Recent Comments
Pretty much my thoughts as well. In this case, I think its better to be a big fish in a small pond than a little fish in a big pond. Never thought of Swofford as an expansionist, but I think he really wanted to keep the ACC together and not lose the two best football (read: revenue producing) teams.
Basketball will be more interesting. If the Big Least does fall apart, then the ACC should get another spot or two at the Big Dance table. Seth better have a great season this year as it may be awhile before VT will have this great of an opportunity to get to the big dance again.
Great write up 0-16 Hokie. Much like yourself I was convinced that, though the ACC represents the best fit for Virginia Tech academically and athletically, we would jump ship to the SEC in order to try and compete for National Championship Games in football on an annual basis (I also wholeheartedly agreed that the process wouldn't be quick- 7 to 8 wins in the first year would have been a GREAT season in the SEC). The more I reflect on what has occurred in the past 72 hours the more excited I get over the moves: Pitt and Syracuse will be potential spoilers in football (I think Pitt will be a solid team in the Conference and will compete for ACC Titles), the moves open up the recruiting bed of Pennsylvania even more so to ACC teams, and will once again establish the ACC as a, if not the, premier basketball Conference and it allows Tech to rekindle great rivalries. Though I obviously want Football to go undefeated each year and convince myself mentally that it will happen Pittsburgh adds even more competition and thrilling games. Syracuse, though rebuilding in a sense, will return to its former state at some point and being in the ACC will allow that to happen more so than being in the Big East in terms of access to talented players. Its a win-win for all parties though I would like to see more done on the Football front- this is where UConn and Rutgers, though great schools and (in the case of UConn) an INCREDIBLE basketball program, Swofford and company- if they so choose- NEED to focus on getting two schools who not only fit the ACC-mold academically but will add even more prestige in football. If this is done then I would hope Virginia Tech continues its affiliation with the ACC for many years to come and ignore some of the immediate benefits of going to the SEC.
This is why I will never root for a team with McNabb, Paul Pasqualoni,or an orange and blue color scheme (ok, I had a predisposition against that before this occurred). I don't like the cuse, and if we have to play them again in conference play, the Frankenator should score as many points as humanly possible....
to eat some crow and say I might have been wrong myself...then saw this post. And equally surprisingly HD had some decent writing on it today too. Strange things afoot...
Pennsylvania is technically not (directly) on the Atlantic Ocean coast. It touches the Delaware bay. The westward expansion has begun! Texas is next. But in reality I can see the ACC going for New Jersey and Connecticut teams to fill in the rest of the east coast.
Did not think Clemson and Miami would win. I learned Auburn and OSU probably not as good as advertised.
Based on everyone's feedback here's what I've done.
13 Florida St. Seminoles
14 Virginia Tech Hokies
15 West Virginia Mountaineers
16 Texas Longhorns
17 Clemson Tigers
18 Baylor Bears
19 Oregon Ducks
20 South Florida Bulls
21 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
22 USC Trojans
The snake charmer? I just can't imagine what that was about. Guy on the right looks like he is chugging a yard.
Overall not a bad performance. After the big lead the focus waned a little. Wish we would have finished a couple more drives with scores. Worried about the kicking game. It is consistently weak at this point.
Florida State's offense looked ugly against Oklahoma. I think people are giving them too much credit for "losing with their backup QB."
NAME C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT CT 7/15 134 8.9 1 1 EJM 13/19 85 4.5 0 2 Team 20/34 219 6.4 1 3
Trickett threw the ball as well or better than Manuel. As a team they rushed for 27 yards, only 4 total yards by players other than their quarterbacks (49 Manuel -26 Trickett)!
South Carolina might have struggled with Navy, but everyone struggles with Navy. It's Navy. They're well conditioned, chop down lines, play tough and to the whistle. They have a recent history of playing good BCS teams close: Maryland '10 (9 wins), tOSU '09 (11 wins) and Pitt '09 (10 wins). USCe's resume is infinitely better than FSU's with a road win in Athens against an undervalued Georgia and a neutral site blowout against, what we found out to be, a tough ECU team.
Would FSU beat A&M, maybe? I know we'll find out a lot more about the Aggies this week against Oklahoma State, and next against Arkansas.
But either way I don't think FSU came away looking good from that loss and I wouldn't put my money on them beating either USCe or A&M, right now. If they go into Clemson and thrash the Tigers, then obviously I'd have to believe they're a little bit better team than I am giving them credit for.
I do like that the ACC has gone on the offensive to grab 2 schools from the Big East. They aren't overly impressive schools however. Yeah Pitt has been pretty strong lately, but it's not a hugely respectable name in football either. And Syracuse has a great history and current basketball program, but they suck at football right now. Seriously, who cares about academics in this situation? A university is a university, if it has a great athletic program chances are the academics are good enough. Let's be honest, nobody even thinks about that stuff when you are watching football.
OK, again i like getting 2 more schools first though. Primarily because I think this will keep the SEC's hands off of the bigger ACC teams. If we can get 2 strong schools after this now then it will be worth it. If it's UConn and Rutgers, that would be awful. The "Super-conference" of the ACC at that point wouldn't impress anyone. I like joe's reasoning above about trying to nab Notre Dame. If we could get them to get off their high horse and join up that would be a huge win for the ACC. I know the media has been talking about WVU looking at the SEC pretty hard, but i think this will help our chances at swaying them towards the ACC now. They have long histories with VT and Pitt. Logistically it makes sense as well, they would be surrounded by ACC schools but would have to constantly travel south for SEC games. Wishful thinking?...
i'm a little uneasy being #1 in the acc (on the ballot, at least). purely going by performance and not previous ranking, i might have us below free shoes, clemson and the other tech. while i think we're a work in progress (on offense at least, our defense can ALMOST play with anyone), solely on what i have to look at i'm not convinced we're top 15. hopefully the game looked better on replay, but being in the stands LT3 looks like he decides on his receivers before the snap and is going to get eaten alive by real corners.
here's hoping this is by far the most he throws all season.
I like the finger action on the guy on the left.
bodysuits? They look a bit like lance armstrong.
Holy sh!t...I'm over 60% three weeks into the season. I'm actually glad that Clemson won as it makes the 10/1 matchup much more enticing. (hoping for a night game)
Let's not overreact, here... Clemson needs to be lower. I'm a huge Auburn fan (War Eagle!) since both parents went there, but that AU defense can't tackle anyone. That was one of the worst defensive performances I've ever seen.
I would keep Alabama ahead of Oklahoma, but not drop FSU quite that much. I guess I'm not sure what to take away from that game. Both teams seem to have pretty good defenses, but I kept getting the impression both teams were probably a little overrated.
I think Oregon should be higher. I don't know that we should read too much into that first game loss to LSU. It was the first game, and LSU isn't awful, right? ;)
Thanks for doing it. Makes watching the other games more fun.
I'll start by saying I think Syracuse and Pittsburgh are both very good schools academically, they fit the ACC's footprint and are committed to winning at both football and basketball.
I'll follow that up by saying I don't think the ACC is done making moves. Swofford and the ACC presidents that have spoken up hinted as much. If I'm going to give him credit then I think the move to add just two schools was highly calculated. Consider that Swofford noted on his conference call that many other schools contacted the ACC regarding expansion, and that the overall trend seems to be conferences trying to move to 16 teams. The ACC could have just as easily added two other Big East schools, like Uconn or Rutgers with 'Cuse and Pitt, but they didn't. Why?
I hope (and may even believe at this point) the goal is for the ACC to get Notre Dame, the school who's number one athletic goal is to remain a football independent. Their sweetheart deal with the Big East and BCS depends on the Big East being a viable football conference, obviously. Also, all things considered, Pitt and 'Cuse are the best looking Big East schools. Swofford killed two birds with one stone, the ACC added two great schools, and killed the Big East. WVU is scrambling for the SEC, Rutgers is waiting for a call (ACC \ Big Ten), Uconn is making calls to the ACC and TCU can see the writing on the wall. This forces Notre Dame's hand. Once the Big East is gone they can try to broker the same deal with another conference, try to pony up the money and go independent in all sports or join one of the four soon to be "super conferences".
So the play seems to be, grab the two Big East schools with the most to offer, kill that conference, hope it forces Notre Dame into the ACC's arms, if it doesn't take another couple Big East leftovers to get to 16.
If the ACC somehow lands Notre Dame it's the coup of coups. The conference gains the credibility of a football institution that media members love to fawn over like none other. Furthermore, it's another football minded seat at the table to balance out the folks on Tobacco Road. That's a great scenario for Tech and the ACC. If the ACC ends up staying at 14 teams, or add Uconn, Rutgers, etc... it'll have the staying power as a football super conference, but everyone can stop pretending that anything but basketball is the number one priority.
As it stands now things could go from OK, to bad for Tech without the ACC adding another school. If the ACC realigns to north and south divisions and we're stuck in the north playing our old Big East pals, Maryland and whoever else is put there then that's bad. Playing schools like Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Duke has helped Tech establish its brand in the south, and recruit there, which is paying off more and more every year. Those are the kids who have helped us win ACC championships.
Like most of you I am a football first thinker. With that in mind the best place for Virginia Tech football is still the SEC.
"Same university source who told me Dana was getting hired--& was spot-on re: everything--says WVU sent paperwork to SEC today. We'll see." -- https://twitter.com/#!/colin_dunlap/status/115505893356998656
"UConn president Susan Herbst is aggressively pursuing membership in the ACC to become the 15th or 16th member institution in the conference, according to a source with direct knowledge of UConn's situation." -- http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6989031/uconn-huskies-aggre...
"Notre Dame needs to change with the times Irish should follow Syracuse, Pitt to the ACC" -- http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110918/SPORTS/...
"Rutgers remains 'in contact' with ACC and Big Ten" -- http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2011/09/rutgers_remains_in_c...
checked, correct. fixed on master spreadsheet. now 61% overall.
i missed on 4 others. fixing now. damnit.
I got three right, not two.
I had LSU
WVU
Miami
anything more than survive the game of conferences is .... getting ND. That name means a lot.
if stuck with RUTSgers and UConn, that's bad. trade 1 out for ND, that's good.
hate that the cousins are in fb mecca tho.
Clutch performance
Had not seen that, its a good one.
Could the ACC be gong after Uconn and Kansas???
Duke and UNC basketball RUN the ACC. These two are the most "available" teams and bring a solid basketball base with them. Also it appears Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are headed to the Pac16.
Wonder what TCU is thinking now... (And hope the ACC doesn't take em.
That was my point exactly. If we dont get better, this negatively affects VT basketball. We have to get better if we want a tournament bid, the additions of CUSE and PITT just reitterate this point even more.
would beat aTm and sakerlina.
I was in trepidation about how this would unfold. IF the ACC started to get picked apart like we just did with the Big East I thought it would be OK to get in with SEC. However, I wasnt sold on leaving the ACC as its a good fit for us. People are clamoring over a revitalized ACC basketball wise but these two Football teams are no cupcakes. Pitt's defensive mindset fits well and is accompanied by their rival in 'Cuse. Ill keep the football talk alive as we all know the basketball and LAX (lol) implications.
Most impressive about all of this is how tight-lipped and flawlessly done their entrance became. The AD's and Commissioner knew a behind the scenes approach would allow these teams to enter without the media gnat mass that accumulates with even a whisper of realignment. This was the first push towards a super conference and since we were first to do so we can let the chips fall where they may. Ive heard wind of Rutgers, Uconn, texas, and even ND in the fold. Speculation therein is silly as the SEC hasnt finalized aTm or WVU as most are saying.
So we'll see about progression into 16 but grabbing good teams in two bigger TV markets is key. Cuse actually has a huge football following into the state and city. They arent extremely hard to travel to either as Pitt is about the same distance as clemson and Miami used to play Syracuse in the Big East.
No we wont be an automatic powerhouse but more teams means more OOC match ups for the conference with potential to upset. My only caveat would be the doom of making a N v S split. I think simple geographic restructuring would be asinine. Let the teams play others up and down the seaboard.