duro

compromised position. State either goes with them when they leave or they have an equivalent offer/landing spot in another conference. This has very high visibility and the politicians want them together. They are tied together and the Virginia schools are in a similar position. Further more UNC and UVA don’t want to separate either. So like it or not chances are VT, UVA, UNC and NC State are all going together.

approve or deny any athletic conference move by any university in the UNC system. Here in North Carolina this move is widely understood to preempt any move by UNC or NC State to leave the other in a compromised position if either tries to leave the ACC. In other words UNC isn’t going anywhere without NC State in tow or with an equivalent option to leave. I suspect the same political will exists to keep VT and UVA tied together.

want nothing to do with leaving the ACC. They like things just the way they are, thank you very much! Would they prefer the ACC membership remain the same? Yes. But even an ACC in a diminished state would be far more preferable than trying to compete in an SEC or Big 10 from their perspective. They simply want none of it. I don’t believe Sands would ever accept a move to the SEC even if offered. He is more of an academic elitist. His mission is to elevate VT’s academic profile which he is definitely doing. His sensibilities would be much more in line with the Big 10 however the motivation to invest in the athletic department to the degree necessary to compete in said conference does not exist. After watching how the athletic department (particularly the football program) has been run under Babcock I really can’t draw any other conclusion. It would be my preference that we end up in the SEC along with UVA and the Carolina schools but I think we are right where we are going to be long term. Hope I’m wrong. ** Edited by duro at 11/16/2023, 8:57:48 AM

that Florida State, Clemson, and North Carolina will enter into a negotiated exit from the ACC that will be concluded within five years. They are theory rising that that is why they expanded in order to keep the total conference membership at her above the 15 member threshold to keep the current ESPN deal from going down.

expansion. This is an athletic conference expansion just in case you’ve been marooned on a desert island somewhere. It would appear your comment trumps mine on the dumb comment scale.

and did nothing until it was too late regarding smart expansion doesn’t mean the double down with more bad decisions by bringing to bad football programs from the west coast that have no fanbase into an east coast based conference where half the schools have bad football programs and no fanbase. They are just doubling down on their previous bad decisions.

at VT however he should be doing what is in the best interest of Virginia Tech and the rest of the current ACC membership when it comes to expansion. His past connection to Cal should have nothing to do with his vote on this. And quite frankly I’m shocked that more people haven’t questioned the logic of this move. Most posters on this board and the subscribers board seem to be totally chill with everything Babcock and Sands have been doing and the media covering VT appears to be scared of asking tough questions or challenging either one of them. This same attitude bleeds over into how the football program is and has been run since Sands and Whit came on the scene. If our fanbase has a “I’m content with the job the VT administration is doing then we are in big trouble. Way too many fans on this board have adopted an attitude of “VT will never be what it was in the 90’s and 2000’s ever again and I’m ok with that” mentality. You get the product you deserve. I for one wish the VT board would compel both of their firings.

Is that once we got in it only took us about 7 years or so to decline to be a mediocre football program that has always defined the ACC outside of Clemson and FSU. We had better hope the ACC stays together as our president, athletic director, and administration are very comfortable with our current situation and have no desire whatsoever to commit the resources necessary to field a nationally competitive football program. They like things just the way they are thank you very much! And quite frankly a significant portion of the fan base has adopted this same line of thinking. The administration has never and still doesn’t cultivate a culture of giving back to the university either academically or athletically. Even though we hold every measurable advantage over Clemson (living alumni, higher average income, larger more affluent state, larger student body etc.) the largest concentration of our alumni are centered in and around northern Virginia and the northern states where there is little to no college football culture. Our fanbase simply isn’t willing to support the football program to a level that will allow it to compete at a nationally relevant level and our administration’s goals are a reflection of that reality. Clemson on the other hand is located in a smaller and much poorer state with a smaller student body, smaller living alumni with graduates making less money on average blow us away on every measurable when it comes to supporting their football program.

Notre Dame appears to have “Jedi like” mind control over the committee and the power five conferences. They always get treated as a one school conference equal and get anything they want even if it’s not in the best interests of the conferences. Even though the power five conferences hold all the cards and all the power they somehow acquiesce to Notre Dame‘s best interests.

independence above all else. They will stay independent therefore they will not be joining a conference. TerryD and others have reiterated Swarwick’s position on Notre Dame’s independence ad nauseum. If you and the other Notre Dame dupes had half as much concern for Virginia Tech and the ACC as you have for the Fighting Irish and their future you would being doing well. The Notre Dame fantasy has consumed this board and it’s constantly driven by the same cast of characters. This is a board to discuss VT, ACC and power 5 conference realignment. Notre Dame is not involved in any of this to any meaningful degree unless you are specifically referring to wherever their non revenue sports end up in 2036. It is you and others like you that are apparently “ignorant” of the reality of this.

They never were and never will be according to everything that you have ever said on this board. Read my response above. You just like to highjack the conversation on here and you apparently have a group of useful idiots that are more than willing to participate.

ACC or otherwise. This has been repeatedly confirmed over and over and over again by Swarwick himself and the Notre Dame propagandists on this board. Notre Dame is independent and only wants to be independent. They have willing accomplices in the conferences that have allowed this and apparently will continue to allow this. Notre Dame only has they power that the playoff committee has allowed them to have. They could have at several points confined the playoff to the conferences only but chose to give Notre Dame a seat at the table. It was not in the Power 5’s best interests to do this but they did it anyway. The ACC chose to give away any leverage they may have thought they had by throwing ND a lifeline during the COVID year. It wasn’t in the ACC’s best interest but they did it anyway. Notre Dame is a business only looking out for its own interests. They don’t make idiotic mistakes like this. What about this don’t you people understand? Give it a rest goodness sake. This board is to discuss conference realignment as it relates to VT, the ACC and the power5 conferences. Notre Dame meets none of those qualifications. They are an independent that is not joining a conference therefore it is off topic. So stop discussing them on this board! ** Edited by duro at 7/12/2023, 3:08:12 PM

of willing VT dupes that hang out on this board and discuss all things Notre Dame on a nearly daily basis. The subject should be banned or this board should be moved to subscriber access only which I’m going to request with Will. ** Edited by duro at 7/12/2023, 11:04:59 AM ** Edited by duro at 7/12/2023, 11:08:28 AM

Planning on breaking the grant of rights by dissolving the ACC and starting over with their own conference.

On two separate interviews, one of which that included Wes Durham here in Raleigh on the ESPN radio affiliate, it was mentioned emphatically that “one of the things that we learned from this process regarding the break up of the ACC and the magnificent seven is that UVA is not going anywhere without Virginia Tech and UNC is not going anywhere without NC State period”. This was mentioned by Wes Durham as a result of conversations he had with his sources at the ACC meeting in Amelia Island. It was further mentioned that political pressure and ties would keep both of the North Carolina and the Virginia schools together. So this notion of UVA going somewhere and leaving Virginia Tech in some diminished state in a compromised ACC simply isn’t happening. The same goes for UNC and NC State, which are part of the UNC system and their chancellors reporting to the UNC system president. Furthermore, I imagine that UVA and UNC will want to maintain their proximity as well. ** Edited by duro at 5/24/2023, 2:55:23 PM ** Edited by duro at 5/24/2023, 2:56:27 PM

ACC schools (Clemson, FSU, Miami, VT, UVA, UNC, Duke, NC State & Georga Tech) stick together as a block and approach the SEC. (They will have to vote as a block to break the GOR agreement). I believe the SEC would be very interested in picking up the Virginia and North Carolina media geography and added rivalry interest of the other schools. ESPN owns media rights for both conferences so they stand to gain. The synergies of this would create what is essentially the old Southern Conference and it would dominate college sports. The very best football, basketball and baseball conference for sure. This would be my preference. Far better to align with other similar sized southern schools that would be better athletic fits for VT. I agree a Big Ten alignment would be better academically but this has nothing to do with academics and everything to do with football and athletics in general. I'm afraid that Wake Forest will have little to offer any conference. Pitt, Syracuse and BC would be much better aligned in the Big Ten.