deacondamo
El Jefe
Clemson and FSU don't add any markets. I don't see UF and USC allowing the move to the SEC. They could probably get UGA on board to block it as well.
Bad coaching hires and letting legacy coaches hang on for too long really led to the downfall of the traditional powers. Bowden and Beamer both probably needed to retire 5 years sooner than they did. It worked out now for Clemson as it led to Dabo, but Clemson let Tommy Bowden coach for 10 years averaging 6-7 wins a year. There was just a lot of complacency with ACC ADs.
To your second point on recruiting, I think its spot on. ESPN is going to pump the SEC even more than they do now and SEC games will dominate all of the top TV windows. With NIL, a 5* kid is going to go to an SEC school vs. Clemson, FSU, Miami because of the extra media attention.
I don't really see any way for the ACC to survive. Notre Dame provides maybe a small lifeline for another decade, but the money disparity is just too much to continue in perpetuity. The grant of rights and the TV contract into the 2030s is a gift and a curse right now. ESPN has no reason to renegotiate it, but with today's news I do think Clemson and FSU would be 100% trying to get into the SEC right now without being locked in, along with the BIG probably raiding UNC, Duke, UVA.
Oh no! We are all doomed. Suddenly, Starkville, Mississippi and Fayetteville, Arkansas are going to be attractive destinations for recruits.
Guess we should just pull the plug on the conference and ask for a bid into the Big South.
Clemson and FSU don't add any markets. I don't see UF and USC allowing the move to the SEC. They could probably get UGA on board to block it as well.
There's rumored to be a gentlemen's agreement and Georgia is already on board with USC, UF, and UK in blocking Clemson, FSU, Ga Tech, and Louisville.
SEC, SEC, SEC...
As much as everyone praises the SEC and says how amazing the conference is, more than half the football programs in that league have floundered by any definition over the time when the conference has been making money hand over fist.
Who are the ascending programs in that conference? Bama no doubt is the best program in college football. LSU and UGA have had their moments in recent years. I guess A&M is somewhat relevant.
After that, then what? Has Bama's success helped Tennesssee? That program has fallen off a cliff.
What about Arkansas? They haven't played a relevant football game in a decade, and the biggest news out of Fayetteville was this:
S. Carolina? The program has been mess since the early Spurrier years.
Mizzou? Can't remember the last time the Tigers were relevant except for having a gay DE.
Ole Miss is best known for a coach that was addicted to porn phone sites and the worst defense in Power Conference history under Lane.
Auburn? They can't get over that they will never be as a good as Bama.
Vandy? Nothing needs to be said.
Kentucky? Guess they have improved from football being an afterthought to mediocre.
Mississippi State? Need more cowbell, but has watching Miss. State has never been appointment television.
Got to hand it to these SEC nothing-burgers for somehow riding Bama's ridiculous success to create the misimpression that the conference is filled with amazing programs. It's not. All but the top schools in that league can't get out of their own way. Not talking about getting blown out by Bama (which they do), I'm talking about losing to South Alabama, Troy (over LSU in 2017), GA State (over TN in 2019), Toledo, Citadel, App. State, UNLV, San Jose State, Western Kentucky (26 point win over Arkansas in 2019).
Hard to believe, but there are a ton of programs not in the SEC that are in far better shape now and will always be in far better shape than those programs. Again, Bama is the gold standard, but it's not like being a member of the SEC means that a member school: a) can run of competent football program; b) is relevant in college football; c) is likely to have future success.
Thank god we were good enough in basketball all those years ago that other schools who liked basketball joined with us to form a conference. Being a charter member of the ACC is probably the best thing to ever happen to WFU, despite the teeth gnashing of the moment.
SEC, SEC, SEC...
As much as everyone praises the SEC and says how amazing the conference is, more than half the football programs in that league have floundered by any definition over the time when the conference has been making money hand over fist.
Who are the ascending programs in that conference? Bama no doubt is the best program in college football. LSU and UGA have had their moments in recent years. I guess A&M is somewhat relevant.
After that, then what? Has Bama's success helped Tennesssee? That program has fallen off a cliff.
What about Arkansas? They haven't played a relevant football game in a decade, and the biggest news out of Fayetteville was this:
S. Carolina? The program has been mess since the early Spurrier years.
Mizzou? Can't remember the last time the Tigers were relevant except for having a gay DE.
Ole Miss is best known for a coach that was addicted to porn phone sites and the worst defense in Power Conference history under Lane.
Auburn? They can't get over that they will never be as a good as Bama.
Vandy? Nothing needs to be said.
Kentucky? Guess they have improved from football being an afterthought to mediocre.
Mississippi State? Need more cowbell, but has watching Miss. State has never been appointment television?
Got to hand it to these SEC nothing-burgers for somehow riding Bama's ridiculous success to create the misimpression that the conference is filled with amazing programs. It's not. All but the top schools in that league can't get out of their own way. Not talking about getting blown out by Bama (which they do), I'm talking about losing to South Alabama, Troy (over LSU in 2017), GA State (over TN in 2019), Toledo, Citadel, App. State, UNLV, San Jose State, Western Kentucky (26 point win over Arkansas in 2019).
Hard to believe, but there are a ton of programs not in the SEC that are in far better shape now and will always be in far better shape than those programs. Again, Bama is the gold standard, but it's not like being a member of the SEC means that a member school: a) can run of competent football program; b) is relevant in college football; c) is likely to have future success.
We also need to consider the possibility that no one here has mentioned, perhaps even contemplated:
Wake decides in a decade to cut football entirely and go the UChicago route. Although it seems unthinkable to us now, it is not entirely out of line with our other academic decisions which were industry leading at the time like move to needs-blind admission, no SAT, etc.
I've seen the bi-coastal superleague theorized about by people, but honestly don't understand the practicality of that. Jesus, travel expenses would go through the roof, starting times would skewed, etc. If the point is to basically have an agreement to play a CCG but still have de facto separate leagues apart from that, then I don't see much advantage to that.
ND is going to either sink or swim. The writing is on the wall. They need to hop on board. Have seen it rumored that PSU is unhappy with the Big 10 (maybe too much competition for top pedo school) and might be amenable to an ACC invitation. That would certainly be interesting.
I generally agree with you that folks overreact to the potential downside of any news here, but then again we have been WFU fans for a long time, so it's understandable.
In this case, it's pretty binary. ACC survives, we are in a good conference. ACC does not survive, we are not.
While I don't think it is likely, I can see it being a possibility if wake loses badly the conference realignment game and ends up in a place where football isn't helping the reputation of the University.I don’t think this is even a remote possibility. UChicago did that a looooong time ago before today’s media world.
SEC, SEC, SEC...
As much as everyone praises the SEC and says how amazing the conference is, more than half the football programs in that league have floundered by any definition over the time when the conference has been making money hand over fist.
Got to hand it to these SEC nothing-burgers for somehow riding Bama's ridiculous success to create the misimpression that the conference is filled with amazing programs. It's not. All but the top schools in that league can't get out of their own way. Not talking about getting blown out by Bama (which they do), I'm talking about losing to South Alabama, Troy (over LSU in 2017), GA State (over TN in 2019), Toledo, Citadel, App. State, UNLV, San Jose State, Western Kentucky (26 point win over Arkansas in 2019).
Hard to believe, but there are a ton of programs not in the SEC that are in far better shape now and will always be in far better shape than those programs. Again, Bama is the gold standard, but it's not like being a member of the SEC means that a member school: a) can run of competent football program; b) is relevant in college football; c) is likely to have future success.