UNC going to the SEC?

[highlander]

Apparently UNC has a ΓÇ£handshake dealΓÇ¥ to join the SEC as early as 2027 (but probably closer to 2030). This story originally came from Inside Carolina, UNCΓÇÖs 247sports site (IΓÇÖm told thatΓÇÖs a reputable source), but now itΓÇÖs everywhere. Thoughts?

[fan]

Meh.
I've seen those articles and they all say 'around 2031' they 'might make a move' when the exit fee goes down to 75M. Same as FSU, Clemson, etc.
Bottom line is nobody knows what exactly is going to happen in 6 years. But if anyone does leave the remaining ACC schools will be sitting on a ton of cash.

[Charleston Pony]

UNC making any move without NCSU might cause some friction in the NC General Assembly

[Dukie]

UNC making any move without NCSU might cause some friction in the NC General Assembly

The days of legislatures protecting other state institutions are over. The *most* uNC might have to do is give some financial support, a la UCLA and UC Berkeley, but even that is unlikely. Texas got to leave without everyone else, UDub got to leave without Wazzu, Oregon got to leave without the Beavers, and OU got to leave without Okie State.

And I agree with those who see this as just uNC trying to generate its own buzz. Might even be a "grab me before the SEC does" to the Big 10, though I think most uNC boosters would prefer being in the SEC. They just don't understand yet that their football ceiling over there is closer to Vanderbilt than to Alabama.

[highlander]

They just don't understand yet that their football ceiling over there is closer to Vanderbilt than to Alabama.

I agree -- the SEC may want them (remains to be seen), but not because of past, present, or future football performance. Or maybe Belichick is that good of a BS'er.

[highlander]

Josh Pate said this may be UNC's BEST year for the next few years just because their schedule is so easy. They have to play Clemson, but their 2nd toughest conf opponent is Duke. Of the top 8 schools in the ACC in terms of FPI, Clemson is the only one they have to play. They don't have to play Miami, SMU, VaTech, GaTech, Louisville, FSU or BC. Wow.

[Lefty]

If Clemson and FSU couldn't get out, what makes the Heels think they can?
I gather the ACC contracts are pretty strong.

[Graceland Tar Heel]

If Clemson and FSU couldn't get out, what makes the Heels think they can?
I gather the ACC contracts are pretty strong.

The settlement of the lawsuits pulls the amount paid way down, below 100 million. So even FSU will be able to pay up to leave.

The dal with ESPN is enough to be able to kill the ACC. According to nearly every SEC fanboy online talking conference realignment, ESPN set that precisely to kill the ACC by choking its potential revenue, so that the SEC could then take what the ACC the schools it wants. So the lawsuit settlement saves the ACC until at least 2030, but also opens up the most valuable half or more of the ACC to leave starting then.

So what will happen? Who knows? I still think the only hope form the ACC surviving as a Major conference is going extreme. IF that requires dissolving the league legally and then charting a new league with a new name (say, the Atlantic-Paciofic Conference) do it.

Drop Wake, BC, a,d Syracuse for certain. Wake has been the smallest school in a Major conference since Rice got demoted. It is a huge liability in today's college sports world. That goes triple in a state that already has larger private school Dook in the ACC. The far northeast is almost dead for Major CFB. Per capita, it has very few passionate fans (but about three times for college BB). So just drop that pair. Pitt is in the far southwestern corner of PA, about 30 miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line (an thus just 30 miles north of the South) and also just 30 miles east of OH (thus just 30 miles from Midwestern). So Pitt geographically much bette placed than Cuse or BC top help ACC football grow its TV fan base.

That leaves 14. I say the Acc then should become super sized: 23. That number would mean you could schools by having each member play 4 annual rivals, leaving 18 league foes, which then would be dcvvididid into three groups of 6. Play 10 league games per year. The SEC has been talking relays BIG about playing many. many regular games vs BT to secure more TV money for those 2 leagues and to maximize Strength of Schedule claims for playoffs. So the very large ACC that covers the nation literally and plays 10 league games is the only answer the ACC has.

Add Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, and Colorado - 4 former Pac members and all of them AAU large state schools. Add TTU, TCU, and Baylor, in oder to have 4 schools, all of them old SWC members, in the most important football state in the country. Finish off with WVU and Cincinnati. WVU-Pitt is already a valuable rivalry. Cincy is a HUGE state school that is Louisville''s most played rival in both revenue sports. OH is the largest state that only has 1 school in the top 3 conferences. OH is very large and historically powerful. IT borders KY and PA and WV.

Either the SACC makes some kind of grand move along those line,s or we will see all, or nearly all, of the ACC's most valuable members in either SEC or BT by 2036.

I vote for the ACC to fight.

[TexanMark]

Drop Cuse? Stupid take

The fan base is larger than you think. Only major program in NY.
Way more Football History and Tradition than most ACC schools.

[highlander]

Right now college football is a confederacy of conferences. The only real way to achieve the kind of parity and unity that most fans want is to merge the conferences and form a united league with, say, 8 divisions of 9 schools. So each team would play every team in their division, plus four inter-divisional games every year. That's 72 schools, comprised mostly of the current power 4 teams plus ND (68) and 4 more strong programs like Oregon State, Wazoo, Memphis and Tulane. Ideally, the divisions would be geographically-based.

The league could have TV revenue sharing like the NFL does, and we could even have salary caps. BUT, if a school want to be one of the 72 teams, they would have to commit to a minimum annual budget specifically for football operations (I have no idea what this number would be). This would prevent smaller and perhaps more apathetic schools from freeloading (Northwestern, Wake, Vandy).

Most fans would be for an arrangement like this, but the SEC and B1G would be completely against it because it would probably mean giving up some revenue. Since they seem to hold most of the cards, this is a pipe dream. But a league such as this would produce the most legitimate champion ever.

[Big Hoss]

I have a hard time believing UNC makes a move to a new conference without Duke. Granted, Duke brings very little to the table in terms of football, but in basketball, it's arguably one of the preeminent rivalries in college sports. I don't see UNC leaving that behind.

[highlander]

I have a hard time believing UNC makes a move to a new conference without Duke. Granted, Duke brings very little to the table in terms of football, but in basketball, it's arguably one of the preeminent rivalries in college sports. I don't see UNC leaving that behind.

I don't think UNC gives two schidts about Duke football. They could still play Duke in basketball every year.

[highlander]

If Carolina really wants to go to the SEC, and the SEC really wants Carolina, nothing will stop them from making the move. But it would kind of suck for Tar Heels fans, watching their team get its [deleted] deleted week in and week out, with no shot at ever making the playoff.

[Graceland Tar Heel]

Drop Cuse? Stupid take

The fan base is larger than you think. Only major program in NY.
Way more Football History and Tradition than most ACC schools.

Nobody living in any other part off the country cares a single jot about CFB in the northeast unless PSU is involved. Simple basic fact. And that has gotten worse every decade since the 1960s. It is not going to reverse itself. The ACC cannot afford to hang onto the northeast. If the ACC can survive as Major it will have shed itself of that region.

And among other things, that means that the more the rest of the ACC members refuse to see that fact the more they guarantee that soon after after 2030, FSU, Clemson, UNC, UVA, Miami, and probably 2 or 3 others will be out the door. At that pint, the value of the remaining ACC will be less than the value of the current Pac. The Big 12 then would certainly fond investors to help take all of the following ACC schools if they are not added to SEC or BT: VT, NCSU, Pitt, (Backyard Brawl is far more valuable than any Syracuse or BC game against anyone), Louisville, GT, probably SMU.

[Graceland Tar Heel]

I have a hard time believing UNC makes a move to a new conference without Duke. Granted, Duke brings very little to the table in terms of football, but in basketball, it's arguably one of the preeminent rivalries in college sports. I don't see UNC leaving that behind.

I don't think UNC gives two schidts about Duke football. They could still play Duke in basketball every year.

You have never been to a UNC-Dook football game. That damned Victory Bell game has meaning. I hate losing that bell as much as I hate Rat-Face. And I am far from alone in that.