WRAL Sports Fan

ACC the odd man out?

Surprised I haven't seen any discussion of this on here. This could be a nail in the coffin for the ACC considering the Big 10 and the Pac 12 already have the Rose Bowl, and now the SEC and Big 12 have this. While the likelyhood of the two conference champs ever actually playing this game is slim, the two leagues can dictate who will actually go to the bowl. That leaves the ACC to partner with the Big East, which by all accounts is at the bottom of the power conferences, with the ACC just ahead of them. This alignment only makes it more difficult for the ACC to fight its way back into being one of the premier conferences. Football has been the king of the college landscape for a while, and the ACC failing to recognize that will be it's undoing. While alot of State fans want to accuse Swofford of being an UNC homer among other things, I don't buy that. But what I will say is that he missed a huge opportunity to make the conference stronger in not taking WVU when they were begging to get in. The academics argument against WVU is joke, For one, athletics and academics have very little to do with each other these days and two, WVU is committed to serving the state of WVU, a state that has many disadvantages, including public education. I think they do an admirable job of serving their state and providing an opportunity to people that would not have an avenue to higher education otherwise. Adding Pitt and Syracuse really only helps basketball. It appears we have cemented our place on the outside looking in.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

Surprised I haven't seen any discussion of this on here. This could be a nail in the coffin for the ACC considering the Big 10 and the Pac 12 already have the Rose Bowl, and now the SEC and Big 12 have this. While the likelyhood of the two conference champs ever actually playing this game is slim, the two leagues can dictate who will actually go to the bowl. That leaves the ACC to partner with the Big East, which by all accounts is at the bottom of the power conferences, with the ACC just ahead of them. This alignment only makes it more difficult for the ACC to fight its way back into being one of the premier conferences. Football has been the king of the college landscape for a while, and the ACC failing to recognize that will be it's undoing. While alot of State fans want to accuse Swofford of being an UNC homer among other things, I don't buy that. But what I will say is that he missed a huge opportunity to make the conference stronger in not taking WVU when they were begging to get in. The academics argument against WVU is joke, For one, athletics and academics have very little to do with each other these days and two, WVU is committed to serving the state of WVU, a state that has many disadvantages, including public education. I think they do an admirable job of serving their state and providing an opportunity to people that would not have an avenue to higher education otherwise. Adding Pitt and Syracuse really only helps basketball. It appears we have cemented our place on the outside looking in.  

- Posted by The Dire_Wolf

Well stated. heel fans can only see bb. Swofford is a heel grad. nough said

RE: ACC the odd man out?

Surprised I haven't seen any discussion of this on here. This could be a nail in the coffin for the ACC considering the Big 10 and the Pac 12 already have the Rose Bowl, and now the SEC and Big 12 have this. While the likelyhood of the two conference champs ever actually playing this game is slim, the two leagues can dictate who will actually go to the bowl. That leaves the ACC to partner with the Big East, which by all accounts is at the bottom of the power conferences, with the ACC just ahead of them. This alignment only makes it more difficult for the ACC to fight its way back into being one of the premier conferences. Football has been the king of the college landscape for a while, and the ACC failing to recognize that will be it's undoing. While alot of State fans want to accuse Swofford of being an UNC homer among other things, I don't buy that. But what I will say is that he missed a huge opportunity to make the conference stronger in not taking WVU when they were begging to get in. The academics argument against WVU is joke, For one, athletics and academics have very little to do with each other these days and two, WVU is committed to serving the state of WVU, a state that has many disadvantages, including public education. I think they do an admirable job of serving their state and providing an opportunity to people that would not have an avenue to higher education otherwise. Adding Pitt and Syracuse really only helps basketball. It appears we have cemented our place on the outside looking in.  

- Posted by The Dire_Wolf

I'm wit ya on dat Mr Wolf!!! The ACC really missed on West Virginia!!!

RE: ACC the odd man out?

I was hoping that we'd add WVU in the latest round on expansion. They would have been a great pickup.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

Surprised I haven't seen any discussion of this on here. This could be a nail in the coffin for the ACC considering the Big 10 and the Pac 12 already have the Rose Bowl, and now the SEC and Big 12 have this. While the likelyhood of the two conference champs ever actually playing this game is slim, the two leagues can dictate who will actually go to the bowl. That leaves the ACC to partner with the Big East, which by all accounts is at the bottom of the power conferences, with the ACC just ahead of them. This alignment only makes it more difficult for the ACC to fight its way back into being one of the premier conferences. Football has been the king of the college landscape for a while, and the ACC failing to recognize that will be it's undoing. While alot of State fans want to accuse Swofford of being an UNC homer among other things, I don't buy that. But what I will say is that he missed a huge opportunity to make the conference stronger in not taking WVU when they were begging to get in. The academics argument against WVU is joke, For one, athletics and academics have very little to do with each other these days and two, WVU is committed to serving the state of WVU, a state that has many disadvantages, including public education. I think they do an admirable job of serving their state and providing an opportunity to people that would not have an avenue to higher education otherwise. Adding Pitt and Syracuse really only helps basketball. It appears we have cemented our place on the outside looking in.  

- Posted by The Dire_Wolf

Well stated. heel fans can only see bb. Swofford is a heel grad. nough said 

- Posted by beiteversotrue

I know alot of heels fans that care and understand about the importance of football. I think that Swofford fails to see the big picture. Schools like UNC and Duke can get by on basketball alone, the rest of the conference cannot.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7946916/college-football-big-12-sec-bowl-death-knell-acc

my bad, appears my link is missing from my original post.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

When Swofford began these talks, I stated months ago that WVU was a much better selection vs Cuse. WVU brings loads of fans and they are close. We don't have a darn thing in common with Cuse. I wouldn't go up there for a free trip, tickets, and food and drink. Cuse certainly didn't want to come to the ACC. Ol Jim stated this..."Where is the hell is Greensboro?" That's all I needed to hear. They are only in because of basketball. Nothing else.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

I was also hoping for WVU along with the hated ND, this play by the big 4 sucks

RE: ACC the odd man out?

"Football has been the king of the college landscape for a while, and the ACC failing to recognize that will be it's undoing."

I don't see how anyone can say that the ACC has failed to recognize this. Certainly Swofford realizes it, and everything he has done has been bolster the ACC in football. For that, he has been severely criticized by shortsighted fans who are only interested in basketball. The reality is that, while the ACC has closed the gap between itself and the four power conferences considerably over the past 20 or so years, they started off so deeply in the hole that nobody could have dug them out.

Let's face it. Even though football was the reason the ACC was founded in the first place in 1953, we have never been relevant in the national picture. That we were even included in the BCS is a measure of how far the league had come. Had the ACC not taken the expansion steps it did, we wouldn't even be comparable to the Big East. We would have been on a par with the Atlantic 10 - good basketball, minor league football.

There are four power conferences - the same that there have always been. There isn't anything anybody could have done to change that.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

I was also hoping for WVU along with the hated ND, this play by the big 4 sucks 

- Posted by Jcwolf75

Notre Dame would be great if it ever happened, inspite of the fact the do not fit in geographically. WVU would have been perfect, a natural rivalry with Maryland and the Virginia schools, strong football program and pretty strong in basketball as well. I really think we messed up as a conference reaching for BC. Waaaay outside of the traditional southern foot print, another small school (we already have Wake and Duke) and little to no fan support. I hate to say it but I see this conference getting picked apart in the next 3-4 years, if not sooner.

RE: ACC the odd man out?

Oh no... swofford is doing a great job. Selling the acc on its basketball and the "battle of the blues" because unc and duke fans insist THAT game is what the rest of the country cares about. LOL. Oh well, after the former unc AD chokes the life out of it, we can finally have a reason to go off to bigger and better things. Cuse and pitt we great football pick ups LOL... i can't even say that with a straight face when i am actually trying to defend my conference against me big ten in-laws.

I can not remember all the times i have heard unc fans say "why should i care about the rest of the ACC?". Sorry, as i said before, you can have a nice fancy house but if its in the middle of a trailer park, to the rest of the country, you are still "trailer trash". I knew unc fans sporting kansas shirts during the sweet 16 and posting pics of them online. It was loads of fun after the elite 8 was over.

One last thought, my GOD can we have an acc champ actually win the orange bowl? After the wvu beat down of clemson, no wonder people think the acc is terrible.