmaniac
November 29th, 2009
10:38 pm
Peakiller; Since GA beat SC and SC beat Clemson, it does not mean that GA has won the Super Bowl. Since KY beat UGA it means that UGA goes to the Insignificance Bowl.
Tech Engineer
November 29th, 2009
10:41 pm
Tech will never have the talent of teams like UGA, due to the significant differences in academics and admission standards. When Tech beats UGA, it is a big win, but when you can recruit these 5 star, half-illiterate players like uga does, it’s difficult to compete every year. But, Tech will still be in a real bowl game—the Orange Bowl, while ga gets stuck in atlanta in that minor bowl game.
Wreckmaniac
November 29th, 2009
10:44 pm
All I know is that the BCS has 3 ACC teams and three SEC teams in the top 20. The SEC has to live with the fact that it is a 2 tier conf:
FL and AL along with 10 practice teams.
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:44 pm
Don’t you mean 3 1/2 macrotech? Only the 1/2 coming in the face mask era. Those NCs.? Who cares? 30-24 you cretin. LMAO!
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:48 pm
One of which beats your azz with boring regularity Wreckmaniac? 30-24 idiot child. LMAO!
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:50 pm
Can you believe that moron Wreckmaniac admits the cream of the ACC crop gets their butts handed to them by SEC practice teams? That’s pretty weak. You had to dig deep to come up with one that stupid didn’t you Einstein?
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
10:54 pm
BitDawgBarking, no, I mean 4….look it up on ncaa’s website….it clerifies that each team in a split gets credit for a full championship; CU got one in 1990 and TECH got one in 1990. THEY all add up to MORE than your dawgs…. now THAT’S the saddest thing I’ve ever heard of…. again, nice win! By the way, uga ONLY gets credit for the one in 1980.
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:54 pm
By the time the bowls are over the ACC stands a very good chance of having 0 teams in the top 25. Happens every year. The bowl games weed you wannabees out. GT will be about #20 when Clemson beats them and after they inevitably lose their bowl game they’ll be out of the top 25. Happens every year.
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
Even the pollsters hate you wannabees but never will bees. GT isn’t even a blip on the college football radar screen and they perpetuate that by choking every single season when it gets down to the nut cutting. 38-3….30-24…history always repeats itself when you’re Georgia Tech.
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
11:03 pm
If you could get those practice teams off your schedule you might could win a game or 2 when they really count, huh macrotech? Those practice teams are way too tough for the girls from North Avenue. It ain’t where you start it’s where you finish. And Tech inevitably finishes out of the top 10. Just can’t handle those 5 loss practice teams. When’s the great PJ gonna fix that?
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
11:14 pm
Now that you’ve pulled the leather helmet era NCs out of your arsenal, now tell us how all your football players are studying to be rocket scientists through that program that sends them over to Morehouse to take their more challenging classes. You maggots seem to always leave out the Morehouse factoid. But when the occasional Tech footballer does actually stay eligible and get a degree, does it say 1/2 GT degree, 1/2 Morehouse. What does Joe Hamiltons History of Technology diploma say? Honorary?
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
11:20 pm
You GT guys sure are entertaining. That little brother syndrome sure produces a lot of priceless humor. Keep it up guys. It’s very healthy to laugh and thanks to GT a hell of a lot of Dawg fans are going to live forever.
BitDawgBarking
November 29th, 2009
11:23 pm
Oh by the way. SEC practice team 38 GT 3 SEC practice team 30 GT 24. For a bunch that thinks they’re so smart it sure is dumb to schedule practice games that make you look so inept. That’s kinda stupid wouldn’t you think?
Herschel Talker
November 29th, 2009
11:29 pm
Schultzie -
You are most definitely in the minority. The UGA defense would likely not have stopped the option from getting into the endzone. There was a minute and a half left – plenty of time. And if you’re going to throw, bombs were not the way to go. The bread and butter is the rushing option offense, and he abandoned it at the worst possible time.
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
11:48 pm
BitDawgBarking, i never referred to sec teams as practice squads….you’re rambling on so much that you’re crossing up bloggers’ statements….it’s cool! I also don’t give a crap about conference affiliations…it’s the games between two teams that matter to me…again, nice win! However, I think it’s sad that a team that is as amazing as the pups are, has ONLY won one national trophy compared to such an inferior team….TECH! I recognize that Tech has some players that are only at Tech because they’re needed for football….they STILL have to manage a tougher than normal class schedule…not sure about your Morehouse reference….if it’s intended to be an insult, then your racism is SAD! Reading your posts…I’m not confident that college was much of a priority to you…whatever! The dawgs beat their instate rivalry last night… I hate it, but it is what it is. You’ll always be a pathetic mutt fan that hasn’t said anything all season until now…bark all you want…you’d never say any of this stuff to anyone in person and that cracks me up!
p.s. if you’re going to get on here and tell me that you’d meet me anywhere, blah, blah, blah….save it….we already know you’re a big man on the internet!
macrotech
November 29th, 2009
11:50 pm
Herschel Talker, I’m DYING to know why we stopped running the ball when we did…..it MAY have the most genius thing CPJ has ever done…the dawgs MAY get stuck with Martinez AND Bobo for another season! The man IS brilliant!!!
Barkin'Dog
November 30th, 2009
12:35 am
Now go beat the Tigers, Tech! A lot of us CF Fans pull or our team 1st, then our conference, and then our state. Knock the Palmetto Palms off of Clemson’s arse and show that Georgia has the better football than SC. Some of us know the Jackets may have been looking ahead to the ACCCG. It happens. But, for heaven’s sake, watch what you say about a game that hasn’t been played. It could come back and bite you in the… Woof-Woof!
The Truth
November 30th, 2009
1:52 am
Hey matthew, even though your team played it’s best game of the year (by far), I wouldn’t get too jacked up about a five loss season. Besides FL and AL, the SEC has nothing. Good thing you only had GT offense for three quarters with Nesbit out…count your gift wrapped blessings moron.
The Truth
November 30th, 2009
1:59 am
Schdule LSU in the CFA bowl??? Good one, moron. As for dawg fans living forever, you mean like uga vii?
Rex
November 30th, 2009
2:13 am
Yet more proof that the ACC should have stayed a nice, 8-team conference. That makes for a perfect basketball tourney and means every team plays every other team in football AND can still schedule 5 non-conference games. (As long as we are going back to the future, let’s get rid of that 12th game. Most schools, like Florida, only use it to play a cupcake at home and rake in more money.)