I'm going to create a spin-off of "If you were a BE prez,..." and I'm going to make myself and everyone who posts on this thread an ACC president. How would you vote or what would your actions be? Would you stay at 11, or would you go for that elusive 12th member? How would you set up divisions, if any? ;)


I'll start by saying, I vote for going for the 12th member.
I nominate Pittsburgh for the 12th spot.

I would go to 12, and invite East Carolina to the ACC, here are the divisions.

North
Duke
UNC
NC St.
Wake Forest
Maryland
Virginia

South
FSU
Miami
Va Tech
Clemson
Ga Tech
ECU

I do agree with you D&D that the ACC next slot will be northward. It may be awhile before they expand again, in my opinion. The selection: West Virginia.

If it's up to me (and I'm the football Czar)..

I'd invite South Carolina.

If they accept, I'd have Louisville go to the SEC

If they don't, then I invite to the ACC either Louisville or West Virginia

While it don't work for TV, it does make for a nice compact conference

For this GT grad and ACC fan, the question is full of so many "wishes" and "what if's" it makes me dizzy. But, this is for fun and the point is to sort through it all and pick one, so...

First, I call for a study to identify and rank potential candidates that references the following criteria:

- Basketball credibility is now as (more?) important than football. Candidates should show strong fan and school support for the basketball team.
- School must share ACC philosophies, fit in with the Tobacco Road image and be capable of meeting academic standards within 5 years.
- Preference for schools north of Carolinas, within proximity of Charlotte for future tournaments.
- School must show financial benefits to the ACC through either a) the introduction of a new market for the league, b) bringing a very strong following to the league, or c) showing cost savings for travel and other advantages.

Once this study is completed there should be a decision regarding the request for championships with 10 members. If the request is successful, no school should be added unless they show clear benefits to the conference and would openly seek the move.

If a 12th is necessary;

- ECU becomes the automatic back-up, under the notion that they would easily accept an invite and the ACC would not risk a second rejection
- West Virginia (I'm sorry Big East) becomes best match of criteria while also in a position to say yes. Rivalries with VT, UVA and Maryland, close enough to ACC footprint, strong fan support and better-fitting school profile than Marshall or Pitt. Pitt has the academic clout and the city market, but they feel more tied to the BE and WVU travels much better.

Under the notion that the ACC cannot score a "Dream list" school like Kentucky or Penn State, WVU could be the best among those that would reasonably consider the move.

I think Florida is still an excellent darkhorse, despite all denials from there... Fits the academic profile of ACC better than Florida State, has natural rivalries with the other schools already built in. Even though it doesn't add an additional tv market, it will enhance the value of the ACC tv package compared to the SEC, since SEC will lose the Florida tv package, a huge loss...

Second dark horse is Temple, despite everything negative that has been said about them. Make Dookies and Demons a decent football partner so they don't feel so lonely, and add a huge tv market...

Just a personal take on the tea leaves...

:D

Every time someone brings up an ACC team, this question pops up: Why would a team leave the richest conf in the USA for not the richest conf in the USA?

The ACC had the highest per team payout last year. $9.7 million per school for the ACC, compared to $8.5 million for the SEC. Who knows what the money will be like in the future, but the SEC has not been more profitable than the ACC.

I would wait a year before making any moves so that Dr. Mary Anne Fox would be retired. ;D

If the rule for a 10 team play-off passes, I'd ask Wake to leave. ;)

If 12 is the magic #, I'd go back to Miami & apologize because I don't think there will be anyone left who fits the ACC mold who will be willing to subject themselves to the potential madness that BC & Syracuse faced. I think that a lot of doors will be closed by next spring. Ultimately, I would think that South Florida would be the best fit for them. With a population of 16+ million & growing, Florida can better handle the addition of a fourth team than North Carolina can handle a fifth. South Florida is a program on the rise according to SI.
West Virginia & Pitt are the best targets in the Big East. A lot depends on what moves the Big East makes to see if either would be available. Florida ? who knows??

I don't think USF, or any other Florida school, would be fit in the ACC. I don't think the 4 NC schools would like the idea of sharing dominance with another state.

Aha, back to a ten-team scenario...

It is really too bad the ACC didn't do their 10-team petition thing two years ago...think what might be happening now...perhaps PennState to the BE with Louisville/Cincinnati to create a 10 team Great East...

Perhaps the private academic schools like Wake, Vandy, Northwestern, Tulane, Rice, Army, Navy, AirForce, etc., form a new GREAT SAT Conference...

Perhaps to replace PennState and Northwestern, NotreDame joins the BigTen....

Summer dreams sure are easy...
;)

You may be right, BEFounder. :)

When you are half of an eight team conference, you are dominant. When you become one-third of a 12 team conference, you've long since given up your dominance. Regardles of what happens from here, the North Carolina schools will never again hold the position in the ACC that they once did. :-/

The SEC reported record earnings last year. And that's with two teams on probation. Hard to believe the ACC is richer, given that nearly half the conference averages less than 35K in attendance per home game.

SEC had the highest total earnings.

ACC had the highest per team pay-out.

The SEC is the richest as a conference. The ACC has to hope that it can increase revenues now that it has added 2 teams. It will not do so this year, so the situation will have to be judged a few years down the road.

The ACC cant renegotiate its contracts this year, but they only need to come up with about $6 million total out of the whole expansion process to put them back ahead of the SEC in per school revenue. It's hard to believe they wont get at least that, just by adding Miami to their football TV package. They think they can get about $18-20 million more per year out of television and new bowl tie-ins. If they can get a championship game, noone will even be in the same general area payout-wise. The SEC's "record" payout amounted to $1.2 million less per school than the ACC. It's like comparing two really good stocks, the SEC brings in more profit as a lump sum to its shareholders, while the ACC generally brings in more profit per shareholder. The SEC distributed 101.9 million to 12 schools($8.5 million per school), while the ACC distributed 88.1 million to nine schools($9.7 million per school). The ACC's per team payout last year was the highest by any conference EVER. That's part of the reason why there was so much anti-expansion sentiment by many within the league.