Stanford, Cal and SMU to the ACC
Here we go. I could see the 3 that voted no leaving soon.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
Don't forget University of Alaska! Gotta make sure that Arctic coast doesn't feel left out.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
They need to pull football out and create a seperate league. Let the other sports have conferences.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
As far as the Big Ten and SEC involvement in realignment, this is in the end game now. The Pac conference is now gone (Wash St. and Oregon St. will join a minor conference now), and the Big12 has a bunch of member schools that neither the Big Ten nor the SEC is interested in. The only thing left is for the Big Ten and SEC to strip the ACC of schools that are worth enough when that becomes possible. The Big Ten and SEC will probably each grab ~4 from the ACC. The balance of the ACC schools will end up in the Big12, or in some sort of basketball conference (like the old Big East), or in the same situation as Wash St. and Oregon St.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
While the coaches and players bring us week one:
"When a student-athletes call it a game, the corporate types call it a business. When the student-athletes call it a business, the corporate types call it a game."
September 1st, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
right out of the movie and book, “ north, Dallas 40”
September 1st, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
Pacific Ocean schools are now identifying as Atlantic ocean schools? What is the world coming to!
September 1st, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
Now we can't identify the coasts? This whole 'identity' thing is getting out of hand!
September 1st, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
So All Coasts Conference seems like the most logical name change?
September 1st, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
(double post)
September 1st, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
Bi-Coastal Easty Westy Fringy Conference.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
The Oceans 17
September 1st, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
And we have become the Big Tent.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
Two thoughts:
1) What was the last structural change that made college sports not worse for anyone who is not a television executive? I guess the cfp ten years ago.
2) This one is particularly galling for the non-revenue sports. What is the academic disruption of constantly flying commercial all over the continent to play water polo?
September 1st, 2023 at 9:27 AM ^
Actually, there is a pretty good argument to be made that the cfp, as currently constructed, made the sport worse for all but the TV execs as well.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
The CFP never got to the sweet spot, which for me will always be 8 teams: The 5 P5 conference champions, top G5 conference champion, and 2 at-large. Instead, it jumped straight from 4 (which never made any sense with 5 conferences) to 12 (which makes absolutely no sense and resulted in the death of a P5 conference).
I never thought I would say this, but the BCS was better than the CFP, both now and the one beginning next year.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
No media rights revenue for the first SEVEN years, oof.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
Yeah that is pretty crazy. SMU must be betting that their recruiting will improve drastically being in a power 5 conference, allowing them to win and have some brand value in 2036 when the next round of negotiations comes.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
Will the ACC exist in 7 years? Will SMU ever profit from this association?
September 1st, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
SMU is betting they will have brand power in the next 3.
Nobody gets 7 years to produce results and I doubt SMU is gonna wait that long to ask for its own share - the ACC is fucked.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:43 AM ^
Desperation is a hell of a thing. Washington State and Oregon St to the WAC I assume?
September 1st, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^
Mountain West
AAC said no today, so MWC is likely landing spot.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
Money, Money, Money, Moneyyy - Money
Except Cal, Stanford, and SMU of course...
September 1st, 2023 at 8:58 AM ^
Uncle Jerry Garcia says, "Yup!"
September 1st, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
It's ridiculous. There should be separate "TV conferences" for football, and the other sports should stay in their original regional conferences. In aggregate, college football should be able to pull in more TV money than the NFL -- but it doesn't because nobody's in charge.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
It will be interesting to see if this hurts Stanford's recruiting for non-football sports. Obviously it's a great school, but if I'm an athlete, I seriously think twice about 10 hours in a plane every week of my season.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
When Cal and Stanford offered to drop their financial share requirements the BIG should have stepped back in and offered. Having 4 west coast teams would make scheduling easier.
September 1st, 2023 at 2:08 PM ^
We have four right now. Cal and Stanford would make it six.
September 4th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
Oops! Thanks for the reminder.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
15 votes, add three, get 17. Is this the SEC?
I assume ND has a vote?
September 1st, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^
They do.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:44 AM ^
ACC should have told ND that this is conditional on them being a full member. They are the ones that wanted Stanford.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
To hell with Notre Dame
September 1st, 2023 at 8:34 AM ^
Shocked it actually went through.
SMU would not have been on the top of my list as the most attractive G5 football program still available, but if someone is going to literally pay their way in... makes as much sense as anything else in this game.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:06 AM ^
Eh, a Texas school with wealthy donors willing to essentially pay their own way if you will that doesn't really pose an immediate threat to win the conference isn't the worse thing in the world.
I had an annoying friend in elementary school whose family was what you would refer to "well off" and he had every Power Ranger known to man plus the villains and the weapons they used. He didn't really add anything to the friend group and lived pretty far away but we always made sure to invite him to the birthday parties and sleepovers. I feel sorta like a dick now looking back on it but it was totally worth it.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:35 AM ^
I assume that this means, in the coming years, that some of the ACC's larger draws - Clemson and FSU - will move on out, and then the ACC television deal will start heading towards (now former) Pac-12 territory, streaming on smart refrigerators and on IP addresses in Eastern and Central Europe.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
Looking forward to seeing the games televised on gas station pump screens while I'm refueling.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
Just in time for EVs to start taking over the market LOL
September 1st, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
Dude - why isn't this a thing already???
September 1st, 2023 at 3:59 PM ^
It is. Gas Station TV is a long-standing Michigan based company that does this or something very similar. It’s mostly advertisements and with some clips.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:01 AM ^
You left out the option of streaming on the Starbucks app where I have all my points!
September 2nd, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
It wasn’t that long ago that Clemson would have been one of the schools left behind. Shows how fickle the whole thing can be.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:35 AM ^
This stuff happens because people pay for peacock.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:47 AM ^
Yes, this has to stop somewhere. Everyone bitching about these realignments, then posting about how it's a good deal to get 'cock subscriptions for a month or two just to watch M play ECfuckingU:
When NBC sees their subscribers increase by 15%, what do you expect to happen?
September 1st, 2023 at 8:56 AM ^
Saying "I got a good deal on TurboTax" does not mean one likes taxes.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
This is nuts on so many levels.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
You'd think of all schools, Stanford and Cal would know the difference between atlantic and pacific.
September 1st, 2023 at 8:40 AM ^
Since the ACC now has a full continent foot print, the notion of travel costs is a constant. So for FSU, Clemson, and UNC, it will be about getting more revenue. Whether they are in the ACC or the BIG TEN, they will have to travel to the West Coast (obviously the SEC not so much).
So, yes, I would expect the SEC to pick up Clemson for sure. I heard that Florida is against FSU joining the SEC, but really do not know how much clout they have. I would expect FSU to head to the SEC as well. Leaving UNC stuck, the BIG TEN is, TV money wise, the pot of gold, but essentially, UNC needs a partner to propose to the BIG TEN as well.
This is all insane and falling into complete chaos...
September 1st, 2023 at 8:44 AM ^
A&M couldn't keep Texas out. Florida will not be able to keep FSU out.
September 1st, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
Allegedly there's any alliance of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and one other school to keep any other in-state schools from being added to the SEC. A&M may have had no allies to prevent Texas from being added.
Edit: I think South Carolina may be that fourth school. So if those schools have to ability to make blocks, that leaves FSU, Miami (YTM), Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Clemson on the outside looking in.
Only time will tell if that block actually exists, and if they truly have the pull they think.
A 20 team B1G with FSU, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and maybe a UNC would look pretty interesting for the people driving all this madness.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:54 AM ^
With FSU, Clemson & UNC as the alleged ACC members looking to leave, that voting block wouldn't give the SEC a lot of great options for expansion beyond the NC schools.