Stanford, Cal and SMU to the ACC
Here we go. I could see the 3 that voted no leaving soon.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm hoping this is a long game to bankrupt Stanford's athletic department and wrestle the Director's Cup away from them.
September 1st, 2023 at 1:52 PM ^
Stanford practically mints money, both for itself and for its alumni. If its AD is ever in danger of going broke and the university doesn't want to subsidize it, it'll get one of its billionaire alumni to bankroll the AD using the money he found under seat of his McLaren.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:32 AM ^
Eventually the acc and big merge, and the sec and big 12 merge with higher payouts to the more successful football schools. 2 mega conferences. The fox and espn conferences. All power is in money and football.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
This is life now. And it’s annoying. We’re at the point where they should just put every school in the nation is one huge conference and there will be certain teams that rotate on and off your schedule every 120 years.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:46 AM ^
The PAC couldn't get a good TV deal done because nobody watches their games, so the ACC is going to take the two worst programs from the PAC? How does that make financial sense?
September 1st, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
If you're the ACC, and you figure at least FSU and Clemson will leave at the earliest opportunity then you realize you're vulnerable - and the ACC has some experience with what happens to vulnerable conferences, after all they almost single-handedly destroyed the Big East.
At that point they'd need new members to shore it up, but who do they get? A Memphis, an ECU, an App State, a Southern Miss? Football-wise those schools may actually be able to put together a better program than Cal. But the difference is that brand-wise those schools have mid-major written all over it. They wouldn't stabilize the conference at all. Cal and Stanford at least bring prestige and money.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
My only comment to this never-ending nonsense is.........Holy fuck, the commercials and breaks are going to get even worse!!!!!! Its barely even a football game at this point with all the stops.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
We had three games going at once last night: FLA @ Utah, NCSU @ UConn, and Neb@Minn. There were often three commercials going at once. Gah.
September 1st, 2023 at 10:57 AM ^
Carpetbaggers.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:01 AM ^
Meanwhile, WSU and OSU ..... :( Ugh, I hate all this
September 1st, 2023 at 11:09 AM ^
If Cal hadn't sunk half a billion dollars in bonded debt into their athletics department (stadium renovation/seismic retrofit and new athletics center) their best course of action would have been to give up football and join the WCC for their other sports, but the interest payments on those bonds almost require them to get the TV revenue so that the bad decisions they made on athletics a decade ago don't consume the university's general fund.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:48 PM ^
as a Cal alum, I often laugh at how a place chocked full of Nobel laureates can make so many dumb decisions all the time
September 1st, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
How in the world did Oregon State get passed up in favor of a school currently in the AAC?
September 1st, 2023 at 11:38 AM ^
Oregon State doesn't have billionaire alumni willing to eat 100+ million dollars in the name of their football program.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:31 AM ^
I can’t imagine how badly this fucks over the non-revenue sports, with all of the associated travel costs.
I know a lot of people don’t like Chip Kelly, but I believe he had a point a few weeks ago about how these changes should really only be affecting football, and maybe basketball. Leave the rest of the sports alone in their “original” conferences.
A sad day for everyone who is not a television executive.
September 1st, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
John Skipper bent ACC execs over years back with their TV deal.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
As a Cal alum, I am disgusted. And also grateful. Very very grateful.
This sucks.
September 1st, 2023 at 12:49 PM ^
same. would have loved to have them in the B1G
ROLL ON YOU BEARS
September 1st, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
Long live the PAC-2!
September 1st, 2023 at 1:39 PM ^
Desperation move by Cal/Stanford and by the ACC. Missed opportunity for the B1G. No winners in this deal. Even SMU isn't a winner, since they're joining the ACC basically for free.
The B1G would have extracted more value from adding Cal and Stanford than the ACC will get from them, and Cal and Stanford would have been better off in the B1G. Terrible decision all around.
September 1st, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
There was nothing in it for the B1G other than vanity. Fortunately the conference isn't *just* run by snobs.
September 1st, 2023 at 2:11 PM ^
This is so stupid and it sucks. College football is going to get so weird and I don't think the fans or players are going to like it. I just hope that in a few years these schools will realize that none of this makes sense and they'll go back to something resembling regional conferences.
September 1st, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
Maybe they can call it The Great Atlantic and Pacific Football Conference, or A&P for short.
September 1st, 2023 at 6:28 PM ^
The All Coasts Conference.
September 1st, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
I mean, its all going to end in a 40ish team super league, and the CFP reaper is coming for A LOT more schools than just Cougs and Beavers. Only a matter of time...
September 1st, 2023 at 6:11 PM ^
By the end of September, I have heard from a birdie, UNC, Virginia, FSU and Miami will be in the Big Ten. Clemson to the SEC.
September 1st, 2023 at 6:31 PM ^
I still insist that we don't need Miami or (in various scenarios) Duke because we've already got the NJ TV market locked up with Rutgers. Duke is entirety populated with students who couldn't get into Princeton, and Miami is entirety populated with students who couldn't get into Duke. Just sayin'.
September 1st, 2023 at 6:47 PM ^
September 1st, 2023 at 6:47 PM ^
That would certainly make for some great B1G basketball tournaments.