Is raiding the ACC still a possibility for the SEC?
I was talking conference expansion yesterday with a Georgia fan who posited that the ACC upping its exit fee to $20 million pretty much kills any chance of the SEC getting Virginia Tech or FSU or Clemson.
Looks like we’ll end up with West Virginia or Missouri, he said, noting that he didn’t view Texas A&M and Missouri/West Virginia as adding much luster to the SEC, though the conference did enter this expansion mess in a stronger position than any other league, in terms of football (which is what’s driving all this change).
A couple of thoughts about all that. First, the only ACC team that’s made any noise at all about studying possible realignment is FSU, and while their president obviously was among those voting unanimously to increase the exit fee, that doesn’t necessarily mean Florida State might not still find it worth its while to pay the $20 million in order to join the SEC. I can’t really see any of the other ACC schools, like Clemson, paying that fee, though.
Whether or not there was a rumored “gentlemen’s agreement” in the past for the SEC not to add teams in states where a conference member already resides — and there’ve been reports there never was any such agreement — FSU would certainly add to the SEC’s TV star power, even if it wouldn’t bring in a new television market. And it would counter the addition of Texas A&M geographically.
But while Missouri might not seem all that sexy a choice from a fan point of view, it would bring the St. Louis and Kansas City TV markets with it, and that would also be pretty attractive to the SEC. Auburn could move over to the SEC East to balance the divisons, thereby also assuring the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with Georgia continues to be an every-year affair.
West Virginia? Aside from being competitive on the football field, the SEC adding a program that the ACC didn’t want, and which brings very little in terms of TV reach, would justifiably seem like an also-ran choice.
Really, I think most of the SEC would have preferred to keep the status quo, but that has become impossible in the face of all the other changes going on.
So, best-case scenario, to me, is adding Texas A&M and FSU or Missouri.
Feel free to share your own views on SEC expansion.
Got a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
657 comments Add your comment
Still@theBAR
September 20th, 2011
4:17 pm
USMC I just listed the MNC winners that the other SEC live through. I think I listed the SEC West mostly too.
come on
September 20th, 2011
4:17 pm
man sec fans crack me up. tell me why any acc school would leave the largest media market formed. new york, penn, dc, and atl and maybe soon chicago with notre dame. they will get a new tv deal and make huge money
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:17 pm
Sorry Geoff. You have bama and LSU this year. Thats it. Auburn was beat by a mediocre clemson team. SC was exposed by Navy (simultaneously exposing UGA). Your conference is 2 good teams and 10 dwarfs.
Chris
September 20th, 2011
4:17 pm
Someone likes living in the past.
‘Championships in the 30s are relevant!’
Delusions of grandeur.
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:18 pm
Chris: no less relevant that a championship in, say, 1980.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:19 pm
@GT Joe
You keep pretty tight tabs on the SEC, don’t you?
You must be a closet football fan. Don’t worry… I won’t tell the other Nerds.
Still@theBAR
September 20th, 2011
4:19 pm
Geoff when traditionally are you speaking of when saying UGA? Fulmer won 150 games and a MNC…………..UGA has a lot of ex-coaches that don’t coach anymore and no MNC’s past 1980.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:20 pm
PAC-12 is currently #1 at $2.7 billion over the next 12 years. In addition, they have 4 cable providers so far for the PAC-12-owned network. 35 TV games next year, over 700 events in all. The network has state (all states with 2 teams, plus mountain), regional and national packages. All PAC-12 Football games will be televised by ESPN/FOX Sports or through the PAC-12 network.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:21 pm
Joe, I don’t have a problem with what the ACC just did. They made their choice to be a BBall conference first and they went out there and made it happen. From their perspective, it’s probably better to settle being king of the 2nd tiers. The other power conferences are jockeying for position in football and the ACC just decided that they’d take it in a different direction. It’s no shame to realize what you are.
Chris
September 20th, 2011
4:22 pm
Actually I was thinking more along the lines of
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2003
1998
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:23 pm
From the KC Star: “Missouri has SEC offer, but might wait to accept”
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:24 pm
The ACC has won 1 National Championship in the 21st Century.
Miami 2001.
Congratulations.
Chris
September 20th, 2011
4:24 pm
Princeton and Yale have 55 combined national titles. Perhaps the ACC should add those two schools.
/sarcasm
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:24 pm
Geoff, keep thinking we are a basketball conference. But when ND and PSU join, what will you say?
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:25 pm
Still@theBAR, I’m talking 3 SEC championship games, winning 2 in the last ten years as well as another #2 ranked finish. It’s also a program that’s currently fourth in putting talent into the NFL. I’m not of the notion that Georgia is currently as elite as UF, UA, or LSU, but to deny that they’ve been traditionally strong is just silly. The mid to late nineties were the aberration, not the rule.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:27 pm
Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton is in the unenviable position of having to try to hold the Big 12 together. That’s why they are going to wait.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:28 pm
SEC_Fan, hate to disagree but Miami wasn’t in the ACC in 2001. They haven’t won a MNC since FSU in ‘98 I think.
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:28 pm
Ok SEC fan, thanks for the history lesson. but IF ND and PSU join, and that’s an IF, the ACC will be the king of football. Pac12 might have a say with texas, TTU, OK and OKstate joining. SEC will be 3rd tier, and sorry, Missouri doesn’t help. Neither does WVU.
IF ND and PSU join, recruits would rather play in the ACC than SEC. would you rather play a game at:
happy valley or mississippi
the golden dome or msu
atlanta or athens
miami or columbia
heinz field or kentucky
get real homers.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:29 pm
@Delbert D.
The chief spokesman for the Southeastern Conference flatly denies reports by multiple news organizations that Missouri has been made an offer to join the SEC.
Associate commissioner Charles Bloom told USA TODAY in a telephone interview:
“The SEC has not extended an invitation to any school beyond Texas A&M since it extended invitations to Arkansas and South Carolina.”
Red Dawg
September 20th, 2011
4:29 pm
If you’re talking television markets, WVU would bring the Pittsburgh market with it. Florida will blackball FSU.
rational
September 20th, 2011
4:31 pm
Its pretty amazing seeing how many people think this is all about football when everything that comes out is to the contrary. Pittsburgh and Syracuse were not added to the ACC for football power. Rutgers isn’t in discussions with the ACC and Big Ten because they are a football powerhouse. The SEC and ACC have denied WVU, one of the best football teams that would be available. Its not all about football.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:31 pm
Hopefully the Big 64 coalition will get rid of the mythical championship nonsense.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:31 pm
LOL Joe, you’re the one that’s talking about baseless speculation like it’s a fact beyond reproach. Playing along for a moment, if Penn State and ND were to join the ACC, it would improve their football but it would not surpass the SEC. Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in awhile and Penn State won’t have the opportunity to get back to elite status until they retire Joe Pa. He’s one of the all time greats but it’s time for him to exit stage right.
What will you say Joe when the ACC ends up with UConn and Rutgers to get to 16 teams?
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:33 pm
Red Dawg – West Virginia was refused admission by the SEC and the ACC today.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:33 pm
@GeoffDawg
You’re right. Miami was still in the Big East in 2001. Should have known an ACC school hasn’t sniffed a National Championship in this Century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Miami_Hurricanes_football_team
Still@theBAR
September 20th, 2011
4:34 pm
SEC_Fan the SEC said they didn’t ASK Texas A&M either but behind the scenes the talks were happening. Imagine this it is called POLITICS.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:34 pm
SEC_Fan – Of course they denied it.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:35 pm
What you’re also forgetting Joe is that the SEC is the country’s hotbed of high school talent. That’s a built in advantage that you can’t change no matter how many tv markets you break into. At the end of the day, these are still 18 year kids making the decisions and while some of them will inevitably want to travel far away, most will elect to stay relatively close to home.
I don’t think the allure of Happy Valley or South Bend means what you think it means.
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:35 pm
Geoff, if we get uconn and rutgers, it will be a major letdown. Uconn is great for bball, and football is decent. But rutgers is weak at everything.
But I don’t see the ACC settling for rutgers when ND and PSU are at least ENTERTAINING the idea.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:35 pm
The Big 64 coalition is dead in the water.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:36 pm
“The SEC has not extended an invitation to any school beyond Texas A&M since it extended invitations to Arkansas and South Carolina.”
How much did the SEC offer Arkansas and South Carolina to stay, I wonder?
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:36 pm
@Delbert D.
Why wouldn’t they deny a baseless rumor?
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:37 pm
Geoff, PSU and ND have national recruiting power, and Southern kids will be more open to go there if there is the chance to play some games in the south (by joining the ACC). This is a major advantage for ND and PSU to join the ACC.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:37 pm
Could be Joe but the ACC can’t afford to wait forever and Notre Dame especially has a long history of stringing along potential suitors.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:38 pm
Enter your comments here
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:39 pm
That’s true Joe but to them, they still have to live there all year long even after football season is over. Not all kids that age are ready for that kind of separation from home.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:40 pm
SEC_Fan – “Dead in the water”. Does that mean the SEC will stay under NCAA rule? SEC schools were among the 61 schools that gave the NCAA the ultimatum in 1981: “Give us the TV contract rights, or we will abandon the NCAA”. (summation of a complicated legal negotiation.)
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:41 pm
Geoff, yes ND has moved slow in the past, but this realignment is going to hurt them if they don’t join a conference.
If conferences are at 16 teams and teams have 8 team conference schedules, how will independents like ND find opponents? They are at a crossroads.
Chris
September 20th, 2011
4:41 pm
PSU and ND’s recruiting power have dwindled as their legacy has tarnished. ND doesn’t recruit well down here because people don’t want to go to South Bend. Being in the ACC wouldn’t change that. You think playing at Boston College, Duke and NC State have more of an appeal than playing at USC, Michigan or Ohio State? You overvalue them greatly. PSU barely registers to recruits in the south.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:41 pm
SEC_Fan – Here is the basis of the baseless rumor:
“That information has come to The Star through a Mizzou booster who spoke directly to a MU official. Another source told The Star on Tuesday that an Oklahoma official had said the SEC is interested in Missouri.”
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:42 pm
Missouri is playing the same game with the Big-10 that Texas played with the PAC-10 when they feigned interest in joining the ACC. Guess the Big-10 doesn’t want them. Neither does the SEC.
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:43 pm
Well… my cousin’s buddy’s nephew’s girlfriend said…
SEC_Fan
September 20th, 2011
4:44 pm
The SEC office says they weren’t invited. I’ll take their word for it.
Still@theBAR
September 20th, 2011
4:44 pm
Delbert D
Thanks for the link very good article.
GT Joe
September 20th, 2011
4:44 pm
Chris, PSU doesn’t register down here with recruits because they don’t play down here.
AceDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:44 pm
The lack of a football playoff bracket is probably the biggest reason this is happening. If there were a playoff system, conference play would matter less.
That said, it’d be nice if the SEC, unlike other conferences (maybe Big 10 is the exception), kept a cultural and geographic identity. If it did, teams like Clemson, FSU, and maybe Va Tech would be in play. Missouri isn’t the Southeast. WVU – not the Southeast. Clemson is the #1 cultural fit, so it’s a damn shame they wouldn’t be considered. Let the other conferences suck up teams from half the country away from one another if they must. They’ll just be crappy, zero identity leagues.
Chris
September 20th, 2011
4:45 pm
What the SEC office says: They weren’t invited.
What the SEC office means: They weren’t publicly invited, because we don’t want to be sued.
Read between the lines.
Delbert D.
September 20th, 2011
4:45 pm
@Chris “ND doesn’t recruit well down here because people don’t want to go to South Bend.”
Could it be our crappy southern school system cannot provide the athletes that can maintain ND’s 86% football graduation rates? I guess Stephon Tuitt from Monroe Area is an an exception who can.
GeoffDawg
September 20th, 2011
4:46 pm
Joe, I don’t see ND giving up their annual games with Michigan, USC, and the service academies no matter what happens. If you keep those, you can populate your schedule with just about anybody you want and still get the benefit of the doubt from the national media. ND has their own special stipulation in the BCS even. I don’t think they do anything unless they get some real sweetheart deal to consolidate their football and other non-revenue sports into one conference. With the ACC dedicated to equal revenue sharing, that seems highly unlikely. Same reason why Texas is a no go.
rational
September 20th, 2011
4:48 pm
Geoff, if we get uconn and rutgers, it will be a major letdown. Uconn is great for bball, and football is decent. But rutgers is weak at everything.
Rutgers is a solid academic school and, and brings an expanded TV market. UConn is a solid basketball school and decent academic school. Neither would be a bad addition and would fit in well with the ACC.