GT isn't a good fit for the SEC - too small a fan base, too stringent academic requirements for athletes, too much apathy in a city that doesn't care for sports in general (or if they do it's for UGA). they left the SEC for a reason. Clemson, on the other hand, is a perfect fit for the SEC.

Florida would pitch a fit about FSU or Miami (I would think) because it would threaten their in state stature in the long run. but I would also think the other SEC schools would willingly tell UF to suck eggs and deal

5/2/2010 11:38:23 AM

Quote :

"^Seems like ECU basketball is nowhere close to where it would need to be?"

ECU basketball isn't even on the same planet

They're all time record against ACC schools is like 1-70. Guess who the 1 is

[Edited on May 2, 2010 at 12:08 PM. Reason : .]

5/2/2010 12:08:08 PM

apparently the big 10 is about to drop the hammer

5/10/2010 4:00:56 PM

Big Ten has offered Nebraska, Mizzou, Notre Dame and Rutgers

everybody is saying that Mizzou is a lock

5/10/2010 4:05:05 PM

ECU basketball would benefit from being in the ACC. Before the ACC VT had a horrible basketball program

5/10/2010 4:07:27 PM

what about pitt/cuse?

5/10/2010 4:07:31 PM

^^ not nearly as bad as ECU's bball program though. they had the Dell Curry years and the NIT Champs year

and of course, there's football

5/10/2010 4:10:43 PM

Quote :

"Q: When all the dust settles, who’s going to be in the Big Ten and how will it be aligned? - JG A: If all the inside info really is true, I’ll be shocked if the Big Ten doesn’t go to 16, and there’s just no way it’ll go to 12. 14 is a possibility if there’s a backlash or if there’s a change of heart from some schools that appear to be locks, but it appears that the Big Ten will likely have two divisions of eight. In the pecking order of schools on the Big Ten radar, it goes Rutgers (expands the Big Ten further into the New York City market and pushes the league out to the Atlantic Ocean), Missouri (mediocre academics are a problem, but the St. Louis and Kansas City markets and a natural tie-in with Illinois will help), Nebraska (the TV market isn’t a plus, but the football program adds luster), Syracuse (basketball, basketball, basketball), Connecticut (basketball, basketball, basketball … remember, Delany has a hoops background), and with Pitt (big city, natural geographic tie-in with Penn State and Ohio State) in the mix. Your Big Ten, if it goes to 16, will probably end up being (with the new schools in bold) … EAST: Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse WEST: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin If it goes to 14, the Big Ten will probably end up being … EAST: Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers WEST: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin "

5/10/2010 4:37:25 PM

The ACC is gonna have to make some moves soon if they don't want to become irrelevant.

5/10/2010 5:39:36 PM

Quote :

"URBAN MEYER ACC"

5/10/2010 5:42:31 PM

I still don't get Rutgers. NYC doesn't give a shit about them. Syracuse and UConn are bigger draws in the TV market than Rutgers despite their two good football seasons.

V of course not -- but they will give you a bigger % than Rutgers -- especially if you care at all about basketball.

[Edited on May 10, 2010 at 5:53 PM. Reason : ecu has a bigger tv following in bball than rutgers]

5/10/2010 5:42:58 PM

Quote :

"Syracuse and UConn are bigger draws in the TV market than Rutgers"

And are Syracuse and UConn really big enough draws there to make them candidates for conference expansion based on TV markets? It seems like this idea of capturing the NYC college football TV market is a fantasy.

5/10/2010 5:52:49 PM

I've followed this a bit, but haven't heard how they would actually lay it out for football.

Is the thinking just have 7 conference games against the teams in your division and then have the two division winners play a conference championship? Or are they going to cross over some like the ACC does and play 9-10 conference games? Just thinking how you even layout a 16 team conference schedule for a football season that makes sense. Would be odd to be in a conference where you'd go years without playing another team in that conference.

I also don't understand Rutgers, being in the weaker football conference helped because they started winning and people will pay attention to a team winning. If they move and fall to the bottom of the conference people in NJ/NY will go right back to not caring just like it was only a few years ago.

5/10/2010 7:25:26 PM

adding Rutgers is about academics and the ability to put the Big Ten (and the network) in the NYC market.

5/10/2010 7:42:05 PM

I'd like to see the ACC get WVU and Pitt.

It would add good football and basketball programs, plus it would keep us relevant in Football and let us keep a championship game if the SEC steals our Florida schools.

5/10/2010 8:17:56 PM

I'd rather the ACC become irrelevant than it add fucking Pitt and WVU.

WVU? The school of Kevin Pittsnogle?

5/10/2010 8:20:44 PM

Quote :

"WVU? The school of Kevin Pittsnogle?"

What's your point?

5/10/2010 8:51:18 PM

From an academic standpoint, UNC and Duke would throw a shitfit about adding WVU. Decent fit in terms of athletics, though. However, it doesn't really add any desirable TV markets.

5/10/2010 9:39:23 PM

Since expansion is coming, be proactive and add Syracuse, WVU, UConn and Pitt.

Have a north and south division:

North:

Syracuse, WVU, UConn, Pitt, BC, Maryland, UVa, VT

South:

State, uncch, Duke, Wake, Clemson, GT, FSU, Miami

And be done with it. Great parity for football and unbelievable basketball.

[Edited on May 10, 2010 at 11:16 PM. Reason : +++]

5/10/2010 11:16:22 PM

simply: the ACC needs to stand pat and keep its faith in its conference. some guy on ESPN just said the Big 11 might try to even recruit maryland. that might be the most retarded thing I've heard all day.

do you guys even remember how awesome it was to play home/away @ every ACC team? now all people care about is fucking tv markets. it's getting closer and closer to professional sports

[Edited on May 10, 2010 at 11:18 PM. Reason : .]

5/10/2010 11:17:25 PM

Quote :

"I'd like to see the ACC get WVU and Pitt."

WVU fits with the SEC and it's lower academically ranked schools better than the ACC IMO. The ACC has only tier 1 (UNC, GT, UVA, Duke, Wake, BC, etc.) and tier 2 schools (State, Clemson, Maryland, VT, etc). FSU is probably the lowest ranked school academically in the ACC and they are still much better than WVU which is a tier 3 school.

I think the ACC should continue to strive to be a strong athletic conference while maintaining the reputation as a conference full of highly ranked academic schools as well. I personally think Vandy would be a good fit in the ACC. ECU should never even be mentioned in any talk of joining a BCS conference ever.



[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 8:09 AM. Reason : ;]

5/11/2010 8:08:47 AM

what is your tier system that virginia tech gets put into second tier academically? did you make it up on the spot? i'm 100% sure that you did.

5/11/2010 8:20:44 AM

^ The "tiers" I think he is referring to is probably tied to something I read online before that said: Tier 1 schools are usually schools ranked in the top 50 in the country. The 2nd tier is like 51-150 and 3rd tier is 151-250. If you use US News' university rankings, VT is considered a tier 2 school at 71. We are also tier 2 at 88. A cursory glance through their rankings tells me that all the schools and the tiers he listed are about right (including WVU being a tier 3 school) if that is the criteria he used.

However, if you are on US News' site, their tiers seem to be a bit different (looks like all the ACC schools are "tier 1" by their definition and WVU is tier 3).



[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 8:51 AM. Reason : ]

5/11/2010 8:47:53 AM

i don't argue w/ those rankings, but the same us world news report has a very different definition of tiers from ^. at least as i recall.

point being, any system in which VT is a tier 2 school is a bullshit system. VT has a very excellent reputation.

[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 8:52 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2010 8:51:23 AM

yea sorry I just edited it to clarify more. and I certainly do not argue with that at all. Was just providing some info that might have led to his conclusion.

[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 8:53 AM. Reason : ]

5/11/2010 8:51:45 AM

Basically I was going off memory from US News rankings in the past few years. If VT is truly a tier 1 school, then good, it's more of an argument against letting a lower ranked academic school like WVU into the ACC.

5/11/2010 9:02:21 AM

i wasn't saying your rankings were wrong, i was saying that your definition of tier 1 is wrong.

VT is just an example. None of the schools in the ACC are tier 2 schools.

5/11/2010 9:29:51 AM

^ obviously we are way off subject at this point, but US News a few years back did have a tier system in which schools ranked 50 to whatever (100 or 150) were considered tier 2 schools. This included NC State, Clemson, and the like. VT may have made the top 50, if not then they were in the 2nd tier. I did not make up the tier system and either way it is simply US News ranking system and biased anyways. I'd much rather have a useful degree in engineering from VT or State than a much less valuable history or political science degree from UNC or UVA.

The overall point is WVU does not belong in the ACC academically.






[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 9:38 AM. Reason : h]

5/11/2010 9:37:10 AM

i'd guess you will see a move by the big east, the big 10(1), and the PAC10 to get 12 football schools, with 2 other conferences forming out west out of what's left of the WAC and Mountain West and MAC (probably temple to the big east needs 3 more probably from 1-AA conferences since i don't think ND or army/navy are interested) though they would fit

the sunbelt expanding

5/11/2010 12:01:58 PM

what would happen to georgetown if the Big East disbands? Do they play football at any level?

5/11/2010 5:46:18 PM

Quote :

"what would happen to georgetown if the Big East disbands? Do they play football at any level?"

They play football at the FCS level in the Patriot League.

As for where their other sports would go if the Big East disbands, maybe the Atlantic 10?

[Edited on May 11, 2010 at 5:54 PM. Reason : .]

5/11/2010 5:50:43 PM

ESPN Rumors article

Quote :

"Big Ten commish Jim Delaney has had to publicly deny rumors that he has offered expansion slots to Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Rutgers already. That roster conforms to the early reports that top Big 12 and Big East schools are the primary targets to change conference affiliations in the near future. Big Ten sources say it's just not true. Expansion talk has focused on the Big East -- a behemoth of a conference that could be raided for its football powers -- but ESPN.com's Andy Katz says we should think outside the box a little more. "Prestige of universities is important. Location in a major, travel-accessible city helps as well. That's why at least one source said Maryland and Georgia Tech from the ACC and Vanderbilt out of the SEC make sense. In terms of location, Nashville, Tenn., is less than 400 miles from Columbus, Ohio. Bloomington, Ind., is only four hours away from Nashville. Champaign, Ill., is five hours away." Let's be honest. The SEC wouldn't miss Vandy much. The underrated Tennessee-Vandy rivalry would die, but a middling football school with high academic standards isn't a huge priority for the classic southern conference. Maryland and Georgia Tech leaving the ACC is more of a problem, from a basketball perspective. When the ACC nabbed Miami, BC and Virginia Tech from the Big East years ago, they added very little in terms of hoops viability (or football, but that's not our bailiwick). The ACC without Gary Williams and the Terps sounds strange beyond belief. If it does happen, where would the ACC turn? It's entirely possible that the Big East would then be targeted to replace the Terps and Yellow Jackets. Syracuse was considered as a possible northern partner in the ACC expansion that brought in BC, and could be again. UConn, Pitt, Rutgers, West Virginia and even South Florida make sense from the perspective of geography and football sponsorship as well. One thing's for sure: nobody's going to move a muscle until the Big Ten plays the first card. When heck breaks loose after that, we'll keep you informed on the latest possibilities. "

5/12/2010 10:24:55 AM

How the fuck does GT fit into the Big Ten? I can understand the Maryland grab, but GT?? WTF? So what if it is in Atlanta? If the Big Ten really wanted to grab two ACC teams, it should be Maryland and BC. BC in my opinion is a perfect fit for the Big Ten.

ACC could then go after Syracuse, UConn, or Pitt. Screw USF or Rutgers.



[Edited on May 12, 2010 at 10:33 AM. Reason : bv]

5/12/2010 10:32:33 AM

Maryland in the big 10?

As far as conference money issues:
http://www.accsports.com/articles/201004307757/from-the-vault-acc-vs-sec--money-numbers--.php
Conference - Shared Revenue
1. Big Ten - $177.4 million
2. ACC - $162.4 million
3. SEC - $149.1 million
4. Big 12 - $119.2 million
5. Pac-10 - $88.8 million
6. Big East - $78.4 million

5/12/2010 10:34:08 AM

Wow

ESPN is terrible

5/12/2010 10:35:23 AM

I have no clue why GT would be on their radar. In my ideal scenario they would take BC off the ACC's hands and we'd be able to pick up WV (solely based on athletics here). Of course taking Maryland might not be bad...considering they seem to beat us in every important end of season football game we have.

5/12/2010 10:45:57 AM

BC isn't a member of the Association of American Universities, so they're not on the Big Ten's radar at all.

5/12/2010 2:45:32 PM

5/12/2010 2:46:29 PM

if wvu is ever a part of the acc...i will shift conference allegiance

5/12/2010 2:50:20 PM

WVU is FAR too weak academically to end up with the ACC.
Louisville is also in this category.
ECU is too academically weak and have no real basketball program.

Anyone that suggests the above schools is not realistic (also include USF, etc).


Syracuse and Pitt would be better fits for the ACC. Rutgers, UConn would be a slight stretch but realistic options.

5/12/2010 3:09:09 PM

Really, if we presume that AAU membership is a requirement for the Big Ten, as suggested by many journalists (and the fact that all 11 current schools are members), and assuming that they'd only raid BCS conferences, you end up with this list of possible targets:

Duke University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Iowa State University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Stanford University
Syracuse University
Texas A&M University
The University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Florida
The University of Kansas
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Southern California
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Virginia
University of Washington
Vanderbilt University

Now none of the Pac-10 schools are jumping ship, Florida isn't leaving the SEC, and UNC, Duke, and Virginia aren't going anywhere either. You also have to add Notre Dame, who the Big Ten covets so badly that they'll ignore their lack of AAU membership (ND's academic reputation is such that it doesn't matter anyway). That leaves a shortlist of 14 schools, which is about how long some early reports suggested the Big Ten's real shortlist is:

Georgia Institute of Technology
Iowa State University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Syracuse University
Texas A&M University
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Kansas
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Notre Dame
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Texas at Austin
Vanderbilt University

The Big Ten is probably loath to invite Kansas or Colorado. Same goes for Texas A&M, but they might do it if they thought they could get Texas, which is their real dream addition.

GT, Maryland, and Vandy don't seem overly likely, but the Big Ten has got to have a backup plan if their first choices fall through. So yeah, they're probably really on the list. And the Big Ten can offer so much money that GT and Maryland would almost have to listen.

EDIT: markgoal is dead-on about the ACC

[Edited on May 12, 2010 at 3:33 PM. Reason : .]

5/12/2010 3:25:47 PM

I wonder what the criteria is for a school to join the AAU? Obviously the majority of the AAU universities are outstanding, but there are some less notable schools too. NCSU should seek to join especially given that part of the objective of the AAU is research based.

5/13/2010 8:05:03 AM

Quote :

"Rutgers, UConn would be a slight stretch but realistic options."

Why? Aren't both of them ranked higher academically than NC State?

I checked. They are tied for 66th (Rutgers and UConn). VT, NCSU and FSU are all lower and Clemson is nearly identical.

** What exactly are the qualifications for AAU membership? There are a bunch of not so great schools on there.

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 9:20 AM. Reason : ^ oops... what he said]

5/13/2010 9:14:41 AM

Quote :

"There are a bunch of not so great schools on there."

which ones? pretty sure they're all tier 1 schools.

the AAU is first and foremost concerned with research. undergraduate education is the last bullet point on the second tier of evaluation.

here's the info of how they determine how to invite. Georgia Tech is the newest member, getting in a couple months ago

http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=1110

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 11:07 AM. Reason : .]

5/13/2010 11:04:37 AM

just eyeballing it:

florida is an average school.
iowa is an average school.
iowa state is an average school.
kansas is an average school.
minnesota is an average school.
missouri is an average school.
nebraska is an average school.
ohio state is an average school.

i'm sure everyone one of these has a closet fan on here who's going to come in and tell me i'm wrong, but whatever. none of those schools are significantly more prestigious academically than vt, nc state or clemson.

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 11:11 AM. Reason : "tier 1", what the fuck does that mean? didn't we already have this argument in this thread?]

5/13/2010 11:11:09 AM

let's be honest, it's all about the $$$

being able to argue academics is just to save face

5/13/2010 1:26:09 PM

you might want to check what you think is an average school. state is tied for the 4th worst ranking out of all the schools you just listed.

minnesota 39
florida 47
ohio state 53
Clemson University: 61
Virginia Tech T-71
iowa T-71
NC State: T-88
iowa state T-88
nebraska T-96
kansas T-96
missouri 102

but you are right, there is less of a difference in academic presitege with all these schools than, say, state and west virginia. but the AAU isn't about giving some plaque to every good school in the country. they recognize the schools that excel in research, faculty, grad programs, undergrad programs, and more. for example, many of those schools have more people in the national academy of sciences than state does. many of those schools are also ranked higher in the national research council rankings.

i'm not saying that state's not a good school. but there are a lot of things that go into being an AAU school, and state hasn't met them yet.

[Edited on May 13, 2010 at 2:27 PM. Reason : .]

5/13/2010 2:17:05 PM

Has anyone else heard about the SEC and Miami, Georgia Tech, FSU and WVU? Or am I the only one to hear that on ESPN Radio (I heard it on XM -- not exactly sure which city they carry but I think it's NYC).

5/14/2010 3:52:26 PM

yeah i've heard some rumors about the SEC snatching up a couple of the ACC's better football schools

5/14/2010 3:56:51 PM

It would be nice if the ACC shed some weight and went back to eight schools (round robin basketball schedule!)

It would also be nice if I pooped million dollar bills

5/14/2010 4:16:37 PM