Thursday P.M. Update: Where things stand now
By: Larry Williams
With the expansion topic dead right now for the ACC according to all of our information, we're risking beating this topic to death.
Yet there are a few more residual insights we'd like to share on this matter, and on the realignment topic as a whole.
Here goes:
-- The very fact that this idea was a legit thing is rather mind-boggling when you think about it.
Traditionally, the ACC has viewed itself as a high-minded basketball conference with a major focus on academics.
Years ago, the conference finally came around to the fact that football drives revenues (80 percent, in general). And even then it felt like they were late to the game.
When Jim Phillips came aboard as commissioner to replace John Swofford, there was supposedly zero doubt as to where the focus was going to be for him: Ingratiating himself with football, giving football coaches a bigger voice, and making football a major part of the major decisions.
And that's the backdrop that makes you shake your head at the knowledge that there was strong sentiment from at least nine ACC schools to make this thing happen.
Folks, California has 13 straight losing seasons in the Pac-12.
Stanford is 10-23 against the Pac-12 the last four seasons.
There's a reason FOX Sports pushed Oregon and Washington, and not the Cardinal and Golden Bears, to the Big Ten.
And while basketball is secondary to football, it's not nothing in terms of revenue. Yet even on that count Stanford and Cal haven't brought much to the table, as the two schools have earned one NCAA Tournament bid over the last decade.
SMU's recent record in football and basketball is more respectable. And hey, the Mustangs were offering to basically come for free!
But ultimately the correct logic prevailed in this debate that went back and forth.
Two or three more mouths to feed was just not worth it. And keep in mind, we're not talking just annual TV revenue. We're also talking cuts of the ACC football championship game, the NCAA Tournament, and so on.
-- Is anyone still perturbed by Clemson's choice to remain silent after Florida State's public spectacle last week?
As we've told you, Clemson and Florida State are working together on the topic of addressing the Grant of Rights, consideration of leaving the ACC, etc.
They just have dramatically different styles as it relates to public messaging, and this goes back much further than last week. We should remind you that it was FSU's saber-rattling about going to the Big 12 a decade ago that really started the wheels turning to lock everyone in long-term with the Grant of Rights in the first place.
The expansion standoff presented another example of Clemson doing its best work behind the scenes, and not seeing the utility of dragging the debate into the public domain.
The Notre Dame full-voting status in the ACC is just wild. AD Jack Swarbrick acknowledged today that the Irish were indeed pushing hard on adding Stanford and Cal, telling ESPN's Heather Dinich: "The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D-I sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realignment is an indictment on college athletics.'"
Goodness.
The easy and correct response to that sentiment is that it's not another conference's job to clean up that mess, and certainly not the ACC's given their own existential predicaments.
The fact that Clemson stood strong on this issue and managed to get past the bizarre, antiquated logic of others should give you confidence that this administration has the school in a good spot regarding another big issue.
Which brings us to...
-- How does this affect the timeline of Clemson and FSU perhaps leaving the ACC?
First off, there was never a set timeline or anything close to it. Anyone who tells you that is full of it.
Yet as of last Friday when the news broke of the Pac-12 getting strafed, it felt like things were going to start moving more quickly on the realignment front elsewhere. And as we wrote at the time, all eyes now turned to the ACC and possible defections from there.
But then the expansion idea took root, and took off.
Bottom line: The past several days have been all-consuming and devoted solely to resolving the expansion thing.
We're not saying Clemson and Florida State would be seceding from the ACC in the next five days if not for this week's drama.
But we'll say this: We're not anticipating an announcement of defection before the Aug. 15 deadline.
We'll put it in the category of "very unlikely" for now.
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this post to other message boards or social media, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you!
LINK: New Clemson Nike Zoom Pegasus 40 Running Shoes!
By: Larry Williams
With the expansion topic dead right now for the ACC according to all of our information, we're risking beating this topic to death.
Yet there are a few more residual insights we'd like to share on this matter, and on the realignment topic as a whole.
Here goes:
-- The very fact that this idea was a legit thing is rather mind-boggling when you think about it.
Traditionally, the ACC has viewed itself as a high-minded basketball conference with a major focus on academics.
Years ago, the conference finally came around to the fact that football drives revenues (80 percent, in general). And even then it felt like they were late to the game.
When Jim Phillips came aboard as commissioner to replace John Swofford, there was supposedly zero doubt as to where the focus was going to be for him: Ingratiating himself with football, giving football coaches a bigger voice, and making football a major part of the major decisions.
And that's the backdrop that makes you shake your head at the knowledge that there was strong sentiment from at least nine ACC schools to make this thing happen.
Folks, California has 13 straight losing seasons in the Pac-12.
Stanford is 10-23 against the Pac-12 the last four seasons.
There's a reason FOX Sports pushed Oregon and Washington, and not the Cardinal and Golden Bears, to the Big Ten.
And while basketball is secondary to football, it's not nothing in terms of revenue. Yet even on that count Stanford and Cal haven't brought much to the table, as the two schools have earned one NCAA Tournament bid over the last decade.
SMU's recent record in football and basketball is more respectable. And hey, the Mustangs were offering to basically come for free!
But ultimately the correct logic prevailed in this debate that went back and forth.
Two or three more mouths to feed was just not worth it. And keep in mind, we're not talking just annual TV revenue. We're also talking cuts of the ACC football championship game, the NCAA Tournament, and so on.
-- Is anyone still perturbed by Clemson's choice to remain silent after Florida State's public spectacle last week?
As we've told you, Clemson and Florida State are working together on the topic of addressing the Grant of Rights, consideration of leaving the ACC, etc.
They just have dramatically different styles as it relates to public messaging, and this goes back much further than last week. We should remind you that it was FSU's saber-rattling about going to the Big 12 a decade ago that really started the wheels turning to lock everyone in long-term with the Grant of Rights in the first place.
The expansion standoff presented another example of Clemson doing its best work behind the scenes, and not seeing the utility of dragging the debate into the public domain.
The Notre Dame full-voting status in the ACC is just wild. AD Jack Swarbrick acknowledged today that the Irish were indeed pushing hard on adding Stanford and Cal, telling ESPN's Heather Dinich: "The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D-I sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realignment is an indictment on college athletics.'"
Goodness.
The easy and correct response to that sentiment is that it's not another conference's job to clean up that mess, and certainly not the ACC's given their own existential predicaments.
The fact that Clemson stood strong on this issue and managed to get past the bizarre, antiquated logic of others should give you confidence that this administration has the school in a good spot regarding another big issue.
Which brings us to...
-- How does this affect the timeline of Clemson and FSU perhaps leaving the ACC?
First off, there was never a set timeline or anything close to it. Anyone who tells you that is full of it.
Yet as of last Friday when the news broke of the Pac-12 getting strafed, it felt like things were going to start moving more quickly on the realignment front elsewhere. And as we wrote at the time, all eyes now turned to the ACC and possible defections from there.
But then the expansion idea took root, and took off.
Bottom line: The past several days have been all-consuming and devoted solely to resolving the expansion thing.
We're not saying Clemson and Florida State would be seceding from the ACC in the next five days if not for this week's drama.
But we'll say this: We're not anticipating an announcement of defection before the Aug. 15 deadline.
We'll put it in the category of "very unlikely" for now.
NOTE: Please do not copy/paste or summarize any portion of this post to other message boards or social media, as it is a direct violation of copyright laws. Thank you!
LINK: New Clemson Nike Zoom Pegasus 40 Running Shoes!
