Interesting CBS article on Most Overhyped
Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2025 5:37 pm
10 teams of the past decade. https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... st-decade/ That is another way of saying, the 10 programs that have been the biggest failures over the past 10 years based on what they had and should have had.
The SEC has the most teams with 5:Aggie, Auburn, Florida, Texas, Tennessee
The ACC has 3: FSU, UNC, and Miami
So why does the media generally praise the SEC endlessly as The Best while damning the ACC as nothing? I think the answer is simple: the richest are always protected and promoted, while those with such less are anything but helped as they struggle to keep their heads above water.
The truth is that even with those 5 SEC teams underachieving, the SEC is better in football than the ACC. Why and how? Think of all the other SEC teams that average at least 70K: UGA, Bama, LSU, Arkansas, OU, even Mizzou. CFB wealth and power are based on the collective ability of league members to draw the largest TV audiences, and that correlates directly with the league's average attendance figures.
The other very strong correlation between CFB wealth and power is the league being filled with state Flagship and/or Land Grant schools. 15 of 16 SEC members and 17 of 18 BT members fit that bill. The larger those schools the richer that league will be as well. All ACC state schools would be seen as small in the Big Ten.
In contrast, the ACC has only 2 schools that are capable of averaging even 80K per game: FSU and Clemson. The ACC has 6 private schools (not counting ND). The largest ACC school, FSU, is neither a Flagship nor a Land Grant, though its fan power statewide suggests that most FL people see it as another FL land grant/flagship.
So while the SEC has much wiggle room to be a really good league in football with a large TV fan base because of the kind of schools it has, the ACC has no wiggle room. If any of its premier Brands are underachieving, the ACC is hurt badly. Another way to phrase the full import of that is: the more that ACC schools like Wake and BC and Syracuse win, the worse it is long term for the ACC.
Once again, even if the ACC can survive the next few years intact with nobody leaving in 2031, when the buyout is way down, the ACC faces a scary future. The SEC especially, but also the BT, seems determined to arrange a whole bunch of OOC games with the other, which will largely cut out the ACC from playing those two richest leagues. The SEC and BT will then argue that ACC overall schedules are far too weak for the ACC to be represented by more than maybe 1 team in the playoffs. controlled by Sec and BT.
So the ACC must now act aggressively and wisely in order to secure its future as the 3rd most powerful conference. Not roughly equal with the Big 12 - definitely the #3. I think 3 things are in order, are, in fact, required: cut dead weight in terms of TV football drawing power; replace those schools with schools that meet itv lowest 2 of the 3 prime criteria: large state flagship and/or Land Grant with decent football history; other large state school with decent football history; school located in states and TV markets that turn out a lot of football talent and are proven to love CFB.
If that reconfigured ACC gets large enough, the league easily then can play 10 league games, which will almost totally eliminate the need to bow and scrape before the SEC and BT for OOC games.
The SEC has the most teams with 5:Aggie, Auburn, Florida, Texas, Tennessee
The ACC has 3: FSU, UNC, and Miami
So why does the media generally praise the SEC endlessly as The Best while damning the ACC as nothing? I think the answer is simple: the richest are always protected and promoted, while those with such less are anything but helped as they struggle to keep their heads above water.
The truth is that even with those 5 SEC teams underachieving, the SEC is better in football than the ACC. Why and how? Think of all the other SEC teams that average at least 70K: UGA, Bama, LSU, Arkansas, OU, even Mizzou. CFB wealth and power are based on the collective ability of league members to draw the largest TV audiences, and that correlates directly with the league's average attendance figures.
The other very strong correlation between CFB wealth and power is the league being filled with state Flagship and/or Land Grant schools. 15 of 16 SEC members and 17 of 18 BT members fit that bill. The larger those schools the richer that league will be as well. All ACC state schools would be seen as small in the Big Ten.
In contrast, the ACC has only 2 schools that are capable of averaging even 80K per game: FSU and Clemson. The ACC has 6 private schools (not counting ND). The largest ACC school, FSU, is neither a Flagship nor a Land Grant, though its fan power statewide suggests that most FL people see it as another FL land grant/flagship.
So while the SEC has much wiggle room to be a really good league in football with a large TV fan base because of the kind of schools it has, the ACC has no wiggle room. If any of its premier Brands are underachieving, the ACC is hurt badly. Another way to phrase the full import of that is: the more that ACC schools like Wake and BC and Syracuse win, the worse it is long term for the ACC.
Once again, even if the ACC can survive the next few years intact with nobody leaving in 2031, when the buyout is way down, the ACC faces a scary future. The SEC especially, but also the BT, seems determined to arrange a whole bunch of OOC games with the other, which will largely cut out the ACC from playing those two richest leagues. The SEC and BT will then argue that ACC overall schedules are far too weak for the ACC to be represented by more than maybe 1 team in the playoffs. controlled by Sec and BT.
So the ACC must now act aggressively and wisely in order to secure its future as the 3rd most powerful conference. Not roughly equal with the Big 12 - definitely the #3. I think 3 things are in order, are, in fact, required: cut dead weight in terms of TV football drawing power; replace those schools with schools that meet itv lowest 2 of the 3 prime criteria: large state flagship and/or Land Grant with decent football history; other large state school with decent football history; school located in states and TV markets that turn out a lot of football talent and are proven to love CFB.
If that reconfigured ACC gets large enough, the league easily then can play 10 league games, which will almost totally eliminate the need to bow and scrape before the SEC and BT for OOC games.