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Can the flagging ACC survive in a football-driven industry?

3:25 pm August 22, 2011, by Mark Bradley

It seemed like a big deal at the time: Tech after winning the 2009 ACC title. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)

Georgia Tech celebrates the 2009 ACC title, since vacated. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)

The ACC has long been the nation’s most prestigious basketball league, but at a time when college football grows ever larger, basketball counts for less. The almighty SEC figures to try and poach a team or two from the ACC and the Big East and the Big Ten likewise could make entreaties. Is it possible that the ACC could, in the not-so-distant future, cease not just to matter but to exist?

It was in 2003 that the ACC snatched Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East, which appeared bound for oblivion. But the Big East, in a deft bit of damage control, grew to 16 teams and became the nation’s best — as opposed to the most prestigious — basketball league. The ACC, by way of contrast, has reaped next to nothing from its expansion.

Since the ACC expanded to a dozen, only Virginia Tech has finished a season ranked in the top 10 of the final USA Today coaches’ poll, and in that span the Hokies haven’t cracked the season-ending top five. The SEC has won the past five BCS titles; the last ACC team even to play in the national championship game was Florida State in January 2001, which was so long ago Mark Richt, now the dean of SEC coaches, was the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator.

The ACC’s ballyhooed basketball has suffered, too. It has become a two-team enterprise: North Carolina and Duke have won three NCAA titles between them since expansion, but the last ACC school to reach the Final Four other than the Big Two was Georgia Tech in 2004. Even more distressing, seven of the 12 programs have changed coaches in the past 17 months.

Duke and Carolina stand as the two best basketball programs in the land — Kansas and UConn and Michigan State and Kentucky might quibble — but the balance of the league, once its regionally televised Thacker & Packer hallmark, no longer exists. Also gone are those days where every league game brought a full house at every arena. Five ACC schools saw decreases in home attendance last season, and three more had average increases of fewer than 100 per game

The question, then: If football tepid and basketball is top-heavy, what’s the lure of the ACC? Tradition, yes. Seven of these 12 have graced the conference since 1953, the year it was formed. Academics, sure. In scholastic terms, this is considered the most serious of the six BCS leagues. But are history and academics enough in a business where millions of dollars flow to the schools that play the best football?

The ACC is in trouble. Its image — and the ACC cares about image — has been sullied. Georgia Tech had to forfeit the 2009 conference title and was placed on four years’ probation by the NCAA. North Carolina has been hit with nine rules violations ranging from impermissible benefits to academic fraud. Miami could well get the death penalty in the wake of Nevin Shapiro’s jailhouse accusations.

If you’re Florida State … if you’re Clemson … if you’re Virginia Tech … if you’re North Carolina State … do you want to stay in the ACC and play Class AAA football if you have big-league options? (And surely some among those will.) Are ACC matters apt to improve anytime soon? Is John Swofford the man to save his conference in the way Mike Tranghese did the Big East? And if Swofford seeks to raid some other league before his gets raided, where does he turn? Nobody’s leaving the SEC, and who in the football-playing Big East might be amenable? Louisville? West Virginia? South Florida?

The ACC was a lovely idea more than a half-century ago: Schools of common interest in a tight geographic area. Over time, the conference has sought to broaden its base, which is necessary in a zero-sum marketplace. The reality, alas, is that the base hasn’t grown but thinned. This has become a strange-looking league with one toe in Boston Harbor and another in the sands of South Beach, and the football it plays isn’t very good. And football matters above all else.

By Mark Bradley

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397 comments Add your comment

Paul in NH (formerly RDU)

August 22nd, 2011
11:05 pm

Delbert,
Loved the post – especially the comments about Cal and Boston.
You do have Norther NJ and Chicago flip flopped
N NJ – Duke. I couldn’t get into Princeton but Duke gave me the connections I need on Wall Street
Chicago – Who gives a s@$* about schools in the southeast

Supersize that order, mutt

August 22nd, 2011
11:14 pm

GT-UT, yeah, I love the VT rivalry. It’s really been more intense than the Clemson one.

Again

August 22nd, 2011
11:15 pm

Mark Bradley >>>>> Mike Slive’s Sock Puppet

SEC

August 22nd, 2011
11:32 pm

Top heavy, In the same time period the ACC hasn’t been able to place a team in the top five the SEC has had 6 teams finish in final poll top five 8 out of 10 years sec puts 2 or more teams in top 10, and they’re not the same schools year after year. There hasn’t no repeat champion in the SEC since 97-98 Tennessee. Over the past 10 years LSU 3 SEC championships, UGA 2 , UF 2, Auburn 2, Alabama 1.Since when is 10-3 almost a losing year? Its fairly obvious you don’t keep up with football, so take a look at the most recent AP poll 8 SEC teams in top 25.

GT-UT

August 22nd, 2011
11:36 pm

In Austin…the Prof’s (ie Chemistry and Accounting) complain about all the money Texas spends on Football rather than acedemics. The response is that no Chemistry set ever brought 100,000 fans into a stadium. Enough said. Football is what brings in the money!

Lance Manion

August 22nd, 2011
11:41 pm

This story is ridiculous. The ACC will be fine. I always am amazed that so many Tech Bashers show up just to say Tech is irrelevant. When you are the number four engineering school in the country, number eleven in the world and compete successfully in major college sports, you are going to take some shots from people who cannot get into a school of this caliber. So go ahead and bash away. In the meantime, Tech is academically in the same category as Cal Tech and M.I.T. And for most of the posters on this forum, their school is second rate at best.

Dostoyevskiy

August 22nd, 2011
11:42 pm

I was admitted and graduated from UNC. They only accept 32% of those who apply. I’m pretty damn smart. Got a good job, too.

Yup

August 22nd, 2011
11:55 pm

That powerhouse ACC really draws well – 42,000 for their championship game last year. SEC teams draw more than that for spring scrimmages.

ACChoke

August 23rd, 2011
12:12 am

The ACC screwed up with the team selection during expansion…now we have “yankees” from Boston AND Miami invading our stadiums twice per year…disgusting….

As far as SEC expansion goes…Clemson doesn’t bring anything to the table…Va Tech acts too much like West Virginia….my prediction would be either Florida State at the risk of ticking off the Gators…..or entering a new market in North Carolina….but UNC isn’t leaving the ACC as long as they own the commissioner and write the rules…..so NC State is the better choice….larger school, stronger alumni support …with much more potential if they could get out from under the UNC shadow…

Supersize that order, mutt

August 23rd, 2011
12:35 am

GT-UT, VT DOES, however, have its share of rednecks. Or maybe, since they’re in the mountains of VA, hillbillies.

sports

August 23rd, 2011
12:45 am

Virginia Tech and Florida St. need to move out of the ACC. Let the Ga Tech trash move to the NAIA…they might compete there and then filter the other schools into the Big East.

RED DOG 77

August 23rd, 2011
1:54 am

I beleive the first post regarding this story said “Get Georgia Tech back in the SEC”………and they should be, however lets look at history for a moment, shall we? Being an old cat I remember like it was yesterday why Ga. Tech left the SEC……….Alabama, led by coach Paul “Bear ” Bryant was winning, winning, winning……..Why? you ask, because he was crooked as a dogs leg!….The famous “Bear” used basketball, tennis, swimming, golf, baseball, and basket-weaving scholarships to load-up his football team…….[in those days honor was expected]……so because of the “Bear” many new rules were put in place to prohibit the “Bear” from his shenanigans……….I’m a Georgia boy [bleed RED and BLACK]………but I certainly don’t fault the great Coach Bobby Dodd for leaving a cheating “Bear” behind……….Bobby Dodd was one of the “GOOD GUYS” of college football………….and I miss him…………By the way……..I only hate Tech that one afternoon in November……….If you don’t believe my story, look it up, it’s true…………Regards, RED

GT311

August 23rd, 2011
1:54 am

Why would FSU and VT leave to go to the SEC? That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard! If the ACC is so weak why would these teams go to the SEC that is so strong? They can get into the BCS every year by beating the weak ACC. I would worry that these teams don’t ever joint the SEC because UGA would NEVER win it again!

Druid City

August 23rd, 2011
6:46 am

Bring in FSU. Kick out UGA and let the best players play.

The Morning After: August 23, 2011 « The Victory Formation

August 23rd, 2011
7:31 am

[...] Mark Bradley dusts off his trollin’ shoes. (AJC) [...]

RT in NC

August 23rd, 2011
7:34 am

The ACC will survive. My dream is that the 20 really competitive football teams will form the super conference and the rest of the NCAA schools will realize that the fans are loyal and would watch real students play the game as faithfully as they do the semi pros that play now. Maybe we would get to watch some student-athletes again.

VT hater

August 23rd, 2011
7:38 am

Virginia Tech’s bread and butter is to rack up easy wins against non-conference and conference foe’s to get a higher ranking than they deserve. They brilliantly went from the big least to the ACC where they dominated both conferences, but failed to break through to the top. Beamer won’t let them leave for the SEC. The school is 200 miles from anywhere and the only game in town between DC and Charlotte. They are sitting pretty.

DawgHare

August 23rd, 2011
7:55 am

Mark, considering you are a person whose alma mater is safely ensconced in the powerful and profitable SEC (and still a basketball powerhouse) I can’t help but think you enjoyed writing this. I would love for the SEC to lure NC State. They could provide the occasional breather game to other SEC schools in football, step in and be competitive in basketball and add to the SEC’s profile in hoops, make lots of money, and give the SEC an increased marketing presence in a very populous state. Tradition is nice, sure, but economic and competitive reality is what it is, and one would have to think NC State would be very tempted to make such a move.

derbytown

August 23rd, 2011
8:25 am

I say Louisville! They bring one of the 10 best b-ball programs ever. They bring a renewed f-ball program (we play NC this year – have never lost to them). They bring the #1 soccer team in the USA. They bring top women’s b-ball (fighting with UConn every year) & soccer. They bring the best volleyball in the BE over the last bunch of years. They bring a top field hockey program. They bring a top baseball program. They bring a top tennis program. Golf! Rowing! They have arguably the best overall college athletic facilities in the USA. They bring the acknowledged #1 AD in the country. They bring the 16th largest metro area in the country. They bring alot! This would immediately energize the ACC!!! No waiting or hoping.

Not so fast, my friend

August 23rd, 2011
8:46 am

Between Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Miami

- 25 National Championships have been won by current ACC teams.

Paul N Destin

August 23rd, 2011
8:58 am

Academic prestige….that is the argument used when your football team isn’t worth a sheet! Dodd and Tech screwed up when they left the SEC. Denial is a tradition at Auburn but if you wish to start that tradition at Tech then get with it.

Can you imagine

August 23rd, 2011
9:01 am

GT back in the SEC? They would would win maybe 2 conference games a year. If GT is considered irrelevant now (by most real football fans) what would they be in the SEC. On the plus side GT in the SEC would allow other SEC teams to play a cupcake without having to go out of conference LOL.

Pope UGA XXIII

August 23rd, 2011
9:07 am

Several posts here about Bobby Dodd’s decision to remove Tech from
the SEC & they are exactly right. Dodd & Tech also burned bridges with
Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt due to their low attendance
compared to Tech’s drawing 60,000 in mid-1960’s. Some 50 years later,
Tech’s stadium is even smaller while the others have caught up. Throw
in Jackson’s stadium and they draw larger crowds. The “big stadium”
teams such as Tennessee, Florida, & LSU won’t be too keen on losing
the amount of ticket revenue when they have to visit Grant Field.
Tech won’t be back in the SEC as they cannot bring the football $$$.
Put Miami in the same boat for the same reason, not to mention their
pending NCAA consequences.

wreckbone

August 23rd, 2011
9:12 am

Its funny that guy called himself BobbyDodd because he’s the one that left. They say UGA was the one who killed Ga Tech from getting “back” to the SEC. Its find of funny, the prinicpal the coach left upon is still live and kicking int he SEC and our current coach hates it too. Its called over-committing incoming freshmen and it sucks for the student athelete. But they have built a football machine that can’t be stopped (along with arrogant redneck fans). Props to the almighty SEC. But bottom line is Mark that with your logic, all other conferences are as irrelevant as the ACC. And if the Big East is so great, then make those guys bring Notre Dame in for all sports, or no sport at all. None of it matters as long as the BCS is there. Just keep speculating, the large programs will be there in some conference long after you have written your last column. So its no big deal. There was a day that the SEC was pretty irrelevant. But plenty of football accomplishments and the “we gotta have it now” football landscape makes them the “Beast of the East” now. I don’t care if the ACC folds, but if my school (Ga TEch) goes to a conference on par with the WAC or Mountain West, then I’d say lets get independent again like Notre Dame gets to be. Ga tech, the football team america loves to hate. You know UGA fans go on about how much our football sucks. We can’t fill the stands, we can’t compete. All I know is in the last 10 years, the only game that was a blowout was Chan’s first in Athens. So you keep talking smack UGA fans about how we don’t belong on the field. But its not like you own us and route us 50-3 all the time. You have had one of those and the rest have been hard fought games. You didn’t know who was going to win with 5-10 minutes left. And that is what I like. To be able to cheer to the end of the game instead of having to acknowledge before the 4th quarter is played we don’t have a prayer. Keep patting yourself ont he back SEC homer columnists. It just makes sure you keep your job. This paper sucks. Its my hometown paper and we still don’t have a Ga Tech “blogger” for even a weekly update. UGA, who doesn’t even reside in Atlanta, has their UGA classic redneck posting daily. Way to go AJC. YOu know, things have certianly gone downhill since two papers a day. I can’t even get a hometown blogger but I can get an Athens one every day…. In the Atlanta paper.

Bo Bo

August 23rd, 2011
9:13 am

Central Florida got to play “cupcake” Georgia in the Independence Bowl.
The poor “cupcake” tried and failed to score a touchdown.

blazerdawg

August 23rd, 2011
9:14 am

The SEC is not going to purge another conference of it’s members unless an institution requests to join the SEC.

I hope that if a scramble emerges, and one probably has already, that Georgia Tech and DRad will reach out to the SEC.

Georgia Tech in the SEC will be good for Atlanta, good for UGA, great for Tech and tremendous for the Southeastern Conference. Adding Tech will balance out the number of “serious” academic institutions in the league and raise the conferences expectation of a student athlete. Tech is a fun campus to visit on gameday, despite the insecure and hostile nature of some of the alum, will get their share of wins, improve the basketball tradition in the SEC, and has some great rivalries in the conference already with Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and Florida.

Bring em in with Texas A&M, Florida State and another.

Would be great for UGA to get another conference win as well.

NOLES!

August 23rd, 2011
9:14 am

Jimbo fisher’s building a machine at FSU–the Noles will own the ACC for years—mark it down.

Pig Farmers Local 42

August 23rd, 2011
9:16 am

All the Dawg fans barking and using bad grammar has upset my stomach. I think GT would do fine in the SEC, even without a trailor trash fanbase like most of the SEC schools have. Ill bet more than half their fans only dream of attending their respective state schools while on their smoke breaks at Walmart.

John Galt

August 23rd, 2011
9:24 am

MAIN STREET
AUGUST 22, 2011, 11:09 P.M. ET
Duty, Honor, Football
What West Point could teach Miami.
· By WILLIAM MCGURN

The honor code at West Point possesses an admirable directness: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”

In those few words the United States Military Academy sends a clear message about what the institution expects of its cadets. Of its 12 words, the last five are the most difficult. Plainly it’s not enough to behave honorably oneself. Cadets also bear responsibility for the community, which requires they not “tolerate” misbehavior in their fellow cadets.

Related Video

In an Opinion Journal video, columnist Bill McGurn talks ethics in collegiate athletics.

The code comes to mind while reading the sordid news about the University of Miami’s football program. The Hurricanes have been in the headlines since last week, when Yahoo! Sports ran a story about a former booster—now serving time in federal prison for a $930 million Ponzi scheme—who says he spent millions on cash, hookers, holidays and entertainment for players from 2002 to 2010, at times with the knowledge of coaches. As a result, Miami is now fighting off a threat by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to impose the “death penalty”—i.e., banning the football team from competing for at least a year.

Now, like West Point, it turns out that Miami too has an honor code. That’s not unusual. These days our colleges and universities are overflowing with codes: speech codes, tolerance codes, sex codes, you name it. The longer the code, the less effective it becomes.

Miami’s website says its code “specifically covers four violations”: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and academic dishonesty. It goes on to say, “Anyone affiliated with the University, including faculty, teaching assistants, and students, may file a complaint in accordance with this code.” Miami athletes are further reminded that they are obligated to follow all laws and rules: the university’s, the NCAA’s, the state’s, and the federal government’s.

Notice anything different? No emphasis here on not tolerating others who violate the Miami code—and only a tiny mention that violations “should” be reported. In other words, keep your own nose clean, you’re OK.

Zuma Press

This is a signal to look the other way. So why are we surprised when a university official looks the other way about a player’s bad behavior, so long as the district attorney doesn’t indict? Or when the NCAA looks the other way at serial cheaters while turning a lunch into an offense? Or when the National Football League or National Basketball Association looks the other way as one of its teams hires some university coach who just blew out of his college town under an ethical cloud?

Our military academies are not filled with moral paragons. Like their peers, their student bodies are populated with young Americans in their late teens. They are every bit as human, and an honor code has never been a guarantee against scandal. From the huge 1951 cheating scandal at West Point that saw more than 80 cadets expelled (including nearly half the football team) to more recent scandals at Navy and Air Force, the academies have had their share.

The difference is they don’t delegate to the NCAA the idea of right and wrong, and they take community seriously. On these campuses, no man is an island. The message is: You are all in it together.

A friend of mine puts it this way. “The academies want no cognitive dissonance—between what is learned in the classroom, what is learned in the barracks and on the athletic field, and what is expected of the community,” says Thomas Crimmins, U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1992. “Thus the sanction most feared is the negative judgment of one’s peers.”

For a community, that last part is critical. It’s no coincidence that schools that still take honor codes seriously—the University of Virginia, for example—recognize they must be lived from the bottom up. That translates into honor systems run primarily by students. The closeness of the community to the offender means judgments more likely to distinguish between persnickety enforcement of regulation and the communal discipline meant to point a young man or woman to a higher end.

Those defending the Hurricanes say that the violations of one booster, however egregious, do not compare to the payments to players, made with the knowledge of top university officials, that earned Southern Methodist University the proverbial death penalty in 1987. Probably this is right. As in real life, however, the death penalty in college football surely cannot really be much of a deterrent if it’s been used only once in the past quarter century.

The ingredients of Miami’s vices—the nightclubs, the prostitutes, the yachts—make it far juicier than the typical pay-for-play. The scandal here is not that teenage football players behave badly when a wealthy benefactor indulges their every appetite. The scandal is what it says about the impoverished sense of community on our college and university campuses, and the fecklessness of those who know better.