ren_hoek

I haven't seen anything saying it has. Agree with you, though.

I didn't think Sampson was referring to the ACC, but he wouldn't be wrong if he was. We flopped in the tournament (other than Duke) and the league was woefully weak in the middle. There is a lot of improvement work needed.

If we can't leave now then the next best thing is to adjust the scheduling so we play Miami Florida State, Virginia tech, UNC, Notre Dame, Louisville, and other schools who are serious about football more often and play Boston college, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and other ratings-challenged schools less.

Welcome to real life, kids.

I hate Bama and UGA, so why watch a game in which I'm guaranteed to be unhappy with the outcome? These exclusionary tactics of the SEC, B1G, and TV networks are repulsive and unethical. A pox on their house for what they've done to college athletics. I'd be ok with the ACC and B12 separating and playing with STUDENT athletes and having meaningful regional rivalries without the orgy of greed.

The B1G would take them in a heartbeat to get into Florida. ESPN would make more money with FSU playing an SEC schedule (i.e. higher ratings drive higher advertising income).

Clemson won 2 national championships, so they did plenty to prove their merit to be included. However, the networks have stranded them to financially starve into irrelevance (Swinney and the portal is a separate subject) while perennially irrelevant programs are included: Game chickens, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi schools, Arkansas, Rutgers, Maryland. I've never watched less college football before. I refuse to be force fed this crap. I'm out.

I didn't buy the hype, for the record.

No way they engage in a legal fight like this without a very strong vibe (i.e. 3rd party) of a p2 slot. People don't ascend to positions like AD, trustee, etc. by making rash, emotional decisions without multiple contingency plans.

There will likely be great political pressure in both states to admit them. It's good for the state to have both included in the P2 and it also makes the rivalry much more meaningful. Florida and USC supported adding Clemson and FSU years ago, but Slive asked for new states for the SEC network. This blackball rumor simply isn't true.

Bring it playing an ACC schedule (with garbage teams like Syracuse, BC, etc.). Ratings and advertising rates will go a lot higher playing an SEC schedule, which will make ESPN significantly more money.

Greed has ruined college sports and rivalries.

Ratings would skyrocket with an SEC schedule. Clemson and FSU make ESPN a lot more money in the SEC.

It has become a huge revenue bonanza in which TV executives, administrators, and others get filthy rich. Nothing wrong with that, but the players seem woefully underpaid, even with free tuition and board. It just felt exploitive, and I say that as one who leans way right.

Never seen a tinfoil hat he didn't want to wear. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. A few beers shy of a six pack.

Nobody deserves success less than that bunch

UVa, VT, UNC, NCSU, Clemson, GT, FSU, Miami, Louisville, maybe Pitt if we can get WVU to go with them. Nearly every game will be a rivalry with some history and delicious hate.

If that isn't convincing then you live in another world

Conference schedule will be tougher, no doubt. But Clemson did just fine vs the SEC during their run and the chickens have always been a doormat regardless of their conference membership.

And it gets appealing to me. Having an honest TV partner would be nice, wonder what that's even like.

for the decades of mismanagment. And don't forget Swofford - even if he didn't screw the conference with the sweetheart Raycom deal for his boy, he still couldn't negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag. His legacy will be one of failure that resulted in the downward spiral of the ACC.

UNC sounds like they're more aligned with Clemson and FSU. Wow.

Is it so outrageous to include programs based on merits?!? USCjr has been nothing more than cannon fodder for their conference mates over their entire history, but they get a golden ticket. Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Rutgers, Maryland, Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, and others not named OSU, Michigan, Bama, Georgia, or LSU get to ride the coattails and be jobbers for the name schools in this ridiculous scheme.

I've never watched less college football than I did this year. I didn't even watch a single bowl game. I HATE what the TV networks, Sankey, Delaney, Warren, and others have made it. I'd honestly rather watch the NFL.

He just throws it out there without any justification. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see how the ACC legal moves indicate scrambling or lack of strategy.

It boggles my mind. If Jimbo Fisher was a friend of mine, I would have seriously congratulated him on his firing from A&M. A $75M payday to get fired! Only in America.

I never dreamed that my tigers were capable of winning national championships and I darn sure didn't expect much out of a little known coach with a very light resume. The moral of the story is dream big. If you have the right leadership (coaches AND a committed administration), it can be done.

Take 6 from the ACC to get to 24 and establish a footprint all the way down the east coast. UVa, UNC, Duke (let NCSU rot after the Corrigan heel turn), Clemson, GT, and FSU. That allows 4 regional divisions of 6, nice and neat, and stiles a dagger to the heart of ESPN's monopoly of the South. All of those are AAU except Clemson and FSU, and both of those are working towards that end (Clemson has some blurb about AAU aligned programs on the future vision). Clemson and FSU bring the football chops and ratings while the rest satisfy the academic elitist crowd. As a Clemson grad, I'd prefer the B1G just because ESPN has proven themselves untrustworthy over a period of decades. Full stop, no way I'd choose an ESPN conference if the choice was available. I'm not an attorney, but that 9 year option where ESPN can walk away is pretty damning to ESPN. That wasn't public knowledge until this week. Is it enough to get the GOR struck down? We'll see. The only thing we know for sure is that a lot of attorneys will make untold amounts of money on this case. The crazy thing is that ESPN is in austerity mode and may not be in a position for a defensive, preemptive move to cutoff a B1G incursion into the south.

The ACC is hosed, but he really believes the big12 isn't after OU and Tejas depart. ** Edited by ren_hoek at 12/9/2023, 9:25:54 PM

If I were a decision maker, there would be an overwhelming mistrust in ESPN. Aligning with an ESPN conference would be a non-starter if there were a choice between the P2. I'd prefer to take 5 with us to the B1G - FSU or Miami, GT, UNC, UVa, VT.

That would be enough for me to leave NCSU for dead, but I can't speak for anyone else.

He asserts that the big12 matters more than the ACC since Texas got in over FSU. However, that is only true until June, after which the big12 will be much more lightly rated than the ACC. Both conferences are hose going forward, though. But let's be realistic about the post Texas/OU big12

Have they ever even hinted at their desire to remain independent?

Yeah, I went there, and this post may indeed age poorly.

Tv executives and administrators are getting filthy stinking rich (proclaiming the glories of amateurism all the while) while the players get peanuts in comparison. I'm a conservative and a devout proponent of capitalism, mind you, but college athletics is beyond absurd.

College sports has lost its way. Smh.

"Please join us. The ACC wouldn't suspend you if you shot someone on the sidelines."

That being said, they'd never actually leave

Maintain rivalries inside 6 team divisions. In 2030, add the 4 corner schools to get a western division. Add Cincinnati, TCU, and another to get to 24. Have a north division with the ne'er do well football programs, a mid Atlantic division with NC and VA teams, and a south division with the rest.