Not sure why a bunch of stuff chose to break just before Juy 4. It means more stuff piling up in the browser window. The expansiopocolypse stuff, once more, has been a big summer filler. And like so many big summer movies, much more hype than any substance.
The Big 12 expansion stuff ended up a lot like the Green Lantern movie.
Hyped blockbuster, but the story dragged.
Actors that just didn’t have the fit or energy for the movie. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively headlining a summer blockbuster=FSU and Clemson in the Big 12.
Bad storyline with motivations muddled and abandoned. The Big 12 wants back to 12. No, wait, they’re happy at 10 teams. They want FSU and are willing to take Clemson. No wait, it is ND they want. FSU athletic department is broke, not broke, wants to move, internal disagreements, who knows. Clemson coaches pooh-poohing the move while Clemson fans clamor to go… While in the Green Lantern movie, they tossed in and abandoned little storylines and characters so that you didn’t know the reasons for anything culminating with Sinestro abruptly putting on the yellow “fear” ring at the very end of the movie. This after seeing Parallelax defeated by green willpower and hope.
I’ll stop there because I’m heading off on a major digression before even beginning.
After all of the drama, the ACC looks just fine.
While the four-team playoff increasingly is looking like a warmed over BCS, that isn’t the worst thing for the ACC at this moment. That’s because the ACC has secured its major bowl partnership with the Orange Bowl.
The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Orange Bowl Committee announced today a 12-year agreement that will annually feature the ACC Champion in the Discover Orange Bowl to be played on New Year’s Day at 1:00 pm beginning after the 2014 season.
As part of the new postseason college football arrangement recently announced by the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, the ACC has selected the Discover Orange Bowl as its annual contract bowl partner, to serve as the home of the ACC Champion. If the ACC Champion is identified as one of the top four teams by the Bowl Championship Series selection committee, then the ACC Champion will participate in the national semifinals and a replacement team from the ACC would participate in the Discover Orange Bowl.
In addition to the partnership between the ACC and the Discover Orange Bowl, it’s anticipated that the Orange Bowl will host at least four semifinal games in the new recently announced arrangement by the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee. In the years that the Orange Bowl serves as a semifinal host, the ACC Champion would then participate in one of the three host bowls that will be established as per the direction of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.
That’s right. Even if the ACC has its champion among the selected top-4 teams for the playoff, the next best ACC team has a guaranteed big-time bowl game. Increasingly, the only differences between the present BCS and the new system is that the Big East joins the “have-nots” in terms of access.
The bigger deal for the ACC, though, in terms of the Orange Bowl. The TV rights. Rather than be part of the BCS — or even playoff package — the rights for the Orange Bowl will be held by the ACC, who can shop it and keep around 50% of the money. That includes the years where the Orange Bowl will be hosting the playoff semi-final.
So not only does this mean the ACC has the stability of a major bowl game in addition to the access to the playoff system; it means an additional revenue stream for the conference.
For most people, this result is a clear “win” for the ACC. A bit of a sudden surprise, but huge. For the pro-ACC people this is proof of their position.
For those who were dreaming of being anywhere else, it means nothing. Just a band-aid because the ACC is not tops in money. That’s what really matters. In Clemson, they take Ricky Bobby to heart.
The one question remaining is who will the ACC play in the Orange Bowl. It won’t be the Big East. There are a lot of reports that Notre Dame will be in the mix as an opponent. Not surprising. And not surprising that as usual ND takes care of itself (really, seeing some of our eventually former Big East brethren express shock that ND wouldn’t try to help Big East football in this respect is amusing). The way the Orange Bowl determines the ACC opponent will be an ongoing subplot.
Ultimately, as expected expansiopocolypse is dead for 2012. It’s not over. Not by a long shot. There’s plenty of discontent in FSU and Clemson. Even VT has rumblings. There may even be some stuff rumbling by next summer. But reality suggests that it’s going to be sometime after 2014 and the first go-round of playoffs before there is anything that approaches a real chance of conference shifting.
With the football playoffs and the ACC Orange Bowl deal, the ACC is just fine.
The future is bright! Hail to Pitt!
ACC has too many TV eyes for it to not be in the mix. Let FSU/Clemson go, there are others that would jump into ACC.
On a side note, I hope that our former BE brethren land on their feet. Here’s wishing that they too get a tie in to a major New Years Day bowl. It seems natural that they would push to promote the Pin Stripe Bowl as their own (or the Gator). Both the Pin Stripe and the Gator are looking to remain relevant.
As for ND I will simply say typical golden “doomers” (just doomers). Raining on everyone elses parade for their own benefit. The BE has been left at the alter once again by ND. When ND need the BE for basketball they were all in. Now that it is less beneficial for ND (risk of new years day lock out) they will never use themselves as leverage to get the big east a seat at the table. Typical ND.
The Orange Bowl takes the “2nd” ACC team, so it could be their choice or just the 2nd place team. Pitt’s terrible track record is deserved for bowl selection, we don’t go to bowl games. However, the bowl locations and dates SUCKED so that’s why we didn’t go!
December 26th “Belk” Bowl vs, UNC, umm yea that’s great, leave the family early on Xmas day and drive through the snow to get there just in time for kickoff
Jan 7/8th “BBVA” Bowl in Birmingham AL…against a terrible opponent. no comment needed on poor turnout for these games.
Dec 31st Sun Bowl in El Paso TX… bring your bulletproof vest to avoid the boarder drug wars.
Good locations, Reasonable dates=better attendance and travel.
Never know, we could play WVU in the Pinstripe Bowl this winter?
Came out a few weeks ago, Big12 never wanted Clemson at all, even with FSU, they really were an after-thought.
FSU, after receiving the extra money from the Bowl games or TV money, (forget exactly it was), they are now in the black.
When you really think about it, if FSU and Clemson want a NC and or 10-2, 11-1, 12-0 seasons, they really had to think twice about moving to the Big 12.
No disrespect to the ACC, (I love the conf, including football, the East Coast league, where we belong), however, it would be tougher to get your goal of a NC having to play Ok, Tex, Ok St every year.
These ACC teams pride themselves a lot in their olympic sports too. I know football is money and the king maker. However small olympic sports are, people had to be giving their 2 cents on it, “are we really sending are baseball, softball, lacrosse and tennis teams to Waco and Lubbock?”
Things change daily of course, but, at this time, if I had to bet, I’d say the ACC looks exactly the same 5 years from now as it does now.
Seems like a lot of feedback from the teams and conferences too, that just adding more is not the answer. It has to be adding someone that is going to raise the money bar.
There aren’t too many teams out their, that will raise the top 5 conferences money much more it seems, other than ND.
I have been wrong before, and I will again, but if I had to bet, I think the conference thing is going to settle down for the next 5 years.
You have at least two years till the new playoff, people will wait for that, then people will want to give the playoff format a few years to see how that goes.
FSU and Clemson, you want more money?? Run the table in the ACC and get in the semi-finals, you’ll be rolling in it.
– grants unearned MBAs to governor’s duaghters
– has to buy back obsene t-shirts from its students
– assaults pregnant opposing fans
– has to pass an ordinance against burining couches
– has 2 coaches charged with public drunkenness
– was sued by a former coach who is a WVU alum
– has adult fans throw coins off of assistant coach’s heads
….. and that’s just in the past 5 years
Of course, all of these don’t add up to the goings on at Unhappy Valley .. but I think it’s a great match-up
Bottom line … I guess we watch but don’t attend.
What other product or sport franchise would be able to sell tickets based on our level of performance over the last 20 years.
It is never good to blame the customer for a product being bad…
Win with consistency and Pitt will draw….go from lousy to mediocre and have 4 HC’s during a 13 month span….
Make sure you buy all the bad food and clothing etc…if you think the Pitt fan is to blame for being disinterested.
Before worrying about their respective out of conference schedules, PSU and WVU need to concentrate on how they can win their respective conferences. None of which, either has done yet. Most of these newspaper articles are pure puffery about how their school is relevant on the national scene, when neither is. That said, both of the schools this year, have the easiest schedules they will see in the foreseeable future. WVU has no depth, so they are only a key injury or two away from being 4-8 this year with a cupcake out of conference schedule. And that is where the sham begins. PSU and WVU schedule cupcakes so that each can be 4-0 and nearly bowl eligible at the end of OOC. Each only needs to beat the likes of Indiana, Minnesota or Kansas etc. Therein lies the scam that rips off their respective fan base.
Of course PSU will be a mystery with the new staff …. but if those 2 met this year, my money would definitely be with the Eers.
and this tie in with them is huge i could see each school geting a extera 2 million per year from it over and above there 17 million tv deal with espn. Ithink the ND idea is great it would mean huge tv ratings every year. but i would say that ND only plays in it if they have at least 8 wins on years that they are 6and 6 or 7 and 5 they
are out and we play some one else.
now i have a thing that might piss me off jerome lanes son has not had a offer from pitt he is a 3 star LB we have not had a commit from a LB yet
if we dont offer lane son it would be a shame on pitt it is not as if he were a NR and even if he were we should offer after what his dad did for pitt we should offer him if we dont shame on us.