Here is the article from the FSU hometown paper.

their neighbors. It certainly was a start, and short of "subsidizing" the top teams in the ACC, I'm not sure what more you guys can do - Take the top 7 teams of the ACC - Now Cal, Stanford, and SMU come in at a level that maybe some of the other 10 teams should be looking at. A sliding scale, so to speak, where the top schools get the most, and the bottom schools get the least. There aren't many SMU's out there - so set that aside - but it the ACC were to break up - there are many Cal - Stanford - WSU and OSU type schools that are in danger of being on the outside looking in. When ESPN has their "look in" on the contract in two years - maybe the ACC can have something different to propose to it's members that make it very attractive to the FSU's, very competitive for the NCSU's, and palatable for the Cal's, Wake's, and other low teams - but attractive enough to have Tulane's and UConn's chomping at the bit to get in. More content for ESPN, so there could be a bump in the contract, and being a sliding scale, a chance for the lower rated schools to invest some money, get better, or bow out. (just a spit ball here). The B12 could do something similar - as currently we have parity, but the schools that invest in their budgets, coaching, facilities moving forward will have the edge in recruiting, and will field competitive teams. Those that are complacent, and do not, will ultimately go to the lower end of the scale. There could be a combination of metrics to use, with winning at the top - but investments, history, ratings, other sports besides football, - all could used to determine the top schools in the conference. As long as there is a legit chance to move up the scale over say, a 3-5 year window, something like that could very well produce the next legitimate team that could contend against the SEC and BIG.

That’s why I think the Mag 7 is going to bolt, and plus 1 is probably ND. It’s just going to be too much money to overcome for both the ACC and B12. And yes, even Notre Dame will end up to far behind in access to the 🏈 National Championship and the new 🏀 basketball tournament, and money. The B1G is almost a National Conference which is what ND needs (*a national schedule to recruit to), they just need the Southeast/Southwest to finish it off. I think in the ACC, the B1G wants Miami, FSU, ND and Clemson or Georgia Tech. I don’t think the SEC wants any of those schools. If they had, ESPN would have had the ACC Commissioner in prime time instead of the SEC Commissioner the day before the playoff committee vote. PS One that people are missing, the head of the playoff committee when FSU was left out, he’s the NC State AD. He knows who is about to butter his bread. 🤷‍♂️ *Notre Dame left Independence behind when they signed the 5 🏈 game agreement with the ACC. They may even need to sign one with the B1G, that’s not Independent Scheduling. However, their Big Donors like TerryD won’t come around until they lose access to the top tier 🏈 Championship. Like it or not IMHO, it’s coming sooner rather than later.

that just creates an even more top heavy conference and does not solve the long term issue. Being in the the Big 12 and basically kissing the Longhorns rear end for all those years should have shown you that. Modest performance incentives might work but, the gap between the P2 and others is too wide to bridge with that and ultimately exacerbates the competitive imbalance more. Finally, FSU has pretty much burned every bridge and it is best to lance the wound than allow the boil to fester any longer than necessary. Continuing to pander to FSU is a bad idea, in my opinion.

What's your solution, give them unequal share after the sucked for awhile? They are having a tantrum because their overrated team who beat on a weak ACC didn't get invited to the dance. Boo Hoo. Next year they get an autobid, right? I say screw them. They are no longer an elite program, and I don't care how much you or anyone else says they are. The Georgia game says it all.

year - they were not one of the (4) best teams in my opinion. So..., I agree with you on the playoff piece. I assumed you were just talking about conference alignment. If so, than my comment still stands. The entire ACC is "suffering" - both the "punk" teams and the non-punk teams ;-)

a better contract? What can the ACC do to stay intact? Is the conference worth more with FSU, or less? I think many should step back and ask themselves what they will command in a media contract without the 4 top schools in the conference. You can take that to 6 or 7, or whatever you want, but if it's only the top 4 that go, what kind of contract will the ACC get? Realistically, they are probably gone either way, but that is just one school. The top 4 going is something different. Like it or not, eventually the top schools in your conference will make more money than the rest - so do you try and keep them on your schedule, or not?

would like to see them do well to help support the ACC overall. It is the small private schools and old ACC leadership that are the issue.

compete in the future, or get replaced by a school that will make those commitments.

be a solution, or we have yet another conference go to the wayside.

then we'll have a sane system. What I mean by this is when they want cash to flow to the victors rather than the reputation. That's right. I'm talking about relegation and promotion. This would be best done nationally or regionally. But it could even be done within a conference. Let's say that FSU leaves and the ACC has 16 teams. 8 in the Top Tier and 8 in the Bottom Tier. Top Tier get paid decidedly more. But each year the champ of the 2nd Tier moves up, and the last place team 1st Team moves down. Grandfather the payments for 3 years. Then taper it up/down incrementally to where you want it over the course of the next 3 years. This will lessen the direct financial hit and give teams time to get their sea legs before the high stakes begin. This is real competition. ** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 2/20/2024, 4:32:26 PM

The major college brands would never allow any system where they could be bumped down to the lower division. The only reason it still exists in European sports is because it's a tradition there.

A few things. 1. The blue bloods of the PL rarely get relegated. Of the Big Six, only Manchester City has ever been relegated (2x) in the PL's 30+ year history. And I'd say they've rebounded pretty nicely. 2. Non-blue bloods rarely win the PL. Only two clubs outside the Big Six have ever won it (Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City). 3. You say it is done only because of tradition. I disagree. Sure, it is done for tradition in part (see: the revolt against the Super League). But relegation/promotion is also good for the sport for many other reasons, including the keeping of interest in the bottom of the standings and preserving vibrant lower tiers. 4. In fact, I think that relegation and promotion makes even more sense for college football since the amount of games per season are smaller. 5. The money for the blue bloods would be even better than it is now if they'd only be willing to bet on themselves rather that taking the easy money and freezing out the little guy. ** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 2/21/2024, 10:56:36 PM

goes to 3 power conferences, and the 3rd conference stretches to 24 or more schools - it would be time to seriously consider that move. The P2 got their contracts because they have the blue bloods. Maybe a European soccer type of model could be instituted that would allow schools to move up or down the scale by performance - after all, currently, the B12 has no program that stands above the others. If the ACC implodes, they would be in the same boat.

that a conference going by the wayside really ceases to be a conference long before its final demise. We saw it with the Big East, then with the PAC 12 and standing at least in the on deck circle, if not the batter's box, now appears to be the ACC. I give you grief for the Big 12 but, in one way, I now believe that conference is stronger. Everyone in that conference, so far, has now unified behind a common goal.

The ACC however, is still here. I'm not convinced that the P2's goal was to decimate these conferences, they have just put themselves in the position to make more money. The Playoffs, and how they are configured and paid out, will either be the final nail in the coffin, or a way to keep the non P2 conferences relevant.

I think we would be naive to attribute any altruistic motives to either the B1G or the SEC. Any bones they throw to other conferences will be about getting enough votes to pass and/or a strategy to combat potential future antitrust challenges.

But I think at this point, the pool of money isn't large enough to make up the money difference. And FSU isn't looking for this anyway. They were quite silent about revenue sharing when they went though their recent stretch of being mediocre. Sadly, the big names want to make money off their reputation, not their accomplishments.

Research the Big East as I am sure there are still details out there on it. One of the faults that caused members to always be on the lookout for a better deal was the uneven revenue divide. While FSU was the top of the ACC this year, when they drop down lower they will be unhappy about the amount of money they get in what you are proposing (example for context - Miami in the BE). The uneven revenue ends up making nobody happy because they all feel slighted in some way, so in stead of making the team crying for more money happy you actually make everyone unhappy with the league. The ACC and VT should avoid these types of ideas as they don't really drive the outcomes you called out. HokieVictory

1 or 2 top tier teams ;-)

much more money in the ACC then they ever could in the B12? Everyone talks about guaranteed media money, some of those ideas are guaranteed opportunities to make money.

adding WVU in the first place. But at this point in time, I think that the Big12 is more stable long term than the ACC is. I am not sure that the ACC can draw any teams away from the Big12...... Maybe WVU solely based upon Geo, but I would be surprised......

the ACC stick together as they are, but all I see is the blame game, and pointing figures. There has to be a solution out there that is missing - ESPN should not have that much power over a conference, but especially in the post season. Maybe the wrong entity is being sued. Maybe a class action suit against ESPN for unfair trade practices and collusion. The recent steaming service sounds a lot like collusion, and not opening up the playoffs to bids, sounds like collusion. Maybe FSU and the ACC and B12 should team up and sue ESPN for monopolistic practices. They clearly favor the SEC over any other conference they are associated with. FOX could be sued by the PAC for predatory practices.

give you that, but 1.5x share of the revenue was never voted on.

because they had already made up their minds to leave because they saw no future in the Big12, and the same is true for FSU. They have already made up their minds to leave the ACC and offering them more money isn't going to change their mind.