Pitt, Syracuse move ACC ahead in college hypocrisy derby
That's SEC's Mike Slive to left and ACC's John Swofford in middle. Each plot to take over world.
Congratulations ACC: You just killed a conference.
Funny. That never was mentioned in the ACC-Syracuse-Pittsburgh teleconference Sunday morning. It was all about patting each other on the back and — let me quote John Swofford directly: “This is a monumental day in the history of our league.”
The Big East? Collateral damage.
The ACC confirmed this morning what had been speculated for a few days: It walked through the back door of the Big East when nobody was looking and the lights were turned out and heisted Syracuse and Pitt from the Big East. And the buildings in college sports Armageddon continue to crumble.
Wake me when college presidents hold their next press conference on the virtues of amateur athletics and academic reform.
After Pacific 10 expansion (with more to come), and impending SEC expansion with Texas A&M (with more to come) and Big Ten expansion (with more to come), the ACC again proved it’s just as bad as the rest of them.
Tradition and regional rivalries and all the makes college sports so wonderfully unique just took another hit. This all comes with a fatter television contract serving as the primary — make that only — motivating factor. The next college president who waves the flag of amateurism gets a pie in the face.
Just can’t wait for those natural geographic rivalry games between Syracuse and Wake Forest, and Pitt and Clemson. The ACC will now have 14 members spread over nine states: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.
When do they move north into the Maritimes or south into Cuba? The conference schedule should come with a GPS. Or a rail pass. Or a space shuttle.
When the Big East folds into oblivion — or at least is rendered meaningless on the college sports landscape — it can point to the ACC as the relative Axis powers, having lost five schools to the conference: Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Syracuse.
Yeah, I guess I’m just old. I’ve been banging on this drum for weeks. What others see as progress, I see as a wrecking ball. Four 16-team conferences, which is where we’re headed, accomplishes nothing in the big picture.
All it does is shoot the big picture full of holes.
Some Recent blogs on this topic:
• Texas A&M’s move to SEC evidence of NCAA’s lost mission
• Big 12 schools may sue if Texas A&M leaves for SEC
• Problem in college athletics isn’t kids, its guys in suits
the headache go away. We’ll know more over the next few weeks.
By Jeff Schultz
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360 comments Add your comment
Jeff Schultz
September 18th, 2011
12:13 pm
GT Trumpet — I’m sure in time new rivalries will develop. Doesn’t it make it right, in my view.
Jeff Schultz
September 18th, 2011
12:15 pm
Steven — I’ve been consistent in saying they’re all evil, not just one. ACC is not the cause of everybody’s problems. But they’re one of the main reasons.
Jeff Schultz
September 18th, 2011
12:16 pm
Gordon — Very simple. I would love to see a conference take a public stand and say this is wrong and see where it goes. But falling in line with others and doing this, ACC has merely ensured what’s going to happen.
William Satterwhite
September 18th, 2011
12:17 pm
Jeff, you do realize it’s somewhat ironic to complain about a)lost rivalries and b)long trips like south Florida to upstate New York considering that Syracuse and Miami were two of the stalwarts of the “classic” (if a made for tv conference less than 30 years old is really worth crying over) Big East and no one had any issues with that trip when both were in the Big East- if anything, the ACC is reviving a rivalry and as for Pitt, there’s no reason why they won’t be able to keep their rivalry with West Virginia just as Tech, Florida St and Clemson have their out of conference rivalries. The only serious threat to any legitimate rivalry games (Pitt and Cincy’s fake rivalry game doesn’t count) revolves around the Texas issue and this move clearly shows that the ACC is not too keen on being a party to that one. Also, before we get too far with the arguments that the new ACC is too strung out, has anyone ever actually paid any attention to the traditional Pac-10 and the distance between LA and Seattle? Just like the Pac-10 has long been a conference encompassing the strongest schools all along the west coast, the new ACC will simply be a conference encompassing most of the top schools in the east coast states. The hysteria against this move (and UConn and Rutgers coming in later) is largely overblown.
GR82BAG8R, Pennsylvania is very much on the Atlantic coast, the addition of Pitt to the ACC is no different than having Georgia Tech, UVA or Virginia Tech in the ACC- those schools are far inland but the states are nevertheless on the Atlantic coast.
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
12:17 pm
Paul in NH (formerly RDU) – nice try, but the Delaware River is owned/controlled by Delaware and New Jersey from the Ocean to the Pennsylvania border. Pennsylvania does not touch the Atlantic Coast. It does not control any ingress/egress to the Atlantic Ocean….
The ACC is now the ACC-PP (Atlantic Coast Conference Plus Pittsburgh)..
JDawg1785
September 18th, 2011
12:18 pm
Your clever title says it all, Jeff. College athletics is, sadly, looking more and more like the pros every day.
this guy
September 18th, 2011
12:19 pm
this move i think puts the ACC in the expansion drivers’ seat now. apparently upwards of 10 schools have approached the ACC. rumor yesterday was Texas and Kansas being linked to a possible 15th and 16th team league expansion. Am I crazy to think that could maybe happen? (ok, I probably am…)
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
12:25 pm
William Satterwhite – the State of Georgia and the Commonwealth of Virginia touch the Atlantic Coast. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not. Adding Pittsburgh as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference makes the ACC like the Big-whatevernumber Conference where the name has nothing to do with the members.
Atlantic Coast is different than East Coast – - but that name is already taken by some Division II schools.
GTJeff
September 18th, 2011
12:26 pm
GR82BAG8R you are an idiot. What did the ACC do to FSU when it joined? It dominated it, won 12 ACC titles, 2 National Championships & went to countless BCS bowls. Must be a UGAY grad.
Chris
September 18th, 2011
12:31 pm
Jeff, Are you saying there is no geographic logic to this move? Last I checked it is the ATLANTIC COAST conference. And if my memory is correct the Atlantic Coast goes from Florida to Maine.
povox
September 18th, 2011
12:32 pm
Based on some of the comments, I wonder how many of you actually read what Jeff writes. Do you make it past the the headline? Otherwise it appears your levels of reading comprehension are more on par with APS students.
William Satterwhite
September 18th, 2011
12:33 pm
GR82BAG8R, while Pennsylavnia may not directly touch the Atlantic Ocean, it has a connection to a body of water that flows into the Atlantic. Philadelphia was the largest seaport in a Colonial America that included New York, Savannah and Boston, that only happens if there is easy access to the Atlantic. If no one ever complained about schools in Arizona being in the Pacific 10 conference for 30+ years, Pitt should be perfectly fine in the ACC
Chris
September 18th, 2011
12:34 pm
Also, why are you pointing the finger at the ACC? They accepted approved membership to two schools who actively applied for it. Syracuse and Pitt came to the ACC to get out of the Big East, not the other way around.
Gatorman
September 18th, 2011
12:35 pm
The little east will survive by adding Central Florida, Southern Miss, and a few other higher echelon Conference USA teams. The rumor has Oklahoma going west, but I think the Big 10 will make a better offer, and Texas going to the ACC is ridiculous (out of the primary area), but coming in behind TX A&M makes perfect sense. The Big 12 could reform with the remaining teams but adding in TCU, Houston and possibly Boise State, and maybe be a more interesting conference than they are now. As far as purity in college sports, what a laugh?!! College sports has never ever had purity going back to the days of players moving from team to team (whoever paid the most). Liberal view of purity in the world has no place in American College Sports, they have always stayed one level higher than despicable.
bhamwreck
September 18th, 2011
12:44 pm
People don’t like change as a general rule. Jeff really doesn’t explain WHY he thinks everyone is a hypocrite. If I work hard and move out of my smaller house to a bigger house am I a hypocrite and a deserter? You should always try to improve yourself and improve things at your job and in your life. The ACC is a great conference with excellent academics and great member institutions. Welcome to Pitt and Syracuse from this GT fan.
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
12:47 pm
GTJeff – - FSU’s decline began when they became infected with ACC-itis. They were able to dominate the conference until it infected them.
What is the ACC’s record in BCS bowl games?
What has FSU done since 1999???? Your name implies you went to Tech. Use the skills they provided you and prove me wrong….
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
12:51 pm
The ACC is a good mid-major conference. It’s football stadiums are small to mid-sized, to include the addition of Syracuse Carrier Dome (smaller than Tech’s stadium) and Pittsburgh (about the size of Virginia Tech’s). The only large stadiums are Clems(paw)n and FSU.
Jacket Man
September 18th, 2011
12:53 pm
Everyone complaining about how bad the football programs are at Pitt and Syracuse sure have a short memory if you’re GA Tech fans. The Yellow Jackets we pretty much irrelevant in every sports (football, basketball – men’s AND women’s, basebal, etc), and we had some of the worst facilities in the country. If the ACC would have base admissions on the same criteria you’re trying to use now, GA Tech would never have been given a second thought.
We all know what happened after we were admitted; our facilities are second to none and we have one of the longest active bowl streaks in the country. Our football team won a share of the National Championship in 1990, and our men’s BB team played for the National Championship just a few years ago. Our baseball team is consistently ranked as are our tennis teams and golf team.
All of this came about AFTER we became a member of the ACC.
Don’t judge these programs right now; and I would suggest you even give them a bit of time to build their programs with the added conference revenues, just like we did.
bhamwreck
September 18th, 2011
12:53 pm
G8R – FSU had the same problem Penn State has now. A legacy coach who couldn’t see it was time to pass the torch ( and last years FSU team torched the gators and gamecocks pretty well) Based on how the noles are recruiting lately I wouldn’t be talking too much smack about how your gators will do against them in the next 5-10 years.
ACCFan
September 18th, 2011
12:55 pm
Where was this article when the SEC offered Texas A&M? What a hypocrite.
Also, the ACC just flat out owned the SEC in the expasion game. Owned. Have fun adding Central Florida, ECU and Louisville to the SEC. Lmao.
GTville
September 18th, 2011
12:57 pm
My bet is there are some conditions on the $20M exit fee. Going to 14 this weekend was critical as OK and TX are meeting Monday and the ACC wants to make it known they will be the 4th Superconference. If B12 stays, then there will be 5 and we will wait another decade or so. If B12 implodes, then I believe Notre Dame goes to the ACC along with UConn and Rutgers, TX and TCU.
Hey, thats 19!!! That’s right because SEC is picking up FSU, GT and Clemson. It is only fair to TN, AL, and MS that SC, FL, GA have two SEC schools too. This will seal off all southern recruiting from the SE US. If you leave one or all three in the ACC, then ND and all the other programs will be battling in the SE for recruits. Pick them up and a southern HS player will only play in SEC.
BigTimeTECHFan
September 18th, 2011
12:57 pm
I hope ACC goes to 16 teams and the 4 new teams are:
Syracuse
Pitt
Texas
Kansas
1. Would be far and away best B-Ball conference by far
2. Would be better football conference adding Texas and Pitt is better improvement then Syracuse and Kansas are decrease, all 4 teams have had very nice football team, plus Texas is one the the best programs.
3. Don’t like for sports other then BBall & Football, cost of travel is a lot for the other sports
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
September 18th, 2011
12:58 pm
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
12:51 pm
The ACC is a good mid-major conference. It’s football stadiums are small to mid-sized,
——
By that criteria there are only 3 major conferences (SEC, Big 10 and Pac 10) and Rice should be a powerhouse
bhamwreck
September 18th, 2011
12:58 pm
FSU torched the gators and South Carolina last year. Based on their recruiting success they will be a major player in the next 5-10 years. They had the same problem Penn State has now – a legend coach who couldn’t see when it was time to retire.
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
1:01 pm
ACCFan, the SEC did not offer aTm – - it was aTm knocking at the door begging for sanctuary. The Automatic Teller Machines looked at their future with Texas and the Longhorn Network and did not like what they saw. The looked at the revenue the SEC provided and wanted in. The SEC did not go looking for aTm, it was the other way….
ACCFan
September 18th, 2011
1:02 pm
“Evil” “arms race” “killed”.
I really think you need some perspective in your life Schultz. Get a grip. Go outside. Read some news other than the sports section. Visit Africa. Read about North Korea. Help rebuild a house here in Alabama hit by the tornado. Then come back and talk about schools changing athletic conferences.
AFF
September 18th, 2011
1:02 pm
I can’t wait for the day that a greaseball lawyer gets a group of disgruntled former or current players together, to bring a class-action lawsuit against thes sue cash cow confrences for the money they made off their backs.
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
1:04 pm
Paul in NH (formerly RDU) – one yardstick to use is how well a team’s fan travel, especially to bowl games. This is all about money, and the sponsors of bowl games as well as TV networks like to see full stadiums.
GTville
September 18th, 2011
1:05 pm
Keep in mind DRAD said a year or so ago that he wanted to re-establish old rivalries and schedule games with nearby schools to reduce travel costs and allow fans to travel. The best way to do this is to join the SEC.
I hate to play Ole Miss, Miss State, Vandy, Ark, and KY instead of TX, ND, FSU, VT, Miami though. I think the new ACC will be powerful and with 1 spot at the Super 4 table, I believe the ACC is the place to be.
In 30-40 years, the conferences are all going to reduce to 10 teams which will allow all teams to play the exact 9 game schedule, then begin interconference play with the conference winners competing in a playoff and the remaining teams playing for bragging rights….almost what we had 20 years ago before the SEC expanded and kept their best teams from playing each other every year.
mwh6767
September 18th, 2011
1:06 pm
steven, I’m calling B.S on not only your seat location but your attendance of the tech game in general. I sit where you supposedly where and it was full as well as most of the stadium except the corner parts of the upper stands and the upper deck of the north stands. As for the noise level, tech fans are not a rowdy bunch however it did get loud when the game was interesting but it wasn’t interesting in the fourth qtr. when the home team is up 40plus. Take the red and black glasses off buddy, heard from one of my uga friends that samford stadium was at about 80% sat. as well.
LOL...
September 18th, 2011
1:08 pm
Shultz wins either way… if the ACC sat… he would write an article about how incompetent they were… really Jeff !! Why dont you write an article about the lack of journalistic integrity at the AJC..LOL
wombat
September 18th, 2011
1:09 pm
It this is a day of hyperbole, this column is one of Schultz Sanctimony.
Mike Morris
September 18th, 2011
1:11 pm
14 ACC members over 9 states on the Atlantic Coast bothers the writer but a Big East with Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, TCU etc is perfectly legit, I suppose.
cuse1989
September 18th, 2011
1:12 pm
“It (ACC) walked through the back door of the Big East when nobody was looking and the lights were turned out and heisted Syracuse and Pitt from the Big East” – The point is the lights should never have been out and the door should have been locked. Glad to be off of a sinking ship!
Blahblahblah
September 18th, 2011
1:16 pm
Big East football was only 20 years old, and never had clout as a conference. They were a revolving door from day 1.
Good riddance.
1eyedJack
September 18th, 2011
1:21 pm
“Ever been to Starkville???????????????”
The folks in Starkville buy all their tickets. Some even have to sell their foodstamps or not fill up the tractor for a week to get the money.
GT MAN
September 18th, 2011
1:22 pm
Jeff, I agree, I have hated the conference expansions since the SWC broke up. I guess now the Big East can invite Hawaii and New Mexico State. Its a shame the old conferences didnt last. Is the Missouri Valley Conference still around?
Titus
September 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
Hey Schultz if it’s so much about money and not academics / institutional control, than why hasn’t Texas ever given the $EC the slightest bit of consideration???? The higher ups at UT are on record as saying it is/was NEVER a consideration b/c of academics, reputation, among other things.
GPBurdell
September 18th, 2011
1:29 pm
there is no difference from what SEC did (accepting application from a very interested A&M) than what the aCC did (accepting applications from very interested Pitt & Syracuse). both acts are part of (but not alone) process that spells the deatknell of Big East and Big 12.
With the inevitabilty of 4 16 team conferences, ACC has established itself one along with the easy choices of SEC, PAC, Big 10. It will give more credibility for Texas, if they choose to stay out of PAC.
If i could deal with the Falcons & Braves being part of a west coast conference, i guess i can deal with this!
thedealbringer
September 18th, 2011
1:30 pm
Georgia to the ACC.
Before I get dozens of responses that tell me I’ve got SFB disease, think about it…Financially, if the ACC secures UConn or Rutgers, it will command the television sets along the east coast and will bring hoards of money on a TV deal. Adding UGA and its Atlanta alumni would only make it bigger. And, more teams means more bowl eligible teams and NCAA tourney teams. More $, even though the pie would be divided more. Academically, UGA wants to be in the same breath as UNC and Virginia. Also, playing in the New York, Boston, and DC areas would be great pub.
Competitively, UGA would be an instant contender in the ACC, would retain the Tech rivalry, and would renew the Clemson rivalry. The cocktail party is history, which, privately, I think UGA administrators would not be sad to see end. That game, for all its “glory”, essentially forces the school to schedule a break that week, it robs UGA of a conference home game every other year, and it, with the GT game, kills UGAs ability to schedule marquee home-and-home non-conference series. Auburn would be the only true rivalry that probably would be missed. If the SEC loses at own game here and is left with only 13 teams in mostly small markets, it becomes less attractive than a super-size ACC in the long term.
Flame away.
JSS
September 18th, 2011
1:32 pm
Jeff Schultz, don’t you anymore sleep over these fools… Teddy Roosevelt said years ago that college football their own worst enemy. Just let go the of Lehman Brothers and Bear Steans, they are like the greedy horde that gave us the seeds of the Wall Street failure. The only thing you really have to worry about is whether when if it implodes, will we all be stuck in the sleaze…
KR
September 18th, 2011
1:36 pm
Although I’m not a fan of the idea of superconferences, I really haven’t given it a second thought. It will either sort itself out or break everything In the end, something new will come along to cause even more angst.
William Satterwhite
September 18th, 2011
1:36 pm
GR82BAG8R, Pitt actually plays in an NFL stadium, their old on campus stadium is no more
Steven
September 18th, 2011
1:38 pm
mwh6767 I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong. Attendance announced was 42,025 against 55,000 capacity equaling 12,975 empty seats vs. the 20,000 I estimated earlier. That puts it at about 76% full for an incredibly beautiful fall day. I’m a Georgia Tech fan (though Virgina Tech alumni) and don’t have red & black glasses (could care less about UGA)… in fact I don’t wear glasses (rose or otherwise) at all and just try to give the facts with as little emotion as possible.
Sam Houston
September 18th, 2011
1:44 pm
Destroy rivals by changing conferences? Doesn’t Ga. [SEC] and Ga. Tech [ACC] still play?
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
September 18th, 2011
1:46 pm
Jeff – I think many of the bloggers believe that this is where the AJC gets its newsprint.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/09/frugal-innovation%20
Go Jackets!
September 18th, 2011
1:52 pm
Most of you are missing the point. The ACC didn’t pick Syracuse ad Pitt over Texas. Nor did the ACC actively pursue teams from the Big East (or any other conference this time around). Reports stated that 10 teams have come to the ACC for membership. It is the state of the realignment process going on this year. With the 10 teams contacting the ACC, Syracuse and Pitt felt they had to respond quickly so they formally requested membership.
Texas has not yet requested membership to the ACC or any other conference. Texas is waiting to see what happens to the Big 12 after Oklahoma and OK State decide what to do this week (writing on the wall indicate they will bolt for the PAC12/14/16). If the BIG12 goes to 7 teams, then Texas will look for a new home. Texas to the ACC does make sense for a number of reasons (Longhorn Network, Time Zone issues – ACC vs PAC, and academics). I think Texas will act quickly to join the ACC if OK/OK State leave the Big12 since the ACC only has 2 spots left to get to 16 teams (assuming 16 is the magic number for the super conferences).
Also, I can see TCU joining the ACC with Texas as well.
It appears that the conferences have learned from the last batch of realignment that they should wait and let the school make the decission to apply. It was a mess when the ACC last expanded. Now, with the SEC, PAC, and ACC considering applications, they have let the schools come to them.
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
1:55 pm
The point here is we are picking up the wrong team. See this article – Texas wanted to join the ACC. If you think SU or Pitt are a better add either academically or athletically, you are crazy.
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1266871
DawgFan
September 18th, 2011
1:57 pm
Makes sense if you divide ACC into North and South Conferences. If that occurs Jeff, your arguments above would not be valid. Basically, you’d have the old Big East versus the old ACC except Miami would play in the South and Virginia and Maryland would play in the North. Would be similar to current SEC breakdown. Good move for the ACC in my opinion.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
1:58 pm
This is not about how well the fans travel…………..Football is about HOW MANY WATCH on TV.
We have relatives in New York and Friends in Pittsburgh. It will be nice to get to see them and go to a Tech game.