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Message: [QUOTE="dwalks93, post: 1682724, member: 5598"] [QUOTE="billybud, post: 1682563, member: 3850" But I am a southerner. As much as I enjoyed beating Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, and Indiana, these OOC games felt more like bowls. I do not like the loss of geographic meaningfulness. That's why I despise the lumping of Syracuse, Boston, Pitt, et al in the ACC. Rivalries are built on a certain proximity...neighboring states or within state. Ohio State- Michigan, FSU-Florida, FSU-Miami, Alabama-Auburn.... Is beating Florida or Miami a hell of a lot more important than beating any one else on the schedule? You bet.[/QUOTE] Billybud I completely agree with your assessment regarding rivalries and conference realignment. It is the proximity and rivalries which makes college sports great. IMO the big loser throughout conference realignment has been the fans. Conference realignment was never about improving the games for the fans or even improving the competitiveness. Dumb fans will scream "football drove realignment" without understanding it is really the money driving realignment and there just happens to be more money in football. All that said, the most predatory of all the conferences has been the ACC. The ACC ripped apart the natural rivalries in the NE without regards to the programs or fans. And yes, the Big East programs were stupid to not stick together but it was the ACC which systemically dismantled the BE. To use an analogy, the ACC killed the parents (Big East) and separated the kids, allowing some to be rescued and dooming the rest to life alone and separated. Listening to ACC fans now complain about potentially losing their rivalries is the ultimate hypocrisy. Did the ACC care about Syracuse-UConn when they blew up the BE? No but suddenly the prospect of losing UNC-Duke is an outrage? Losing FSU-Miami may seem an outrage to fans in Florida but I am sure to the fans of WVU-Pitt "the backyard brawl" is an equally huge loss. The ACC was a true invader and it would be poetic justice if they lose critical programs from a similar invasion. It is hard to play the victim when one was first the assailant. I am just perplexed that fans in the ACC never considered what their conference was doing to other schools until the shoe was on the other foot. The problem with starting a war in a neighboring country is it eventually spills over the border. I don't think the ACC will receive a lot of sympathy on the BY as we've watched what the ACC did to UConn and our rivalries. Separating the ACC from its fans, I do feel sorry for the ACC fans. They deserve better than what they will probably get. But "deserve" has nothing to do with this...this is about money. FSU will be fine and may even further prosper but it probably won't be with all its former rivals. Sadly this is the new world of college sports and there is no going back. [/QUOTE]

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