** Edited by Stech at 7/4/2025, 4:05:48 PM

want the same thing. Once one breaks from the pack and gets treated better than the others, the team approach is basically dead, it's just a matter of time. Why didn't ND just stay in the Big East for all other sports and stay "really Independent" instead of Semi-Independent in football. Five or six guaranteed games in the ACC, makes you semi-independent. I can't believe the media doesn't discuss this more!

....ND's setup is derided as selfishness. The entire history of conference realignment is nothing but a story about selfishness and me first. Schools move without a care for their former 'conference brethren' and only care about 'I got mine". With unequal distributions in the ACC and partial shares there and the Big Ten, the team approach is as dead as fried chicken. The reason that the media doesn't talk about 'independent v. semi-independent' is that nobody outside of fans on message boards care about such things at all.

It seems like you were proud of that in past, how ND was able to get better arrangements for themselves than anyone else. It seems you were proud that they were selfish in getting a better arrangement, and really didn’t care about anyone else in the conference. Are you changing on that stance? Second, now that other schools are seeking what ND has, instead of being a full team player, they have watched what ND has done and may be trying to do the same thing. Yes there is selfishness involved with them too, but selfishness is cool to a lot of people right now, so it seems your approach is in style right now. You seem offended versus bragging for once, where is that coming from? You just don’t like describing what ND has done or how the others who want to follow them as selfish? PS If a Super League is formed do you want ND to join it? Do you think they will join it? ** Edited by Stech at 7/5/2025, 8:12:28 AM

My position hasn't changed. Just pointing out the irony in singling out ND's "greed "constantly but giving a pass to every school that has switched conferences for more cash and accepting that as just business and a smart move. ** Edited by TerryD at 7/5/2025, 10:59:10 PM

of it. ** Edited by Stech at 7/6/2025, 6:58:52 AM

Get in a conference that has no NIL,no salary for players and no transfer portal .

Peter Rabbit and Cinderella will be in charge of PR!!

** Edited by Stech at 7/4/2025, 7:53:07 PM

We and many other should join Division 3.

... with their biggest brands breaking away to join FSU, Clemson, Miami, etc to form a football super league. I don't think this clause can be triggered for an ACC school to park football-only in the Big Ten or SEC, as those are not "single sport" conferences.

However, each conference could keep the others in their conference. So Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Duke for instance stay in the SEC, B10 and ACC, but they are not in Super League Football. What am I missing on that?

But man, the cutoff for a proposed Super League within the B10/SEC would be something else. Do schools like Arkansas, Ole Miss, Illinois, Iowa, and UCLA make the cut? The B10 is already talking about unequal revenue sharing for their next TV deal...I think they would much prefer that approach to splintering away into a super league. Also, do we know what (if any) exit fees the SEC and Big Ten have? I believe I recall hearing years ago that the SEC exit fee was $0 (because who would ever leave)...but that could be outdated info

Or someone like the NFL. I am not sure they wouldn’t want to adopt the NFL rules to keep it so there is competitive balance. The Draft, Salary Cap, Roster limits etc. I think a lot miss that you can win a Super Bowl in Green Bay or even in Foxboro (it’s close but not in Boston and has New England instead of Boston as a first name). Pretty much any team that is “run correctly” has a chance to win a Super Bowl. It’s been a while now but I read an article, that all Conferences has exit fees now, including the SEC until the current contract expires.

I think you will see the clause identifies "single sport league, conference, or other association...." which would seem to imply a broader range of options to me. Another interesting statement, at least to me, was that FSU and Clemson must BOTH approve future payout changes which would seemingly give them future veto power until 2030/2031 when everyone is like gone anyway and ND does not participate in the football without joining the league. Now that was the Athletic reporting and their interpretation of the document and another reader could have an entirely different reading.

that you haven't read the actual writing does that refer to the agreement or the story? The agreement I understand as that would require FOIA, however, the story has several other nuggets in addition to the one summarized in your original post and might be worth a read or another read.

Any attempt to alter the conference's policies regarding withdrawal fees and revenue distribution would require a "vote or written consent" from Clemson and FSU, according to the settlement agreement. While the settlement essentially provides Clemson and FSU a veto, it disincentivizes another round of lawsuits by stipulating an institution loses viewership pool dollars if it takes the conference to court. ____ You may want to read this article as well.

in the post you now responded to and to @SMU Pony above. I have not read the actual agreement BUT, friends in a position to know have and like with any agreement it is wise to read every word and the fine print.

hard to make correct assessments.

when it comes to the P2 football.

1. While the ACC is and appears to be desperate, it is also (and I can't believe I'm saying this) a trend setter if you will. They did the unequal revenue sharing to basically keep FSU in the conference, and now P2 people are talking about doing the same. That concept was untouchable by "healthy" conferences just a year ago. So this clause that Matt Baker talks about, even though it is the ACC doing it, I wouldn't be surprised if the SEC or B1G tries to do this down the road. 2. Of the three options that you speculate upon above, I think the #3 is most interesting and possible, because this can be done NOW, and it is not dependent on any other conference. It is a "neat" way do just divide the haves from the have nots in the conference while not completely destroying the conference. This also could create a more permanent round robin schedule, which I think is something sorely missing in college football. Let's say that the Mag 7 (plus let's say GT) become the ACC Heavy Conference--that would give them 7 conference games, and their champion would be able to qualify for the CFP just like the P2 or BigXII. There would be an ACC Light Conference of the other 8 teams who would get a nice financial compensation exit fees and also be able to preserve ACC basketball and non rev sports. But here's the material questions: How much would the networks pay the ACC Heavy to justify the exit fees, and to keep them close enough to P2 money to keep FSU and Clemson from wondering off? Also, how much would the networks "downgrade" the ACC Light? With seven conference games, there could still be plenty of room for "non-conference" games, such as UNC vs. Duke, Miami vs. BC, etc. 3. If this ACC Heavy would actually occur, there are a lot of other things that could happen. For example, West Virginia might want to come join it if the price was right for both parties. Also, there might be even more ACC teams joining it, then the ACC Light could back fill with schools like Tulane and Rice or maybe UConn, USF or whoever. 4. Notre Dame could still keep its current arrangement with the entire ACC. Or, get this: what if seven teams (the agreement says six, but eight teams overall are needed to be a CFP qualifying conference), broke away, and Notre Dame JOINED that conference, perhaps in exchange for keeping their TV contract? The more I think about it, this would allow ND to hand pick 7 ACC teams (only two more games than they play right now, and be able to stay in the ACC for all their non revs). 5. Any break off of any sort (as I suggested above), would still be complicated by the in state politics of Virginia and North Carolina. 6. This deal would kinda suck for Stanford, Cal and SMU unless they were somehow chosen for the ACC Heavy Conference. 7. Would there even be a championship game if all this occurred? I kinda hope not, I'd rather just play an additional (13th) game if that could be made possible. Championship games are unnecessary and awkward in a round robin conference. Anyway, just spitballing here.

wanted more inventory, and 3 G5 schools plus BYU were added. Having less mouths to feed is a balancing act. In addition, a "new" association would lose out on the ACCN. I don't see those being left behind giving anything up for the breakaway schools, including staying in the ACC for everything but football. it's easy to say MAG 7, but it's a lot more complicated than that.

The Hateful 8 didn't have Clemson, Florida State and UNC. And they were also not in the Eastern Time Zone. And I'm not sure about the ACCN. I am not sure why ESPN wouldn't just want to keep it. But something would need to be worked out. In terms of content, the Heavy ACC and Light ACC could easily play several "OOC" games against one another. BTW, ND isn't in the ACC for football, and their basketball and non rev games are on the ACC all the time. Sure it's complicated, and it would take awhile. But it's doable.

Near equal around $5 million say. If not, I don't see them staying. ** Edited by HouClone at 7/4/2025, 4:17:47 PM ** Edited by HouClone at 7/4/2025, 4:18:25 PM

more money to leave. I do think there’s a strong sentiment to get back to regional for non-revenue sports that have many games. So it’s possible that the money side leans towards staying instead of going in those sports. Not to mention that some Presidents of Universities are hearing about the stress on Academics for these students.

Otherwise, this is just about pushing peas around on a plate. ** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 7/4/2025, 6:35:19 PM

like multiple time zones. Eastern being the best because of the population, but there is plenty of people west of the Mississippi. ** Edited by Big12 guy at 7/4/2025, 12:20:21 PM

the jury is still out on whether that model is successful or not. Even the B1G is just one year into this.