Georgia Tech: the lynchpin

[whaler11]

B/c they firmly believe 16 is the minimum and they dont want divisions of 7 teams; not to mention they were concerned about the eastern flank, and adding 2 schools was not the end, but the start. 14 is not an end.

I guess we define HAVE differently. They don't have to do anything based on division size or the fantasy of eastern flanks.

 

[housekeys]

It's very simple...the lynchpin is....Maryland.

Once that case is settled, we'll have another round of CR. UConn should be in a "top 5" conference by 2015. So if everything plays out as it should UConn won't miss a beat... financially speaking

I agree. The CR game is one of punch and counter punch. But something is different this time around. The punches are not free and the punching bag is no longer the BE. The B1G going after the ACC has raised the stakes and now we are talking about exit fees rumored to be 30-50 million? The Maryland decision will be a watershed event and determine the pace and direction of CR. This is probably what JC was referring to.

 

[whaler11]

i still think end game the sec quietly has eyes on ohio and penn as states it wants acess and cable boxes in. i think the sec is looking for war with the b10.

That would be a great war... But Ohio State leaving the Big 10? PSU leaving for an academic wasteland?

 

[Fishy]

That would be a great war... But Ohio State leaving the Big 10? PSU leaving for an academic wasteland?

That's delusional even by his imbecilic standards.

The SEC and Big Ten, if anything, would get more done by having a fantasy draft to decide who gets who out of the ACC.

 

[B1GEast]

UNC holds all the cards. They can go wherever they want whenever they want. Georgia Tech isn't really in danger of being left out.

UNC can go anywhere they want, but they'll never have the same pull in the SEC or Big10, I think they just enjoy having their ego stroked.

 

[jdb50]

So the Pac 12 is going to just sit? The Big12 is a fat Wildebeast and the B1G, SEC and Pac12 are the Hyenas. I think we should practice our affirmative response... OK everybuddy... Buns UP! Hope we're noticed.

 

[JeepCSC]

Pac won't move unless it gets who it tried to get a few years ago, Texas (and whoever it takes to bring Texas in). The fact is the Big 12 has no great targets outside Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. It is why it was so easy to get a GOR, everyone else knows they are looking at Mountain West if the thing explodes. Texas' ego, and their unwillingness to budge on their network, is the only thing holding the league together.

 

[upstater]

Why does the Big 10 'have' to move?

Because there's a grand plan that doesn't make sense if you stop at Rutgers and Maryland. Because their contract expires in 2015, and they have to figure out a way to move enough content to BTN while satisfying Fox and ESPN at the same time. They need two ACC teams to make everything work, and they need them in the next 2 years.

 

[upstater]

The only place those 8 teams can come from are the Big East and ACC in your
scenario. There is no way they are ever 9th on the list.

They don't wake up one morning and everyone is gone. The idea that NCSU or UNC or VPI or Virginia can move in a vacuum is ridiculous. They can't move on a whim, the North Carolina state legislature got involved to make NCSU play friggin ECU in football.

Miami, VT, UVa, NCSt, Duke, UNC, Clemson, FSU, Miami = 9 > GT

GT is 10th on the list, not 9th, and forget about 8th. Move them ahead of Duke and Miami if you will, but I would not count on that.

 

[upstater]

I'd prefer it was. You seem to infer that if GT doesn't move now they are screwed. Well where can they move today?

I didn't say what you wrote. I said they are the lynchpin, the team that will unlock the secrets of the universe. They will move first.

 

[upstater]

Virginia seems to be a better linchpin. If Virginia moves, then the Big 10 can move farther south. They won't take Georgia Tech on an island. Virginia will probably have to move first.

I see Virginia and GTech moving. But GT moves first. UVa won't move until they see the UVa or UNC scenario in stark terms. The B1G will be bold to accomplish what it wants.

 

[upstater]

UNC can go anywhere they want, but they'll never have the same pull in the SEC or Big10, I think they just enjoy having their ego stroked.

Exactly. This is why they don't have to move and why they will sit back and watch. When it looks like GTech and UVa are on the go, only then will they pick up the phone.

 

[JeepCSC]

Big 10 won't take Georgia Tech until it gets Virginia. GT can say yes, but if Virginia says no, I think it is moot. Georgia Tech is too far of an outlier to take if the Big 10 can get no one else. They aren't the Big XII, throwing together some make-shift conference just because. So Virginia is the main factor I think in all this. Georgia Tech, while a blow, would not kill the ACC in the same way Virginia would. An original member that has strong ties to several ACC schools, in particular UNC and one of the football powers in VPI, Virginia is one of the faces of the ACC. Lose them, and the whole thing becomes undone.

 

[upstater]

Big 10 won't take Georgia Tech until it gets Virginia. GT can say yes, but if Virginia says no, I think it is moot. Georgia Tech is too far of an outlier to take if the Big 10 can get no one else. They aren't the Big XII, throwing together some make-shift conference just because. So Virginia is the main factor I think in all this.

This is why I call GTech the lynchpin.

Because, by definition, it's the one you choose to destabilize the conference. Georgia Tech goes, and that's when you get Virginia.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

It's hilarious to me...karma is a b!tch!

Destabilizing the Big East was very much to the ACC's advantage.

Now, destabilizing the ACC is very much to the B1G's advantage.

Can't say I'm not a little tickled by this...

 

[JeepCSC]

I edited above, but my point remains. You could take Georgia Tech and nothing could happen. Georgia Tech isn't an original member, isn't overflowing with strong ties to other schools, is in all respects a mid-level ACC program. I could imagine the other schools taking the loss and moving on. It may shake things up, because honestly all instability has the potential for large ramifications, but I don't think it necessarily follows. Virginia is different. You lose that, and suddenly UNC lost one of it's top rivals, VPI lost it's main tie to the ACC, and the ACC lost one of it's big powerbrokers. Big 10 takes GT first, and they might have a shot at another school, or they may not. Big 10 takes Virginia first, and then all of a sudden UNC perhaps opens up.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The B1G is all about TV. Hence Rutgers and Maryland. They are not looking at Oklahoma and Kansas etc. Forget about that.

I agree that the ACC is best as it is. The problem, however, is that any move dooms Georgia Tech if they don't move first.

I called this the UConn principle a while back. You'd be foolish to risk your school's bank account on the hope that the ACC sticks together. FSU, UNC, UVa don't have to worry. All the other schools do, especially Georgia Tech.

But those states are growing rapidly. KU and OU are land bridges to Texas and Colorado, two of the fastest growing states in the country. By the way, OKC is one of the fastest growing cities, and even Kansas is growing much faster than say, Connecticut. Delany needs eyeballs, but he also is intent on fixing his demographics problem.

 

[upstater]

I edited above, but my point remains. You could take Georgia Tech and nothing could happen. Georgia Tech isn't an original member, isn't overflowing with strong ties to other schools, is in all respects a mid-level ACC program. I could imagine the other schools taking the loss and moving on. It may shake things up, because honestly all instability has the potential for large ramifications, but I don't think it necessarily follows. Virginia is different. You lose that, and suddenly UNC lost one of it's top rivals, VPI lost it's main tie to the ACC, and the ACC lost one of it's big powerbrokers. Big 10 takes GT first, and they might have a shot at another school, or they may not. Big 10 takes Virginia first, and then all of a sudden UNC perhaps opens up.

Virginia would have to have massive stones to sit there, when there is one spot open in the B1G, and sneer at it. What if UNC takes that spot? Does Virginia then call the B1G and say, please add us and Duke? Us and VT? Us and whoever, hell UConn?! They become the next domino.

 

[upstater]

But those states are growing rapidly. KU and OU are land bridges to Texas and Colorado, two of the fastest growing states in the country. By the way, OKC is one of the fastest growing cities, and even Kansas is growing much faster than say, Connecticut. Delany needs eyeballs, but he also is intent on fixing his demographics problem.

I've been to Oklahoma. You'd be shocked if you ever go. Really shocked. My jaw dropped as I was being driven around. Here is what I saw. A lot of red clay. A lot of yellow grass. A lot of shacks. A lot of McMansions. And a whole lotta nothing.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

There are towns in Kansas and Oklahoma who will give a young married couple a house for free if they promise to move there.

The middle of this country is a large, empty wasteland.

 

[JeepCSC]

Virginia is not a school dominated by athletics. I think they could go to the Big 10, but I don't think that decision would be based on Georgia Tech and some weird game of chicken the B10 would be playing. And if the Big 10 takes Georgia Tech 10 hours away from their next-closest member, I think it would be understood there wouldn't be 1 more spot open, that the Big 10 is prepared to go to 20. Virginia is a power-broker at the ACC with strong ties. Lose that, and the whole ball of wax comes undone. Georgia Tech doesn't have that much pull.

 

[Point6]

I think its FSU and has to be SEC or B1G. I think B1G is most likely to invite, and that could start dominos falling. I think B1G can sell FSU internally as a southern outpost (like Miami in BE in early days) but not sure they can sell GT internally the same way. They may take GT too but, in my opinion, not as a solo. GT would need a partner. I think FSU would take the deal for the cash. I don't see any of the traditional ACC schools (a.k.a, UNC, UVA) being the first to leave. If FSU goes then all bets are off and the other schools head for the door.

 

[upstater]

Virginia is not a school dominated by athletics. I think they could go to the Big 10, but I don't think that decision would be based on Georgia Tech and some weird game of chicken the B10 would be playing. And if the Big 10 takes Georgia Tech 10 hours away from their next-closest member, I think it would be understood there wouldn't be 1 more spot open, that the Big 10 is prepared to go to 20. Virginia is a power-broker at the ACC with strong ties. Lose that, and the whole ball of wax comes undone. Georgia Tech doesn't have that much pull.

It's because it is NOT dominated by athletics that the decision to take the money would be so enticing, especially since the flipside of that coin is losing more money than they make now. The backdrop of all of this is that the state leg. is cutting lots of funding to U. Virginia (recall the backlash when the President resigned last year). The B1G would stop adding at 16 unless UNC comes calling. Only way they go to 18 is if UNC prefers the B1G to the SEC.

 

[tzznandrew]

Miami, VT, UVa, NCSt, Duke, UNC, Clemson, FSU, Miami = 9 > GT

GT is 10th on the list, not 9th, and forget about 8th. Move them ahead of Duke and Miami if you will, but I would not count on that.

You've got Miami on your list twice. I would say this list begins with UNC and UVa.

Then it depends on what you are looking for: if you want football excellence above all else, VT, Clemson, FSU. Miami, due to history comes above them. But not NCSt or Duke. That makes GT 6.

If you are concerned with markets? GT is next (3), unless you need Duke to get UNC, in which case GT is 4.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I've been to Oklahoma. You'd be shocked if you ever go. Really shocked. My jaw dropped as I was being driven around. Here is what I saw. A lot of red clay. A lot of yellow grass. A lot of shacks. A lot of McMansions. And a whole lotta nothing.

I've been several times (I did go to law school at Kansas). Nothing shocking. Tulsa is much nicer by the way, more wooded, rolling hills. OKC is pretty much the start of the southwest. But it is one of fastest growing. And Texas has the top three. Denver is on the list as well.