A move worthy of ACClaim: A Look at ACC Expansion

There have been quite a few off the field stories this year. A coach nicknamed the senator caught in a lie. A litany of NCAA infractions, some even involving yachts and prostitutes. But the one story that has captured everyone's imagination has been expansion.

This narrative this year begins with Texas and Texas A&M. Texas A&M applied to join SEC in anger because Texas owns a bigger piece of the Big XII's revenue than anyone else, and because of the Longhorn Network. Texas A&M to the SEC is pretty much a done deal, and the Big XII is sure to die or suffer the fate of being a zombie conference like the Big East. This past weekend the ACC accepted Syracuse and Pittsburgh in what was a pro-active move to ensure survival. While some have lamented that we didn't add football powers it is my belief the move should be applauded.

Why Expansion?

Conference expansion, like most things in the world, is driven by money and affects a lot more than just what football/basketball teams a school plays. The biggest revenue driver in collegiate athletics is football. That's why it is the chief concern influencing all sports as well as academic association between schools. Right now there are 6 major BCS conferences that garner most of the money from the major bowls as well as have the biggest TV contracts. Both greed and fear are influencing these movements.

Expansion brings about the chance for conferences to renegotiate their TV contracts and increase wealth. The biggest TV contract right now belongs to the Pac-12 which is able to pay its members $21 mil/yr, in contrast to the ACC which has an older contract that pays out around $13 mil/yr. The way other conferences can catch up to the Pac-12 payout is to renegotiate their contract, and the way they can only do that successfully is by adding new TV markets. In a way we could say ESPN itself is not just reporting the expansion news, but is the impetus for the movement with everyone wanting more TV money.

Schools that are in current BCS conferences fear they could find themselves on the outside looking in if they don't keep up. There is a big disparity in money for those on the outside versus inside, and schools depend on this money to pay for sports other than football. Also, there's a loss of prestige and TV time which can lead to loss of donor dollars as well as lessen an applicant pool to a school. Football drives the bus, but everyone in the university is a hostage. If the football revenue ever decreases it will cause a lot of pain. Coming into this weekend it was thought that any school not in the SEC, Pac-12, and Big Ten could fall into danger of being left behind, but adding Pitt and Syracuse assured that all ACC schools are safe for now.

The View From Blacksburg

Congratulations Virginia Tech fans, the moves made by the ACC has paved the way for increased payouts, and the importance of belonging in a conference that has assured survival and national relevance. Perhaps bigger than the addition of other schools is the news of an increased $20 million exit fee for any school leaving the ACC. That pretty much assures no one will be leaving anytime soon. The ACC was seemingly in danger of the SEC potentially poaching Florida State, Clemson, or even VT, but that is over with for the time being with. The ACC should also thank Florida and South Carolina for opposing SEC expansion within its current states.

Virginia Tech was rumored to be considered for SEC expansion, but the administration literally said "poppy cock" to that and decreed the ACC is the conference they've always wanted to be in. A couple of non-football things that probably influenced administration for not considering the SEC were non-revenue sport travel, location of alumni centers, and leaving a conference with really good academic institutions. There could be lengthy discussion of hypothetical plus/minus of VT leaving the ACC, but being realistic we are in the ACC and should be happy for the move.

The ACC playing Chess not Checkers

There are some fans that are upset the moves didn't bring in football powers. However, Syracuse and Pitt fit snug in the ACC's footprint, have football history and mesh with the culture of the league. If the ACC didn't get those two teams they could have been Big Ten targets.

College football is trending towards four 16 team "super conferences", even Frank Beamer admitted as much on the Hokie Hotline, so it looks as if the ACC will expand further. Of the rumored teams the least exciting, yet most proposed pair is Rutgers and UConn. West Virginia has good basketball and football programs, but their academics and a couple of ACC schools, VT included, is held against them. Texas had flirted with the ACC, but didn't want to be equals. Texas is the really hot girl at the bar that is full of issues. Right now Pac-12 says it won't expand. Texas doesn't want to share revenue equally there either, but I feel that topic that will be revisited. For the ACC, the one school that moves the needle is Notre Dame.

Touchdown Jesus holds the Holy Grail for ACC

The ACC has a move up their sleeve that could move them up the ladder; convince Notre Dame to join the the conference. Notre Dame is a national brand that has fans in major TV markets including NYC, Chicago, and LA despite lack of recent football success. Notre Dame fits academically as well being one of the nations most prestigious universities. There are many reasons for the ACC to want Notre Dame and there are many reasons for the Irish to consider joining the ACC as well.

If Notre Dame makes a decision to join a conference and it holds to it's ideal of being a nationally relevant brand then joining the ACC is the smart decision. The only argument to make for ND in the Big Ten is geography, but ND will always be a huge factor in the mid-west regardless of conference affiliation especially with its yearly game against Michigan. In the ACC Notre Dame would get greatly needed exposure to the recruiting rich south that continues to increase in population. Notre Dame is already familiar with current and future ACC schools. Over the past 4 years Notre Dame has scheduled Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Maryland, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Duke, and North Carolina as well as playing Miami in it's last bowl game.

Another great part of the ACC moving early on expansion is that it puts additional pressure on Notre Dame to join a conference and leave behind independence. The ACC has essentially killed (or zombied) the Big East which is the current residence of Notre Dame's olympic sports. Notre Dame will have to find a home for those sports and hopefully the ACC has the backbone to not allow Notre Dame to join for everything but football. ND also needs to think of the future scheduling. Teams will play more games within their super conference and that will limit Notre Dame's options for playing quality BCS level opponents.

Future Secured

Whatever happens with future ACC expansion this past weekend was tremendous in settling VT's future. We are concrete in the ACC, and the ACC will be one of the major conferences to survive and move on.