• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Conference Expansion: Stanford, California and SMU Join the ACC

I'm sure that a third rate reporter, a helmet maker, and the NCAA would be the first to know this information.
 
Clemson fans I know are realists. Much more so than the FSU dumbasses I know. They like the ACC and realize it’s the best path to championships. Conference realignment has worked out for basically 0 of the schools that have moved. This won’t be any different.
 
Worked out in what way? Pretty sure they all make more money now. Oh, you mean actual on field success? That doesn’t matter any more.

Although remember when Missouri made the SEC championship in their first season?
 
deacdixieboy said:
Clemson fans I know are realists. Much more so than the FSU dumbasses I know. They like the ACC and realize it’s the best path to championships. Conference realignment has worked out for basically 0 of the schools that have moved. This won’t be any different.
Click to expand...
Interesting. There's zero overlap between our respective groups of Clemson-fan acquaintances.
 
Lawyers, I have a question: Could Clemson just delta the name of their University and their sports mascot and then easily walk away from the GOR? Like, what if they officially become The University of South Carolina at Clemson, and their mascot becomes the Ligers. The GOR is for Clemson University Tigers, not USC-C's Ligers.
 
I tried to resist writing this again, and failed...

I have no idea what the real deal is regarding Clemson and FSU. But if WFU had a viable path to the SEC or B10 and didn't take it, most of us would rightly lose our minds. There are- and will for the foreseeable future only be- two conferences that really matter on the national front. And being in one of those > not being in one of those.

I'd rather go 6-6 (or worse) against SEC/B10 schools than end up going 9-3 or so against our fellow Sun Belt (or equivalent) members.
 
Kent said:
I tried to resist writing this again, and failed...

I have no idea what the real deal is regarding Clemson and FSU. But if WFU had a viable path to the SEC or B10 and didn't take it, most of us would rightly lose our minds. There are- and will for the foreseeable future only be- two conferences that really matter on the national front. And being in one of those > not being in one of those.

I'd rather go 6-6 (or worse) against SEC/B10 schools than end up going 9-3 or so against our fellow Sun Belt (or equivalent) members.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything except for the bolded part. I think the B12 and ACC will hang around and each will have 1-2 teams that could make the playoffs and go far any given year, like TCU last year.
 
birdman said:
Lawyers, I have a question: Could Clemson just delta the name of their University and their sports mascot and then easily walk away from the GOR? Like, what if they officially become The University of South Carolina at Clemson, and their mascot becomes the Ligers. The GOR is for Clemson University Tigers, not USC-C's Ligers.
Click to expand...
Let me provide the tier 1 answer: No.
 
Rafi said:
I agree with everything except for the bolded part. I think the B12 and ACC will hang around and each will have 1-2 teams that could make the playoffs and go far any given year, like TCU last year.
Click to expand...

I agree. They'll hang around and have some teams sneak in and up. But the gap between 1-2 and everyone else is wide and getting wider. I'd just rather swim in the deep end.
 
There is no "legal" way out of the GOR. At least no legal way that wouldn't require protracted litigation which might not even be over before the GOR penalty (the value of the GOR reduces each year) would no longer be effective. Clemson's or FSU's "out" of the GOR is financial, not legal. They are going to have to pay to get out of it.

So, Clemson and FSU continued membership in the ACC (they are already locked in through the 2024-5 season) will depend on:

  • Whether the Big 10 or SEC really feel like its in their interest to add Clemson and/or FSU
    • In my limited and possibly wrong view, I don't see either team offering enough value for the conference membership to further cut the pie; the Big 10 membership wouldn't take Washington and Oregon until and unless they agreed to fractional shares (and even then it was a close call whether to add the Ducks and the Huskies); the Big 10 is about to become the Big 18; don't think that conference really has the desire to go to 20 or 24; their conference tournaments are going to take a couple of weeks now;
    • Biff brought up a great point this week; the SEC doesn't want Clemson or FSU; they already have maximum coverage in those states; neither school adds anything to pie or brings increased dollars in markets they have saturated; they just don't want the Big 10 in SEC Country; so, unless the Big 10 interest is real; the SEC is good at 16
  • If the Big 10 or SEC are interested, at what point does it make financial sense to Clemson or FSU to buy their way out of the GOR;
    • Whether its $500 million or $900 million, right now, it doesn't make financial sense for either school to leave; neither school is in position to offer up a a half a billion to leave the ACC; if they do, its windfall for the rest of the ACC schools;
    • At some point as the GOR penalty diminishes, it might make sense to pay the GOR, but the terms of the Big 10 or SEC offer will play a role as, to the extent an offer is made by the Big 10 or SEC, its unlikely to offer full memberships to either school; right now, Washington and Oregon will essentially make what ACC teams get; so, the terms of the offer (to the extent there is one) will also determine when it makes sense to go.
  • Finally, I'm far from convinced that either FSU or Clemson are the most desirable ACC targets; I have always heard from a number of sources that the the top ACC targets are UNC and UVA; perhaps, the conference would take Clemson or FSU as part of package with UNC and UVA, but I'm not even sure about that. Yes, Clemson has been a hot football program for a decade; kudos to Dabo, Trevor Lawrence and DeShaun Watson, but Clemson went through a 20+ year period when they were just another school in a smallish state with a decent football program. Those days will return; Clemson is not Alabama. Clemson is still a good football program, but they are declining. Clemson might be happy to be in any Power conference 5 years from now.
 
Rafi said:
I agree with everything except for the bolded part. I think the B12 and ACC will hang around and each will have 1-2 teams that could make the playoffs and go far any given year, like TCU last year.
Click to expand...
Nah there is going to be conference Fox and conference ESPN and if your not in one of them your irrelevant.
 
Well, then, the ACC is going to be relevant until 2036 as that is the last year of the ACC/ESPN contract.
 
I agree with you a lot Pilch but to say Clemson may be happy to be in any Power conference five years from now seems downright silly. By my count only 10 programs have won a national title in the last 2 decades and I find it hard to believe even with a period of mediocrity for Clemson that they aren't going to be a top 30-32 team targeted for any potential NCAA breakaway mass realignment
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
I agree with you a lot Pilch but to say Clemson may be happy to be in any Power conference five years from now seems downright silly. By my count only 10 programs have won a national title in the last 2 decades and I find it hard to believe even with a period of mediocrity for Clemson that they aren't going to be a top 30-32 team targeted for any potential NCAA breakaway mass realignment
Click to expand...
We will see. There is such a recency bias in everything. If Clemson has a string of 8-4 and 9-3 seasons, just don't think that Clemson will have the much of a national pull. FWIW, that may be why Clemson is trying to see what the can do to get into the SEC or Big 10 because the window may be closing on them as an "it" program.

Texas sucked for more than a decade, but everyone wanted them because Texas has 30 million people. South Carolina has 5 million people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top