As Predicted By Anyone With A Brain, The ACC Is NOT Getting A TV Network

[btstimpy]

When the ACC was considering its 12th member, WVU seemed like a logical choice, since the ACC was still contained in the southeast. Academically, they appear to me to be at least on the level of Louisville. I understand there is a great difference of opinion on that point. Also, WVU seemed to be good enough in football and basketball. But apparently, the ACC did not want to settle and was interested in moving northeast.

I mentioned Rutgers in the context of being a better choice than BC. Why? Some bias here, as I went to Rutgers-Newark as an undergrad. Rutgers is closer than BC. Rutgers is more like the institutions in the ACC, and better academically. And at least as good in athletics. Yes, Rutgers has definitely had its struggles, and still does, I could make the argument that it would have improved in the ACC. But I understand that argument doesn't necessary hold, as it apparently hasn't helped BC.

I don't remember a whole lot of deliberation at that time for sport number 12. The ACC had stopped at 11 with Miami and Virginia Tech. A year went by with the ACC trying to get a Championship Game approved at 11. They ACC was also in talks with Notre Dame then to be 12. When that didn't go anywhere, there was Boston College still knocking on the door. Syracuse no longer seemed interested, so the ACC invited Boston College without too much deliberation. Boston College and Syracuse had already been vetted the year before.

I don't have an issue with WVU. They already have a built in rivalry with Pittsburgh as well as Virginia Tech. Their athletics would fit fine, and geographically they would fit fine. Academics are on par with Louisville. The fan base is as obnoxious and unsportsmanlike as they come, but I guess that could be overlooked as long as it is not violent. I don't think they want to be in the ACC though. Just like buckanieer on here says, they all think that the Big XII is the best place to be.

BTW, this game Sunday at the Comcast Center will be a bona fide carnival. Maryland is marketing it as the Farewell Game with T-Shirts, posters, autograph sessons with Lefty Driesel, Gary Williams, and some players. They have photo opportunities with ACC trophies, and an interactive ACC moment wall. Not sure what that is. The game is sold out. Our poor team won't know what kind of event they showed up to.

http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=209427866

 

[billybud]

Actually, many WVU fans wanted the SEC or the ACC....

Spurned by both conferences, they are following that old song.."if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with".

 

[NickyNewark]

I have to laugh when you bring up E. Gordon Gee. He just took over at West Virginia University last week. They are rated worse than Louisville academically. The irony is hilarious. Maybe this is his shot at helping them learn to read and write. LOL.

You think Louisville was a desperation move by the ACC. I know Rutgers and Maryland was a desperation move by the Big Ten. Two financially challenged athletic departments grabbed life rafts. We'll have to see how it all works out in the long run.

Are you serious comparing large state U's(in large rich states) with deep pockets to small privates? Why were there ADs in trouble (esp MD) if the ACC payouts are so great? Didnt you read WestCoastHuskys comment about foresight and longterm marriage? Im sure if MD thought the ACC was solid they'd have stayed as a founding school! What does that say stimp? No wonder Swoffy was redfaced when caught with his pants down celebrating his ND partial move. I hope his brother in law still has his job at Raycom.

Jim Delaney has said it. They felt threatened when the ACC added Pitt, Syracuse, and then Notre Dame. They know that the country's demographics are growing slowest in the midwest, and they were concerned about losing Penn State long term. They didn't grab based on any eyeballs. Not that many eyeballs look at those two new members. You can tell that based on attendance. They grabbed based on cable subscribers in those states. We'll have to see how that works out.

 

[NickyNewark]

Jim Delaney has said it. They felt threatened when the ACC added Pitt, Syracuse, and then Notre Dame. They know that the country's demographics are growing slowest in the midwest, and they were concerned about losing Penn State long term. They didn't grab based on any eyeballs. Not that many eyeballs look at those two new members. You can tell that based on attendance. They grabbed based on cable subscribers in those states. We'll have to see how that works out.

Are you serious? Part Deux....Why would Delany feel threatened when he could have had any one of those schools(except ND)? SU/Pitt would jump in a nanosecond if the B1G offered!! These are "little brother" schools too the B1G like some southern schools are to FSU or L'ville would never been added. Pitt and SU only jumped to the ACC IMO because they knew where all this(CR) was going after the study results came out and didn't like the thought of being bypassed by a perceived "inferior"!!

 

[NickyNewark]

Actually, many WVU fans wanted the SEC or the ACC....

Spurned by both conferences, they are following that old song.."if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with".

I'm not sure but I'd love to see WVU's record in FB against all ACC teams except FSU. I'll bet its quite superior. Shame WVU is stuck in a conference they have little in common with....they deserved better IMO. So little interaction between fans and alums isn't good for building rivalries and expensive olympic sport traveling will wear them down.

 

[NickyNewark]

Its nothing special for football, but worth a trip for basketball. And if Virginia keeps it up, that will be a game to watch next season.

Next year? Heck didnt UVa beat them last week? Might be the WORST CFB venue in major CFB and weak "tailgating" area....no space.Great place to sing acapella though if you're looking for an echo !!

 

[Pat125]

I don't remember a whole lot of deliberation at that time for sport number 12. The ACC had stopped at 11 with Miami and Virginia Tech. A year went by with the ACC trying to get a Championship Game approved at 11. They ACC was also in talks with Notre Dame then to be 12. When that didn't go anywhere, there was Boston College still knocking on the door. Syracuse no longer seemed interested, so the ACC invited Boston College without too much deliberation. Boston College and Syracuse had already been vetted the year before.

I don't have an issue with WVU. They already have a built in rivalry with Pittsburgh as well as Virginia Tech. Their athletics would fit fine, and geographically they would fit fine. Academics are on par with Louisville. The fan base is as obnoxious and unsportsmanlike as they come, but I guess that could be overlooked as long as it is not violent. I don't think they want to be in the ACC though. Just like buckanieer on here says, they all think that the Big XII is the best place to be.

BTW, this game Sunday at the Comcast Center will be a bona fide carnival. Maryland is marketing it as the Farewell Game with T-Shirts, posters, autograph sessons with Lefty Driesel, Gary Williams, and some players. They have photo opportunities with ACC trophies, and an interactive ACC moment wall. Not sure what that is. The game is sold out. Our poor team won't know what kind of event they showed up to.

http://www.umterps.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=29700&ATCLID=209427866

I do remember the ACC at the time wanting to stay at 11, but with a championship game. When that didn't happen, they wanted a twelfth member ASAP. So maybe they didn't have time to deliberate. Obviously, adding ND would not solve the championship game issue, so that wasn't an option. It's just hard to believe that UConn or Rutgers wasn't interested at the time, or the ACC thought that BC was the best of the three options.

As for WVU, and despite what Buckaineer says, WVU would have accepted an ACC invitation. I just don't think they were ever seriously considered.

Actually, I'm happy to hear that Maryland is making a big deal with Sunday's game. They should celebrate the 60 years in the ACC despite everything that has gone down. I enjoyed going to many conference games while I was at Maryland. I went to the first sold out women's game at Cole Field House. One guess who won that game. I'm just hoping for a win Sunday. Then perhaps if Maryland at least makes it to the semis in the ACC tournament, they can make it to the NCAA tournament.

 

[NickyNewark]

You sound really stupid claiming that Pitt would see an increase in ticket sales by replacing WVU with Rutgers. The Rutgers game drew ~38k, where as WVU would have been a sell out as usual with nearly 65k+. Also, that terrible 2012 WVU team started the season 5-0 with two wins over ranked teams, and lost by 1 to a highly ranked OK team. Maybe Rutgers doesn't have a close rival, but records do not matter when Pitt plays WVU (or PSU/ND).

And if you do a little math, playing Rutgers cost Pitt nearly 30k fans for a six home game schedule. With that extra 5k fans per game average that WVU would have provided, Pitt would have been right in line with other years and on pace with your precious Rutgers.

Thank you Rutgers for causing a down year in attendance in 2012, signed Pitt.

Yes its a shame you guys lost WVU in CR because that is the rivalry game in the W.Pa/WV area but if PSU came to town be prepared for a real invasion of Nitnation loyalist from everywhere. Pitt actually fits better in the B1G than the ACC but hope you find a way to keeo WV on the schedule. CR is playing havoc on the landscape.

 

[UPitt]

Next year? Heck didnt UVa beat them last week? Might be the WORST CFB venue in major CFB and weak "tailgating" area....no space.Great place to sing acapella though if you're looking for an echo !!

Nicky, I said next year because he was looking to take a trip to the carrier dome. Virginia should be playing up there next year and if they have a season anything like this one, that game will be a really good game to attend. And thanks for reaffirming my thoughts on it for football, with slightly more tone.

 

[UPitt]

Yes its a shame you guys lost WVU in CR because that is the rivalry game in the W.Pa/WV area but if PSU came to town be prepared for a real invasion of Nitnation loyalist from everywhere. Pitt actually fits better in the B1G than the ACC but hope you find a way to keeo WV on the schedule. CR is playing havoc on the landscape.

PSU and ND are both bigger rivalry games to fans in Pittsburgh because of the tradition from the 70s and 80s. WVU happens to be less than an hour drive, so its a big rivalry as well. We do have PSU on the schedule for 4 games starting in two years, and have been working on adding WVU to replace ND in the years we won't be playing ND because of the new ACC scheduling.

I'v discussed the B1G vs ACC before on this board, but to some it up, 10 years ago I would have prefered the B1G but today I prefer the ACC. Pitt is smaller than most of the B1G schools and I think the gap has grown larger since 2000 and will continue to grow larger each year. It would be great to play PSU yearly and collect the money the B1G has, but I just do not see how Pitt would fit in with the larger land grant type schools. Although public, Pitt is much more in line with private type schools such as Cuse, BC, Miami, Duke, Wake, etc.

 

[NickyNewark]

PSU and ND are both bigger rivalry games to fans in Pittsburgh because of the tradition from the 70s and 80s. WVU happens to be less than an hour drive, so its a big rivalry as well. We do have PSU on the schedule for 4 games starting in two years, and have been working on adding WVU to replace ND in the years we won't be playing ND because of the new ACC scheduling.

I'v discussed the B1G vs ACC before on this board, but to some it up, 10 years ago I would have prefered the B1G but today I prefer the ACC. Pitt is smaller than most of the B1G schools and I think the gap has grown larger since 2000 and will continue to grow larger each year. It would be great to play PSU yearly and collect the money the B1G has, but I just do not see how Pitt would fit in with the larger land grant type schools. Although public, Pitt is much more in line with private type schools such as Cuse, BC, Miami, Duke, Wake, etc.

Believe it or not even I followed Pitt during the golden era of Hugh Green and Ricky Jackson and Tony Dorsett as a NYC metro guy Defense in those days are what made me a big fan of any FB and as a 7 yr old I got into the pagentry of HS FB and never looked back. With all the health concerns around FB I still think it builds heroes and character and I'm saddened by the decline of toughness in the modern American in comparison to the 50s/60s era youth. Can we live in a coccoon and live life w/o risk? Is that really living? FB is a choice not mandatory and if everyone could play it we wouldn't love it!

 

[NickyNewark]

For what it's worth.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2013.pdf

Ville 52514
Pitt 49741
Rutgers 46549
Maryland 41278
Cuse 38277

Not too much difference in numbers here. I really don't think a few thousand fans a game makes a huge difference in revenue.

I assume this is measured attendance, because Pitt sold well over 50K season tickets this past season if you include student ticket sales, due in large part to the home schedule. Also, the attendance numbers reported by Pitt are likely to be inaccurate due to a ticket scanning issue that required tickets to be ripped and counted the old fashion way.

A friend of mine whose a Cuse fan and FB season ticket holder said after 1 game this season they were lucky if 20G showed but the newspaper reported numbers similar to you're SU posted figure? Tickets paid for or actual attendance? This guy at least knows closing your eyes to something don't change whats right before you! I can't speak on you're attendance at Pitt but I do know SUFB only gets 25/31G actual attendee's based on recent average by honest Cuse FB fans. @My apologies as I see Fishy already covered this ground above in an earlier post ha ha sounds a lot like that was the game my friend was talking about?

 

[Fairfield_1st]

We've officially been hijacked. Posts 209 - 239 contain two posts from a UConn fan and both posts belong to Fishy.

 

[NickyNewark]

Where's you're sense of hospitality? UPitt has been here longer than many UConn fan's and seem's a decent sort. CR is bigger than any one fan or team as it concern's all of us. Uninterested might be a better word than highjacked and the thread is about an ACC net or lack thereof so its only natural the BY thread would attract an ACC leaning crowd but I also see and understand you're point/..frustration?

 

[Fairfield_1st]

No frustration, just what I was hoping was a comical observation. Obviously I'm still reading. It just occurred to me scrolling through that the majority of the posts were from welcome visitors, so I felt the need to actually quantify. Can't help myself. It's a sickness.

 

[06029]

Oh, he brings up cable ratings on ESPN how cute!

No, we've never attracted eyeballs there..

Rutgers in the NYC Metro:

4 out of the 5 highest rated football games on ESPN.

5 out of the 5 highest rated football games on ESPN2.

Highest rated football games on ESPNU.

So once you're done with talking about the kiddie games of basketball, you can come join the big leagues and discuss football, the sport that matters in this whole conference realignment shindig.

And btw, Pittsburgh got a bump in attendance from FSU and Notre Dame visiting, let's not kid ourselves here. Big name opponents equal good attendance. The same will hold true for us this year.

Do you have any of the ratings numbers to back that up? As is pointed out every time BC ratings are brought up, who were the opponents in those games? Do you think that could have had anything to do with viewers? How about the time slots? A couple (or maybe even most) of those were before the NFL was on Thursday night or ESPNU existed with a second college game and the game was the only game on TV. This is like BC saying it had one of the highest rated non-BCS bowl game a few years back when they played USC. It was the only game on at that time and the opponent was pretty important to the overall rating.

Here are some numbers from last year:
http://www.goodbullhunting.com/2013...ge-football-tv-ratings-2014-texas-am-missouri

Methodology (minimum of 3 rated games) does lead to some misleading numbers (and explains the Cuse omission) but look way down the list to find Rutgers. 5 rated games with <1mm viewers on average.

Rutgers brought the B1G 1 thing and 1 thing only, demographics and TV sets where they can force some kind of fee or increase for the B1G channel on cable providers and subscribers. The B1G already wins NYC when they air on the big boy networks unless it is head to head with ND and then the market is probably split. Now with a "local" team, they hope to monetize that significantly better than in the past.

I can't wait to see what channel has the RU-IN game and what the ratings are this season. Hell, even the RU-MD numbers will be telling if both are playing for bowl eligibility the last week of the season. It should be on some decent channel but we all know that is MI-OSU that weekend so you know where that game will air. And if WI or NE are playing for the B1G championship game, they are the #2 choice that weekend. That leaves RU on the B1G or the B1G+ channel. I'm sure the NYC ratings will soar because of RU that weekend.

 

[NickyNewark]

No frustration, just what I was hoping was a comical observation. Obviously I'm still reading. It just occurred to me scrolling through that the majority of the posts were from welcome visitors, so I felt the need to actually quantify. Can't help myself. It's a sickness.

Yeah Im the same way ha ha and let myself bet baited every now and then by the same couple of ACC posters but at least their UConn positive for the most part and thats the main thing. As frustrated as I get though at times like you I'm still reading!Btw I went back even further than you and it goes WAY back not just the 20 odd or so posts you pointed out.Lol..

 

[Sea Goat]

Louisville has a larger and more prosperous athletics department than UVA does. They fill up a huge arena for their basketball, much bigger than ours. And their football team leaves ours in the dust at the moment until we can get ours corrected. UVA will have a lot of work to do to compete with Louisville's men's and women's basketball teams and football team effectively. I have no problem defending Louisville athletics.

And months ago I stated on here that outside the top 50 ranking academically, they all run together. They should stop ranking at 50 and put everyon past that into Tier 2. Sure if we added Rice to the ACC it would bump the academics. But I'm not impressed with Rice's basketball team.

The difference in academic quality between a UConn and Louisville is staggering. If you truly believe that after the top 50 "they all run together", I will no longer feel the need to read what the Cavalier has to say. If you really want to separate the wheat from the chaff, then lump the Ivies together with MIT, Chicago and Stanford and be done with it. Then you can start lumping the rest together after the top 11 - a lot more manageable, don't you agree? Hey UVA, welcome to tier 2 with Louisville etc!

 

[billybud]

Who really brings up academics when talking sports?

Those who do better at academics then sports would be a guess.

Louisville is not great at academics...that is true. UConn is pretty good.

UConn would be #9 in the ACC on US New & WR ratings...and FSU, as the #40 Public University, would trail the conference if not for the Cards. I talk more about football then academics, naturally.

 

[Sea Goat]

Who really brings up academics when talking sports?

Those who do better at academics then sports would be a guess.

Louisville is not great at academics...that is true. UConn is pretty good.

UConn would be #9 in the ACC on US New & WR ratings...and FSU, as the #40 Public University, would trail the conference if not for the Cards. I talk more about football then academics, naturally.

Where do you want to take this budster? The original group that started elevating academics over sports was the Ivy League. You'd be surprised to learn; that before the formation of the Ivy League in the early 50s, many of those schools won several national championships, - Yale, Harvard, Cornell all won multiple football championships back in the day. De-emphasizing athletics really hasn't hurt that group though.

UConn doesn't take a back seat to Louisville in sports, if that is where you are going. Cold hard facts - UConn is a better academic institution than any of the recent adds to the ACC and brought more to the table in athletics over the long term. If it was all about media markets, that doesn't sell. If it was about petty jealousies and resentment well we may have a raison d'etre for Gene Defillippo and BC.

Louisville's short term athletic success does not make for a legacy. If anyone knows that, you should. I always understood that the ACC took academics seriously - for years academics helped define the conference. I always admired how a top D-1 conference had succeeded by promoting academics along with athletics. Has the ACC let that slip away to secure some dubious, fleeting advantage in athletics? I guess we'll see.

 

[SouthronCross]

It doesn't get corrected because certain schools demand to play other schools.....And few northern schools want a north-south with Miami and FSU and the southernmost schools together, locking them out of the Florida recruiting market.

The two biggest roadblocks to a N-S split (with Miami in the North) are UVA and VPI. Neither would vote for that, as they'd both be placed in the North Division. UVA doesn't want to be separated from its longtime rivals, and, VPI does not want to mostly be playing its ex-BE rivals. I believe that the rest would go for it, no worries.

As far as "Atlantic Coast being from Maine to Key West"...sure.

Boeheim was famously quoted...."If conference commissioners were the founding fathers of this country, we would have Guatemala, Uruguay and Argentina in the United States."

Boeheim's random comments crack me up, though, not as much as when he came unhinged at Duke.

 

[btstimpy]

The difference in academic quality between a UConn and Louisville is staggering. If you truly believe that after the top 50 "they all run together", I will no longer feel the need to read what the Cavalier has to say. If you really want to separate the wheat from the chaff, then lump the Ivies together with MIT, Chicago and Stanford and be done with it. Then you can start lumping the rest together after the top 11 - a lot more manageable, don't you agree? Hey UVA, welcome to tier 2 with Louisville etc!

I don't see the point of worrying about it past 50. Heck in athletics the polls usually stop at the Top 25. I think I'm being generous cutting it off at 50. We've had this debate a couple of months ago on this board in another thread and posters from other Big Ten schools ranked lower than 50 got angry. They they wanted to debate STEM majors or Medical Programs separated out. Yes there are schools ranked lower than 50 that can pick out a major or two that shines. There is no question.

Are you suggesting cutting it off at 75? If you did, 12 of the ACC's schools are top 75, only 8 in the top 50 - the most of anyone besides the Ivy League. I think 75 is too many.

People wanted to bash Louisville as a commuter school. I pointed out that Ohio State is a commuter school. People got angry about that. Maybe it is best to focus on Louisville's athletics instead of Louiville's academics.

 

[pj]

It's a little thing called the Atlantic Coast. It runs from Maine to Florida. Capturing all the attention of college sports viewers from Bangor, ME to Key West, FL and west to Owensboro, KY with everything in between on the path between the two is the ACC's identity. There is no identity crisis.

Fixed it for you.

 

[btstimpy]

Fixed it for you.

Well to be accurate it would be Chicago, Il, But we're not supposed to be taking that path. If the ACC adds Cincinnati it sure would look like it though.

 

[Fishy]

I don't see the point of worrying about it past 50. Heck in athletics the polls usually stop at the Top 25. I think I'm being generous cutting it off at 50. We've had this debate a couple of months ago on this board in another thread and posters from other Big Ten schools ranked lower than 50 got angry. They they wanted to debate STEM majors or Medical Programs separated out. Yes there are schools ranked lower than 50 that can pick out a major or two that shines. There is no question.

Are you suggesting cutting it off at 75? If you did, 12 of the ACC's schools are top 75, only 8 in the top 50 - the most of anyone besides the Ivy League. I think 75 is too many.

People wanted to bash Louisville as a commuter school. I pointed out that Ohio State is a commuter school. People got angry about that. Maybe it is best to focus on Louisville's athletics instead of Louiville's academics.

This is more of your self-soothing.

You have to focus on UL's athletics because they're West Virginia academically. Any comparison with Ohio State is ridiculous.