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
Alphare
September 18th, 2011
4:36 pm
Delbert D.
that’s why I said GTech, VTech, FSU are all out of reach for SEC. And the current 14 ACC members have most of the great basketball programs in the country.
GR82BAG8R
September 18th, 2011
4:37 pm
Rodney Dangerfield – Pennsylvania is a landlocked state, with access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Delaware River, which is governed by New Jersey and Delaware. This has nothing to do with the silly PAC-10 membership of Colorado, Arizona, and other non-west coast teams, though the PAC-10 name does not have “Coast” in it, like the ACC does.
Heck, rename the ACC to the Eastern America Conference, the Pre-Emptive Expansion Conference, the ACC and Bordering State Conference….
PigIron
September 18th, 2011
4:38 pm
@mbs59er
You’re right. The ACC is a basketball conference. No athletic conference, however, is an academic conference.
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
4:39 pm
You nailed the problem on the head – this is a very shortsighted move by the ACC because it only helps in bball, not anything else. And SU and Pitt really aren’t that good academically.
Alphare
September 18th, 2011
4:40 pm
OK, now I predict SEC will pick Mizzo as the 14th member.
PigIron
September 18th, 2011
4:41 pm
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
4:36 pm
PigIron has to be a SEC fan and a UGA fan too.
PigIron need not be anything that 5150 UOAD fantasizes him to be.
PigIron is merely being subjectively realistic.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
4:42 pm
Delbert D can you and the guys figure out the Middle East Peace thingy ma do. LOL I know you are the rational one to keep the others focused. PigIron would just start shooting I fear.
PigIron
September 18th, 2011
4:44 pm
Alphare
September 18th, 2011
4:40 pm
OK, now I predict SEC will pick Mizzo as the 14th member.
That would create geographical imbalance. If there is a step move to 14, prior to going to 16, then TAM & WVU would go first.
dd
September 18th, 2011
4:46 pm
Titus, someone needs to take you to Tattletales.
PigIron
September 18th, 2011
4:47 pm
The biggest mistake that one could make in predicting the future would be to assume that the agents involved will always behave rationally.
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
4:47 pm
TexGT – “And SU and Pitt really aren’t that good academically.” You might want to do some research to support that assertion. The information is readily available. Check the membership list of the 61 member Association of American Universities and the 2012 rankings of national Universities by US News and World Report. Florida, Texas A&M, Pitt, Syracuse and UConn are the 5 schools ranked #58. In the SEC, that ranking is 2nd only to Vanderbilt.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
4:50 pm
PigIron that is because you want to keep Bama and Auburn from moving to the EAST and kicking the crap out of the Vols or the Dawgs. There is no problem or geographical imbalance that would be hard to fix with just shifting other teams to the EAST. Texas A&M & Mizzo in WEST and BAMA & Auburn to the EAST problem solved unless you are the DAWGS and have to play Bama every year now.
Hairy Dawg
September 18th, 2011
4:53 pm
HaHa! The nerds in ACC got stucks with more of the pointy head schools while real confrence of S.E.C. is adding Texas football in AM. More proofs that ACC is nerdy league for chumps like pestky bugs.
Go Dawgs!
Alphare
September 18th, 2011
4:53 pm
PigIron,
if you look at the map, Mizzo is closed to BHam than WV, and Mizzo borders 3 SEC states TN/AR/KY. The major issue is, WV is too small in population and poor in economy.
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
4:55 pm
If you make sec schools the threshold, then yes, nearly half the schools in the us are academically better. But SU, Pitt and uconn are ranked significantly lower than duke, UVA, unc, gatech, wake and Miami ( um is lowest at 38). Pitt is 58. SU is 62. Texas is higher at 45 – again another reason why better to have.
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
4:59 pm
Hairy Dawg – With the addition of Texas A&M, in addition to Florida and Vanderbilt the SEC becomes more “pointy-headed” in your words. If Texas were to join the SEC, it would not only adds to the pointy-headed quotient, it is the school with the largest revenue and highest profit from athletics in the U.S. based on 2010 figures from CNN-Money Magazine.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:01 pm
Texas can keep R. Barnes and M. Brown and play with their network.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:01 pm
New ACC
1. Boston College
2. Syracuse
3. UConn
4. Rutgers
5. Pitt
6. Maryland
7. West Virginia
8. Virginia
9. NC State
10. UNC
11. Duke
12. Wake
13. Clemson
14. GT
15. Miami
16. Clemson
New SEC
1. VT *Addition
2. FSU *Addition
3. South Carolina
4. Kentucky
5. Vanderbilt
6. Tenn
7. UGA
8. Auburn
9. Alabama
10. Florida
11. Arkansas
12. LSU
13. Mississippi
14. Miss State
15. Texas A&M 2012 Addition
16. Oklahoma *Addition
New Catholic School League – Still a very good basketball conference.
1. Providence
2. St. John’s
3. Seton Hall
4. Marquette
6. Georgetown
7. Notre Dame (Everything but football)
8. Villanova
9. DePaul
Remaining Big East programs left out. Suddenly looks like C-USA again.
1. Louisville
2. Cincinnati
3. USF
4. TCU
Merge with old C-USA member + left over Big 12
1. Louisville
2. Cincinnati
3. USF
4. TCU
5. Kansas
6. Kansas St
7. Missouri
8. Iowa St
9. Baylor
10. Houston *Addition
11. SMU *Addition
12. ?
Thoughts?
spjacket
September 18th, 2011
5:02 pm
Fix or cut bait, if the ACC did not due this they would probably be dead (or at least GT would be left to flounder). Times they are a changing!
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
5:02 pm
English – OU and OSU have to go to the same conference, package deal.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:03 pm
Does Texas do what Notre Dame does – Independent? They’re big enough to succeed at it as they’re an identity all by themselves.
spjacket
September 18th, 2011
5:03 pm
Fish or cut bait, but you get the idea
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:04 pm
TexGT – You are correct, the new schools are ranked lower than the ones you mentioned in the ACC. To get anyone higher though, look at the schools that play football other than in the Ivy league. The ACC may by some stretch of the imagination induce Notre Dame to apply, but I doubt if they are going to pick up Stanford, Cal, USC UCLA and Northwestern.
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
September 18th, 2011
5:04 pm
Delbert – Go easy on Hairy Dawg. I used to think he was a loon, but I have come to the opinion that he is a master of poetic irony.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:05 pm
I don’t know where I could put OSU and OU together. I know they’re a package deal but just not enough seats at certain tables. Does OSU and OU got SEC and Texas go West Pac-15 or go solo?
Paul in NH (formerly RDU)
September 18th, 2011
5:07 pm
English
Clemson should be the favorites to win your version of the ACC. I mean – they should be able to beat themselves.
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
5:07 pm
Delbert – I agree, much better than sec academically, and better than slot out there, but what we need is more football power. ACC already fantastic in bball, so I doing think this really helps. We need another (or two) football powers to legit compete with sec, big10 and pac12 – Pitt, SU, routers and uconn don’t do this. Texas does. We will continued to lose prestige, economic power, and recruits unless wen shore up football.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:08 pm
Merge with old C-USA member + left over Big 12
1. Louisville
2. Cincinnati
3. USF
4. TCU
5. Kansas
6. Kansas St
7. Missouri
8. Iowa St
9. Baylor
10. Houston *Addition
11. Oklahoma *Addition
12. OSU *Addition
13. Texas * Addition
14. SMU * Addition
Thoughts?
English
September 18th, 2011
5:09 pm
Paul in NH. I see my Clemson mistake. Sorry about that.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:09 pm
English……………..try again in maybe Spanish cause you are LOCO…………..ACC is not losing members.
TexGT
September 18th, 2011
5:10 pm
I live in Tex (obvious from the name). All the talk in pac12, really the only place OU-OSU looked. Part of the reason people here somewhat wanted Tex in PAC12 to keep alive rivalry.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:12 pm
5150 UOAD – who knows? That’s what is fun about this speculation. If they lose anyone it’s VT. VT was a package deal to begin with when it joined the ACC earlier so it wouldn’t surprise me that the Hookies end up in SEC country. As far as FSU? I could see them leaving the conference for greener pastures.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:15 pm
English and you could your own crap if you put your head further up your butt, but that doesn’t make anymore sense then your guesses.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:18 pm
LOL that was close but different from the line in Tommyboy about the butcher and beef.
English
September 18th, 2011
5:19 pm
5150 not sure why you have the hostility but one thinks you should relax a bit on this speculation talk. Enjoy your Sunday.
Adam
September 18th, 2011
5:19 pm
Now the acc will win the ncaa tourney 80% of the time
Native to the ATL
September 18th, 2011
5:24 pm
IMHO, I dont think any of these conferences know what the hell they are doing, and Texas should have never tired that network thing…..
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:24 pm
English – The ACC presidents just agreed unanimously to increase the buyout to $20 million. That is a pretty good indicator that VT and FSU aren’t moving to the SEC.
TexGT – “Pitt, SU, routers and uconn don’t do this. Texas does. We will continued to lose prestige, economic power, and recruits unless wen shore up football.”
That is probably true, but it comes with the territory, literally. The ACC isn’t showing signs of lowering their standards simply to promote football. When they have done that on an individual school basis, it has resulted in trouble with the NCAA.
Texas apparently has had discussions with the ACC, but I don’t know what the play is there. I really don’t see them as part of a much-diminished Big 12, but they seem to have options, whether SEC, PAC-12, Big Ten ACC or independent. BYU is not planning on being independent for very long; they have already put out feelers.
Native to the ATL
September 18th, 2011
5:24 pm
tried not tired*
ArkyTech
September 18th, 2011
5:24 pm
I prefer the status quo as well, but it’s not going to happen. Don’t blame ACC – it was expand or die. They just insured their conference’s survival.
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:36 pm
Regarding VT and the ACC, the “package” was that Virginia demanded that VT be added as the 11th school rather than Syracuse. BC then joined a year later, if memory serves correct.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:36 pm
English did you ever see TommyBoy? He keeps messing up a joke about a butcher. He can stick his head up the cow butt to see how good the beef is but he will just take the Butcher’s word for it.
5150 UOAD
September 18th, 2011
5:39 pm
Actually The Virginia Legislature made UVa not force the issue to keep VT from joining the ACC.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
5:40 pm
English the package deal you mentioned regarding VT means that VT CANNOT go anywhere without UVA. The SEC doesn’t want UVA, so they won’t be getting VT either.
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:45 pm
With the new schools, Pitt and Syracuse in the northeast, that adds somewhat to the ACC’s visibility in the area. UConn and/or Rutgers would marginally improve the overall popularity but would help those schools in recruiting. The 10,000 pound gorilla is Notre Dame, which has an enormous following in the area as well as a splendid reputation (and a rivalry with BC; small one compared to Michigan, USC, and Navy). The Big Ten has offered them formally in 2005 and last year.
15 games, 6 W's and 9 losses
September 18th, 2011
5:47 pm
Enter your comments here
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:52 pm
5150 UOAD – Correct, I meant the state, not the University of Virginia. No love lost between those 2 schools. I had a long-time friend here in Georgia who was a UVa grad (both of his kids graduated from there under the legacy provision), and he enjoyed talking about the “Gobblers” a lot.
Delbert D.
September 18th, 2011
5:56 pm
Supersize – There is a small wrinkle in that Georgia president Adams’ model for the University of Georgia is UVa. I don’t think that means very much in this context.
Sarcasticus
September 18th, 2011
6:13 pm
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Have a shot of anti-depressant Jeff.
The real hypocrites are those who make a living of the sport and then run around saying, “Gee the universities are all about the money.” If that was too subtle, I’m talking about sports writers like you.
Sarcasticus
September 18th, 2011
6:16 pm
ArkyTech you are right. And when there are four superconferences left, they can have a championship playoff, and the boys in the smaller schools can go back to playing in smaller conferences without the pressure.