Read the entire article. I don't remember anyone in the ACC talking so openly about this before. What I found most telling is quoted below.
The rumblings have quieted a bit -- both nationally and at Florida State -- but Spetman said the wheels continue to turn.
"It's not done," he said. "I watch it every day, reading something about it every day, trying to get a sense and calling my counterparts and seeing where they're really at."
"Unless you bring in a revenue for them so that they don't reduce their conference distribution to themselves, they aren't going to bring you in," Spetman said. "That's what I don't think people evaluate as much. It would be great to be in the SEC with our radius of schools and the way our fans travel and their fans travel, but if they bring Florida State into the SEC, I'm trying to see, how do we sell that we bring them enough additional revenue that we pay for ourselves and they make more money off of us? They have Florida just two hours away that has the TV market here."
In the short term, Spetman said he's confident that the ACC is moving in the right direction, and the Noles staying remains the most appealing solution. However, he said his priority is to ensure that Florida State is prepared for the next major shift.
"We've had conversations at the senior level about what we should consider," Spetman said. "There will be more of those conversations -- they'll continue. It's an evolution every day."
http://espn.go.com/colleges/fsu/football/story/_/id/9020053/ad-randy-spe...
Comments
UF doesn't want fsu or the U to join. Just like UGA doesn't want GT. Same with South Carolina not wanting Clemson. These schools pull serious influence with their conference.
If the SEC goes after new teams, they'll want ones that bring in new television markets. VT would deliver Va & DC and NCSU would bring in the Tarheel state. That's why both are often mentioned for SEC expansion.
I guess that's good news for us, should push come to shove. I think I'm in the minority, but I still hope that doesn't happen. I like being in the ACC, I like whooping UVA every year, I like playing the Canes yearly, and I like being able to drive to get to a fair number of away games.
I don't really like how expansion has panned out for the ACC. UL is good enough to join, but not the 'Neers--a team located in the neighborhood, with a long history against many current ACC teams? Both are about the same academically, though UL has the edge in athletics. Wouldn't surprise me to see Cincy and/or UConn join next, which would suck.
How about Notre Dame getting preferential treatment? A school should either be a full member, or not at all.
WVU's fan base would be a disgrace to the ACC.
And the best way to stick it to the 'neer faithful, is by beating the living shit out of their team on the gridiron.
I dunno
Making them join a conference where they have to go to Ames, Iowa and Kansas on a regular basis is a good way to punish them. It should be mentioned that the ACC and SEC told WVU no.
WVU's fan base is a disgrace to pretty much any conference this side of the Sunbelt. I've lived in southern WV for over 10 years and I have to say that the general consensus is that they are a complete bunch of idiots.
How do you get a WVU fan out of your face? Tell him you would like fries with your order.
Yes, I miss playing for the Black Diamond trophy. But not as much as I would miss the Commonwealth Cup!
UL was only let in after UMD bolted, the ACC needed another team.
if anything, this shows a bit more solidarity on the ACC front.
I truly think the next conference to go down after the big east is the big 12. They have 10 members, and in order for the Pac 12 to get to 16, they have to pluck from there. I could easily see Texas, OU, OK State, heading to the Pac 12, then add in Boise State. Then the other 7 left in the big 12 will be divided up by the b1g and Sec, and the acc brings in cinncy and notre dame. And there is the 16 team conferences for the playoffs nicely set up.
You're forgetting that geography might not be that important. Big 12 makes way more money than the ACC right now, because their marquee teams havent been slumping for the past decade. Plus, no way Texas leaves the Big 12 unless the conference is completely collapsing. They get too sweet of a deal there and rule the roost.
I'd say the ACC falling apart is just as likely as the Big 12 getting cannibalized, unfortunately.
According to Forbes they aren't
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2013/01/16/the-most-valuable-conf...
wow that's a really interesting read, definitely makes you look at it differently
Eventhough geography may not be that important, if you notice, only the Big East really went out of the geography setting. Most of the conferences have bordering states. The B1G picked up UMD, however, they are next to Pennsylvania which had Penn State.
I just can't see the Pac 12 picking up a team on the east coast. I can see them plucking Texas and OU because they are close enough, don't think they would go much further than that. There really isn't anyone else nearby to join in (other than BYU), and they would want to continue to make their conference strong.
In the end, one way or another, one of the remaining 5 BCS conferences will have to fold. Doesn't work out for the playoff to have 5. I think this is why ND is perched to jump into the ACC at a moments notice, because they know that the independent talk won't exist when the playoff happens.
Don't think an ACC w/o FSU is a viable football league
FSU's name brings a lot of value and feel as if FSU was to leave that would crumble the ACC as a football league. I don't see FSU joining the SEC with UF/USC/UGA forming united group against non-SEC rivals. I could see FSU joining the Big XII and taking along Clemson. If FSU leaves there's no available school that comes close to bringing the same value.
I'm on the #VT4SEC bandwagon and think if any ACC team jumps then Weaver should be on a plane to SEC headquarters (Birmingham?)
Exactly.
There is no doubt that FSU brings the ACC fb credibility even though they haven't done anything since 2000-2001. They go the ACC looks a lot like the BE circa late 90's. The shitty thing is, FSU and UNC and ND to a lesser extent basically hold the ACC's future in their hands.
More than that effect's the ACC's future possibly
It's not out of the realm of possibility that if Maryland pays a far less exit fee that could start dominoes of teams leaving. There are rumors of uva or GT possibly being looked at by the B1G and if one of them left think we can agree VT should leave.
Pretty much if any team that has a better football program than uconn or Cincy leaves the ACC it's probably time for VT to leave as well if they do in fact have an invite/interest from the SEC
I think the bond between UVA and VT is stronger than what people think. Add in the richmond factor as well. Plus, UVA is not struggling financially. UMD was hurting so they jumped for the money. UVA is more rich then people realize.
Taking UNC from Duke will be tough. They are attached like we are with UVA.
In the end, no matter what happens, VT will be in one of the top conferences. I just see it being really hard to split up some of these groups. Like Texas and no OU. Wouldn't happen.
Are we still as tight with UVa as we were when Casteen was their President. Casteen was a VA guy. Born and raised in VA, did all of his education at UVa and was Sec of Education under Robb. Sullivan OTH is from the BIG. She went to MI State. She spent some time in TX as an admin un the UT system before going back to MI to serve at the UofM. Then she took over at UVa. Her only connection to the Commonwealth is her presidency at UVa.
She's been such a great cav president that she was forced to resign last year, only to be reinstated shortly afterwards. #LOLUVa
I think we are. A lot of wahoos don't want to go either. I just don't see justification. Maryland was broke and cutting sports.
Plus, UVa is strong at a lot of the other sports the B1G doesn't carry.
Way overrated IMO
The connection between VT and LOLUVA as far as sports goes is way overrated. There is a reason why we have only been in the ACC for such a short amount of years. Those of us with long memories remember the days when getting into the ACC was a pipe dream b/c UVA would never allow it. We were independents and desperately looking for a "big boy" conference in order to grow our sports programs.
The only reason LOLUVA acquiesed to VT joining the ACC was the pressure applied from Richmond on the leadership in hooville to support VT's attempt to move up. We do not owe anything to LOLUVA. Maybe I am oversimplifying the history a bit, but the boohoos enjoyed many years of looking down their long noses at VT during the 70's thru 90's b/c they were in a "real conference" and VT was not.
As far as our "relationship" with LOVUVA goes, they can stay in the watered-down ACC, or bolt to the B1G, whatever floats their leaky boat. The Hokies should make their conference alignment decisions based solely on what is best for VT athletics. We do not need a "in-state rival" to have to fight with over recruits or resources. Nobody hears LSU, Tennessee, or Ohio State complaining about totally dominating the in-state recruiting in their home states, neither should VT. Dominate, destroy and decimate the boohoos until they are irrelevant. Oh, and #VT4SEC.
I don't think UVA is on a leaky boat. Ask many wahoos how they truly feel about their football presence. It's not that big of a deal to them. They feel they have a lot of other sports that are important, and VT is a football only school. The truth is, VT fans care more about the rivalry and the cup more then they do.
I wish we would be in the SEC too. However, we have a long way to go to be successful there. We don't have the comparable facilities, big game presence, and more. It could be a tough road.
you're right about them being more worried about their other sports and we're most concerned about football. however, i wouldn't say the rivalry is unimportant to them. in fact, i would argue that a lot of uva fans hate tech more than they love uva.
wouldn't be a big deal to me either if I hadn't had my hands on the Commonwealth Cup in nearly a decade...
My thoughts on ACC Value/Realignment
1) Why doesn't the ACC have its own network?
The ACC has viewership in 12 of the top 25 CFB TV Markets (http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/12/birmingham_tops_espn_college_...)
The ACC is a premiere basketball conference. I'm aware this isn't the money maker that football is, but it's worth something.
The ACC offers more sports then any other conference. I'd tune into watch anything VT (basketball, soccer, tennis, wrestling, etc). Surely between televising all of these sports and all these schools the ACC has enough material to complete a 24/7 network.
All these things considered, I just find it hard to believe that the ACC can't come closer (or even surpass) the B10 in value.
2) Realignment is FAR from over. Personally, I don't think realignment will ever stop or settle. I think we'll see one-three BCS teams switching conferences every off season for the next ten years. There's just too many unknowns.
UConn and Cincy have decent sized fanbases, but neither has a home once the current Big East folds. The impending playoff could revolutionize CFB in ways yet to be thought of. Will there be a 4 'super' conferences? Could conferences start shrinking? (I think this could happen if it meant more $/school). So many unknowns when it comes to this stuff.
I wouldn't be surprised if the BCS schools break away from the NCAA and form their own league. Would have to get around some anti-trust issed though.
I can completely envision a college football landscape in which multiple teams get booted from the major conferences for fiscally underperforming on a consistent basis.
Something to Consider
I'm all for VT4SEC, but I think Weaver must consider more than just money. For example, VT would have to find a home for these sports, which SEC does not support:
Women's Laccrosse
Men's Soccer
Wrestling
Of those, I think the VT Wrestling team is really strong and I'm sure we don't want to lose that sport (ACC Champs!). Don't really know about the Men's soccer or women's lacrosse, but I'm guessing both may be sacrificial cuts if VT takes the SEC plunge. But, I have no idea what alternative VT would have for their wrestling team.
Let's just swap places with UK!