ACC votes to add Stanford, Cal, SMU: Conference presidents approve expansion to 18 schools

[Alum86]

2 foster children on the west coast, 2 on the east coast. they can combine with the ACC remnants and create the Abe Vigoda Conference

I see what you did there.

 

[billybud]

How can UMass have SOS of 67?

They play Toledo (MAC), who won 11 games last season...Miami 0f Ohio who won 11 games last season. Missouri who won 11 games last season icluding beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, and Georgia..last season went 13-1

 

[Ldandy]

How can UMass have SOS of 67?

They play Mizzou, Mississippi State, Liberty, and UGA. That's pretty salty for a MAC School.

 

[Rufus]

SMU is a power-conference program again. Can the Mustangs capitalize?

SMU's ACC move is an unprecedented college sports investment from people who have a lot to spend.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Rufus]

SMU knows competing in ACC comes with adjustments. For now, Mustangs enjoy happiest hour

Monday’s welcome party in Dallas reflected the years-long legwork it took for SMU to reach this upper echelon.

www.dallasnews.com

 

[CJasmer]

They play Mizzou, Mississippi State, Liberty, and UGA. That's pretty salty for a MAC School.

Yes hard to see UMass having even .500 record. The games against Missouri and Georgia could look like UMass game against Penn state last year-63-0.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

They play Mizzou, Mississippi State, Liberty, and UGA. That's pretty salty for a MAC School.

Combined score of 400-0?

 

[CJasmer]

Combined score of 400-0?

It will not be pretty against Missouri and Georgia. Maybe they can keep it closer against Liberty. Those two games will be similar to UMass playing Penn State and when UConn played Tenn last year. My parents went to school at KU when they had a great basketball team but football was a different story. OU used to bury KU and shoot off a canon after every score.

 

[UConnJim]

I looked up SMU's TV ratings for 2023 and they were not good. No wonder they are getting zero media dollars from the ACC as they are clearly not worth much. The problem with adding them to the ACC is that if the TV contract has to be renegotiated after 2027 and FSU and Clemson leave, SMU massively dilutes the media value of the conference. Ten of their games were rated and five of them had TV viewers of 76k or less. Their highest rated game was on a Friday night on ESPN2 (no competition) against North Texas which had 618k viewers. The next 2 highest rated games were Thursday night games. Here are the games and the ratings:

72k Louisiana Tech/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
269k SMU/TCU FS1 Saturday noon
18k Charlotte/SMU ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
467k SMU/ECU ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
548k SMU/Temple ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
33k Tulsa/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
29k SMU/Rice ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
618k North Texas/SMU ESPN2 Friday 9 PM
276k SMU/Memphis ESPN2 Saturday noon
76k Navy/SMU ESPN2 Saturday noon

Total viewers for 10 games = 2.4 million. In comparison, Northwestern/Rutgers drew 2.7 million viewers.

 

[Forte]

I looked up SMU's TV ratings for 2023 and they were not good. No wonder they are getting zero media dollars from the ACC as they are clearly not worth much. The problem with adding them to the ACC is that if the TV contract has to be renegotiated after 2027 and FSU and Clemson leave, SMU massively dilutes the media value of the conference. Ten of their games were rated and five of them had TV viewers of 76k or less. Their highest rated game was on a Friday night on ESPN2 (no competition) against North Texas which had 618k viewers. The next 2 highest rated games were Thursday night games. Here are the games and the ratings:

72k Louisiana Tech/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
269k SMU/TCU FS1 Saturday noon
18k Charlotte/SMU ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
467k SMU/ECU ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
548k SMU/Temple ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
33k Tulsa/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
29k SMU/Rice ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
618k North Texas/SMU ESPN2 Friday 9 PM
276k SMU/Memphis ESPN2 Saturday noon
76k Navy/SMU ESPN2 Saturday noon

Total viewers for 10 games = 2.4 million. In comparison, Northwestern/Rutgers drew 2.7 million viewers.

What were UConn's in comparison? By the way, Tulane and Memphis are shoo-ins for the next ACC invites—bank on it. Both have better TV markets and southern football culture. Memphis has FedEx backing it, while Tulane is a wealthier university and both are far closer in DNA to SMU than UConn.

With all this conference realignment happening has there been any power conference expansion in the Northeast in the past decade?

 

[ScottVib]

I looked up SMU's TV ratings for 2023 and they were not good. No wonder they are getting zero media dollars from the ACC as they are clearly not worth much.

SMU isn't in the ACC for their value. They're there because they offered to take $0 when no other school had. The ACC TV deal had a pro-rata clause, so any additive subscriber dollars for SMU in Texas, plus their pro-rata (plus the remainder of the Stanford & Cal pro-rata as they only got partial shares as well) is what the ACC is using to fund the new performance pool they created in an attempt to convince FSU & Clemson that they'll make more if they perform as well as they thought.

There was no negotiation about SMU's worth.... SMU said "would you take us for free (well actually will you take us and this bucket of TV dollars)" and the ACC said yes.

 

[Ldandy]

What were UConn's in comparison? By the way, Tulane and Memphis are shoo-ins for the next ACC invites—bank on it. Both have better TV markets and southern football culture. Memphis has FedEx backing it, while Tulane is a wealthier university and both are far closer in DNA to SMU than UConn.

With all this conference realignment happening has there been any power conference expansion in the Northeast in the past decade?

I would say that USF is best positioned to be the school chosen to replace FSU. New stadium on the horizon, decent TV market, AAU Membership, and it keeps a second presence in Florida for recruiting purposes.

UConn would be my next pick, but for different reasons. If I’m The ACC I’d be leaning into the conference’s strength by adding the top basketball program in America. I’d also be adding a school that allows me to sell rivalry against currently floundering programs like Cuse, Pitt, and BC as well as nurturing new ones with UNC, Duke, and UVA building out from basketball.

Nobody cares about watching BC play WF in basketball or Syracuse play Virginia in football. They really aren’t going to give a damn about watching Cal play GT, or SMU play Louisville. Viewers might care about seeing current members play UConn because there is a genuine dislike between a number of schools.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

What were UConn's in comparison? By the way, Tulane and Memphis are shoo-ins for the next ACC invites—bank on it. Both have better TV markets and southern football culture. Memphis has FedEx backing it, while Tulane is a wealthier university and both are far closer in DNA to SMU than UConn.

With all this conference realignment happening has there been any power conference expansion in the Northeast in the past decade?

If Memphis and Tulane are replacing FSU and Clemson (and potentially more) then I don’t even want to be in that conference. It’s basically the American with a little former Big East flair.

 

[CL82]

SMU isn't in the ACC for their value. They're there because they offered to take $0 when no other school had.

Are you sure about that?

 

[UConnJim]

What were UConn's in comparison? By the way, Tulane and Memphis are shoo-ins for the next ACC invites—bank on it. Both have better TV markets and southern football culture. Memphis has FedEx backing it, while Tulane is a wealthier university and both are far closer in DNA to SMU than UConn.

With all this conference realignment happening has there been any power conference expansion in the Northeast in the past decade?

Unfortunately, most of UConn's games last year were on CBSSN, SECN, and ACCN and those networks aren't rated. If you look at rated games over the past few seasons, here are the numbers:

517k UConn/Utah St.
2.07 million UConn/Michigan
322k. UConn/UCF
742k Navy/UConn

UConn is a much bigger TV brand than SMU/Memphis/Tulane. To put things in perspective, UConn/Providence men's basketball had 817k viewers and UConn/Marquette had 523k viewers last season. And, do you remember when ESPN put the AAC members in 2 tiers based on media value? UConn was in tier A and SMU/Memphis/Tulane/USF were in tier B.

 

[billybud]

Conference expansion...what seems to be most important..to P2

1: Football success
2: TV ratings
3: academics

If it was just research dollars...both Cal and Stanford would have been the first Big Ten adds.

Rivalry may be a coincidence, or not...but USC-UCLA...Oregon-Washington....Texas-Oklahoma....

For a non P2 like the ACC...survival. Spread the footprint, maintain payout to present members....mine for more interest than games between Duke, Wake, BC, and Syracuse bring.

 

[billybud]

I do wonder that with streaming...whether teams that can drive streaming subscriptions will be more valued....if they bring eyeballs. Heretofore, it was only football considered in determining viewership/value.

The change in paradigm could be impactful for basketball programs that folks will stream.

 

[Kolumbo]

I looked up SMU's TV ratings for 2023 and they were not good. No wonder they are getting zero media dollars from the ACC as they are clearly not worth much. The problem with adding them to the ACC is that if the TV contract has to be renegotiated after 2027 and FSU and Clemson leave, SMU massively dilutes the media value of the conference. Ten of their games were rated and five of them had TV viewers of 76k or less. Their highest rated game was on a Friday night on ESPN2 (no competition) against North Texas which had 618k viewers. The next 2 highest rated games were Thursday night games. Here are the games and the ratings:

72k Louisiana Tech/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
269k SMU/TCU FS1 Saturday noon
18k Charlotte/SMU ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
467k SMU/ECU ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
548k SMU/Temple ESPN Thursday 7:30 PM
33k Tulsa/SMU ESPNU Saturday noon
29k SMU/Rice ESPNU Saturday 7:30 PM
618k North Texas/SMU ESPN2 Friday 9 PM
276k SMU/Memphis ESPN2 Saturday noon
76k Navy/SMU ESPN2 Saturday noon

Total viewers for 10 games = 2.4 million. In comparison, Northwestern/Rutgers drew 2.7 million viewers.

Point taken. At the same time, a large factor for the ratings is the AAC vs the ACC. SMU vs FSU, Clemson, Miami, Duke, UNC etc is automatically going to be much higher. And if SMU is competitive in the ACC, the brand will continue to grow. UConn has a much steeper hill to climb but has the same hope.

 

[Forte]

Point taken. At the same time, a large factor for the ratings is the AAC vs the ACC. SMU vs FSU, Clemson, Miami, Duke, UNC etc is automatically going to be much higher. And if SMU is competitive in the ACC, the brand will continue to grow. UConn has a much steeper hill to climb but has the same hope.

The undeniable fact is that UConn has a MUCH higher ceiling than many of the sought-after programs or even existing members of Power conferences. Power conference status would significantly increase the probability but given the current scenario it's hard to see UConn accomplishing that among the G5's since G5's also have a geographical footprint in rich recruiting regions. The potential is there and I really don't see it as that much of a risk given some of the programs already in Power conferences.

 

[billybud]

You must be talking basketball...

For 2023...High School Football America ranked the top 100 high school teams....

Florida is the most powerful state in the nation with 19 teams in the HSFA 100. Eight of those teams are in the Top 25.

California finishes a strong second with 16 Top 100 teams. Georgia places 13 teams in the national rankings, followed by Texas with a dozen.

 

[CJasmer]

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Stanford as an institution as part of this process. This makes absolutely no sense for them other than as a money grab which they don’t need. I could probably understand football-only since they have no conference at this point. Strange times

Unfortunately, most of UConn's games last year were on CBSSN, SECN, and ACCN and those networks aren't rated. If you look at rated games over the past few seasons, here are the numbers:

517k UConn/Utah St.
2.07 million UConn/Michigan
322k. UConn/UCF
742k Navy/UConn

UConn is a much bigger TV brand than SMU/Memphis/Tulane. To put things in perspective, UConn/Providence men's basketball had 817k viewers and UConn/Marquette had 523k viewers last season. And, do you remember when ESPN put the AAC members in 2 tiers based on media value? UConn was in tier A and SMU/Memphis/Tulane/USF were in tier B.

Throw out Michigan game. Ratings are being driven by Michigan fans. My guess is most UConn football games last year had perhaps 100k to 200k numbers. Games with highest ratings would have been Tenn and NC State.

 

[kibblesnbits]

What were UConn's in comparison? By the way, Tulane and Memphis are shoo-ins for the next ACC invites—bank on it. Both have better TV markets and southern football culture. Memphis has FedEx backing it, while Tulane is a wealthier university and both are far closer in DNA to SMU than UConn.

With all this conference realignment happening has there been any power conference expansion in the Northeast in the past decade?

Tulane? Yes, New Orleans is a decent TV market and an outstanding LSU football market, but who is watching Tulane in football, much less any other sport? The ACC made that mistake with BC (and to a lesser extent, Syracuse) by assuming the primary private school in a major market brings eyeballs. Even ignoring competition with the state U, I'll bet Tulane wouldn't get a higher rating in its home market opposite virtually any SEC game - maybe if they were playing FSU or Clemson (which wouldn't happen because if FSU and Clemson are still in the ACC then Tulane isn't getting in) and the competition was Vandy against Mizzou or SC, but that's about it.

 

[billybud]

It is about match ups that drive viewer interest...markets may not be a major play in.

 

[billybud]

It is my thought that the big media are going to attempt to have match ups that will have viewership of 3 million… or more.

Matches that will pull less will be shuffled off to Venu and other streaming options.

 

[Rufus]

Cal, Stanford ready for cross-country flights for ACC games after Pac-12 breakup

Stanford and California are ready for the challenges that will come with cross-country travel for football games in their new Atlantic Coast Conference home this fall.

www.cbsnews.com