In a previous post I said there were a couple themes running through every major conference media day. The other theme was the idea of the major conferences sort of splitting off from the rest of the 1-A.
Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford said Monday the next six months are “very important” to the future of the NCAA and predicted that significant structural and governance changes could be implemented at the governing body’s annual convention in January.
Among the changes up for discussion would be the formation of a so-called “super division” that would allow athletic departments with high-revenue football programs to make some of their own rules and implement things like athlete stipends. Many of those initiatives have been blocked by lower-revenue programs, which make up the majority of the NCAA.
The ACC announced its all-ACC Preseason team. Only Safety Jason Hendricks made the team from Pitt. Florida State led the conference with six players.
The ACC doesn’t have multiple all-ACC squads. Instead they list the top-4 vote getters for each position — along with their total number of votes. Defensive Tackle Aaron Donald just missed making the All-ACC. Only one other Pitt player made the top-4, and it was not WR Devin Street. Punter Matt Yoklic finished third.
It’s not terribly surprising that Pitt didn’t place many players. Aside from the obvious questions of talent, the ACC media as a whole is not exactly familiar with Pitt (or Syracuse which didn’t place a player).
If you have been following assorted major conference media days there have been a couple themes that have come up at each one from the conference level. One of them is the new penalties and mechanisms for review of targeting penalties.
The new penalties were announced back in March, but the details were still being worked out.
The NCAA on Thursday announced that the playing rules oversight panel approved a new rule that would allow officials to eject players who target and contact defenseless players above the shoulders, effective for the 2013 season.
The ejection would be in addition to the existing 15-yard penalty.
Under Wednesday’s decision, players would be ejected for the remainder of the game if the penalty occurs in the first half. If the foul occurs in the second half or overtime, the player is ejected for the remainder of the game and the first half of the next contest. The ejection portion of the penalty can be subject to a video review.
Officiating crews for every conference have been getting instructed on this, along with the video review. Now the media (and some coaches) are getting their information.
