(02-19-2014 09:28 AM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-19-2014 08:35 AM)XLance Wrote:  

(02-17-2014 10:01 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(02-17-2014 09:45 PM)IR4CU Wrote:  

(02-16-2014 11:25 PM)JRsec Wrote:  Unfortunately the GOR's do stand in the way, at least until 2024-5 for the Big 12. I think it is a game of place 8 or wait. My favorite solution involves the Big 10, SEC and ACC. The Big 10 takes Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Connecticut to move to 18. The SEC takes Kansas State and Oklahoma State in addition to N.C. State and Virginia Tech to get to 18. The ACC takes Texas as a partial, Texas Tech, Baylor, Rice, Tulane, Cincinnati, and West Virginia to get 18 plus 2 hybrids. Rice and Tulane help them continue their academic excellence and serve as a bridge to the Florida Schools. West Virginia reconnects the ACC footprint. T.C.U. is out. UConn is in. The SEC adds two western states and gets into the Virginia and North Carolina adding 4 decent teams building the SEC in the middle and not at the top or bottom. The ACC comes out way ahead in markets and with a network. Iowa State finds a home at home while the Big 10 lands a two basketball national brands and one football national brand. I call that a win win win. If T.C.U. is a must then replace either Rice or Tulane with them.

SEC:
West: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M
South: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State
North: Kentucky, N.C. State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech

Big 10:
West: Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin
Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern
East: Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers.

ACC:
North: Boston College, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia (Notre Dame)
South: Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia
West: Baylor, Florida State, Miami, Rice, Texas Tech, Tulane (Texas)
or sub T.C.U. for Rice or Tulane.

From a conference perspective, I do not know if I would call this a win win for the ACC - only one true big time football school (Texas) is added and then only as a "partial", three schools that bump the football pedigree needle a little bit (WVU, Baylor, and TT) and three schools that fit in well with the current ACC culture and make-up but don't help much from a football perspective (Cincy, Tulane, Rice). We also lose one of our football oriented programs in Va Tech. I think everyone agrees the ACC needs help first and foremost in the area of football - not markets, academics, or basketball.

From a Clemson football perspective, this is a big time lose lose - 3 snoozers (UVA, WF, & Duke) and two luke warms (GaTech & UNC) in our pod! What if Auburn was put into a pod with Miss, Miss State, Vandy, and UK - would that excite the Auburn fan base? Probably not but even that would be better from a football perspective then the suggested grouping for Clemson. Of course, if the scheduling is done on some basis other then "pods", I could live with the make-up of the ACC provided we could play the FSU's, Miami's, ND's, and UT's at least on an even frequency (or hopefully more often) then we would have to play Duke, WF, or UVA. Also, I would much prefer TCU and UCon to Rice and Tulane. By the way, I do not have a grudge against the ACC - over the years, the ACC has been very good for Clemson and I think it is likely that the ACC will be Clemson's home for as long as we play football. However, from a football fans perspective, I certainly would prefer to be with like minded schools such as Auburn, USC, and UGA (or FSU, Va Tech, UT) - our record probably would not be as good but the football would certainly be a lot more exciting.

I think there are many guys on this board that would have been happy going to 16 with Clemson and Florida State. ESPN wouldn't pay for it.

I agree with your analysis too. The only reason that Texas makes it worthwhile is because without the Horns directly the Texas teams deliver all 26 million and the various smaller markets within Texas totally. New Orleans is a nice niche market, puts you in the Sugar Bowl conversation and eliminating the Big 12 gives you guys the contract to play the SEC in the Sugar Bowl in all likelihood. Cincinnati delivers more than just their city and all combined you're probably looking at 36 or 37 million more viewers. Texas not as a full member still adds tremendous cache and provides that ready made network the ACC has need of. Not optimal but all in all still a good plus. Also whether Virginia Tech really delivers a consistent football product of quality is another question altogether, especially with them now suffering some Bowden like problems with Beamer. They never really had a good football program before Beamer and might well not after him. Time will tell on that.

The assumption that Florida State or Clemson would even want to move to the SEC is NC State delusional. ESPN wouldn't pay for it? Do you have John Skipper on speed dial?

There were inquiries two years ago from those schools both of which formed realignment committees to assess their prospects. So N.C. State delusional? Why would ESPN pay more for less of two products they own outright? Couple that with the renegotiation clause for the SEC which stipulated two new markets as the trigger and I think it's pretty clear where we were supposed to look. Sometimes delusion is refusing to even admit the truth of recent history. The real issue here is an antiquated conference structure that restricts regional play and associations for athletics based upon mutual interests while constraining associations between schools to academics only as if there is much difference between most. After the UNC academic fraud, like all other elitists aspects of our society it just proves that those committing white collar crime see themselves as somehow being morally superior to the food court shoplifter who just needs to eat. One is excusable to a certain degree and it's not the one who chooses immoral action that is not predicated upon the need to survive as much as the total expression of immorality which is choosing it when you don't have to. It's really hypocrisy at the highest level.