The UofL, UConn, UC rumor

[OkaForPrez]

The rumor of all three going to the ACC has had a couple of interesting nuggets.

You have Cronin's comments that UC is in the BigEast until at least Monday.

http://post original url/VausdLzq

You have the Miami Booster who tweeted sorry Bull nation indicating USF is getting really screwed.

“@unclelukereal1: I'm sorry to Bull Nation”

I know the first criticism on this is that it hinders ND from going full football, but if there are two more schools already locked in loaded to leave the ACC than this scenario makes sense.

The Cinci noise started after the ACCs last conference call with another scheduled for Monday. I'm ready to buy this rumor. We shall see.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The most important validation for the Cincinnati, Louisville, UConn rumor is the Tallahassee Democrat writer who posted it, then took it down.

The Miami booster quote is actually about a high school football team, and I don't know if Cronin actually said that his program was in the Big East at least until Monday.

 

[husky91]

FSU, Clem approve this?

 

[whaler11]

The Cronin quote came from the Cincinnati 247 writer, so it seems like he said it. But Cronin has said a lot of ridiculous things in the last few months.

 

[SAMCRO]

The tweet from Luther Campbell (uncleluke) was about Miami Northwestern HS (Bulls) losing to Miami Central in the FL state playoffs first round.

 

[Jericho]

It all started out of Tallahassee (where FSU is located) when a local reported tweeted it. Since he was a reporter and not some West Virginia crackpot, people at least gave it some credibility. The tweet spread pretty quickly, but then was also quickly removed. It suggested one of two things: (1) the info was false; or (2) the info was not supposed to be leaked. You can choose which one you prefer to believe. Most of the talks since then basically comes from that one source.

As to the ACC, I can understand the logic of a move. But I can also understand the reasons not to make it. Academics has always been big for the ACC and neither Louisville or Cincinnati really measure up. However, the mere fact Louisville is even in discussion with UConn for a spot means at least some in the ACC are willing to look past the academics. Maybe because the conference feels threatened for the first time? I don't know. If you want to squint hard enough, you can argue that both Louisville and Cincy are schools on the rise. Both have been moving from more traditional "local" schools to broader state or even multi-state level schools. Neither are the flagship universities for their states, but both could be the "Michigan State" or "Virginia Techs" of their respective states, a secondary major public university. For example, Cincy has been really increasing their research for a while now. That would help it fit in with the ACC. The geography also works. Having some presence in Ohio helps recruiting (both in terms of football and basketball) and would actually make the ACC contiguous again (along with Kentucky, which hasn't been true since BC joined). But it's still pretty speculative at this stage. I'm sure we'll know more on Monday.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I personally will be stunned if the ACC adds UL & Cincy (with one caveat: that this is done with UVA and possibly UNC out the door).

 

[CAHUSKY]

The tweet from Luther Campbell (uncleluke) was about Miami Northwestern HS (Bulls) losing to Miami Central in the FL state playoffs first round.

Interestingly, Uncle Luke is actually now the defensive coordinator at Miami northwesten after a legal battle to reject him on moral grounds

 

[Excalibur]

If you believe that FSU's promise to stay if UL is added is hollow, then the move to add all three makes a little bit of sense. Still, if you're the ACC, why not just wait until FSU follows through on the lie?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Jeremy Fowler from CBS claimed that all the remaining Big East football schools were in discussions with the Big East about a week ago. At the time, I thought it was your typically expansion story/non-story stating the obvious, but he may have meant that those discussions were more than just "please let us in".

I don't think anyone bothers to call up the Tallahassee Democrat to tell them some expansion rumor he tweeted is false. Who would care enough to do that? He is still going to take a hit if he is wrong, so that ship has already sailed, and what new information would he have received from the time he posted the first tweet to taking it down that would lead him to believe it was definitely "false"? Why not just amend the tweet?

I think the TD writer was breaking a story and FSU told him to STFU.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If you believe that FSU's promise to stay if UL is added is hollow, then the move to add all three makes a little bit of sense. Still, if you're the ACC, why not just wait until FSU follows through on the lie?

I don't think FSU cares at all about Louisville, and if they did, yesterday's performance would put an end to that fight. FSU cares about getting paid first, and football second. Louisville and Cincinnati would complement VTech, Clemson and FSU and provide five programs that could be perennially ranked, so that covers football. The bigger issue is the cash.

My prediction: I think ESPN is going to cut the ACC a deal where 1) each school gets another $2-3MM a year to get them to $19 to $20 each, and 2) the schools keep their Tier 3 and get a minimum number of games for Tier 3, but ESPN has right of first refusal for broadcasting those games. That will get schools like FSU and UNC an extra $10MM/year while leaving the Wake's and BCU's around $19 or $20MM. ESPN gets to pay the schools it needs to pay without paying everyone.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm agnostic on this. I still think UConn is sitting pretty, but the official papers are being held up.

But if you really believe that the ACC is facing a simultaneous raid from the SEC, Big 12 and B1G then the ACC's hierarchy of needs has shifted dramatically.

Instead of domination, the ACC is now focused on self preservation. If FSU and Clemson insist on Louisville then that pisses off a few other schools. But if they add three schools is that a compromise that works for anyone? Who knows?

And this points to what Frank the Tank has been suggesting, which is that the ACC has completely changed its mentality.

 

[jostar1]

Since he was a reporter and not some West Virginia crackpot, people at least gave it some credibility. The tweet spread pretty quickly, but then was also quickly removed. It suggested one of two things: (1) the info was false; or (2) the info was not supposed to be leaked.

Or he became unsure if it were true or not, had second thoughts, and did not want to risk his own credibility. That doesn't mean that it was false, just that he couldn't confirm that it was true.

 

[auggie22]

I cannot imagine that the addition of three schools would mean anything but the acc is losing at least two more schools. The part that makes me anxious is guessing which two - and to where.

Bad - welcome back to the old, new big east quickly when the dust settles
UVA, ga tech to the b1g?
UVA, unc to the b1g?
+ Sec/big twelve swoops in for the best of the rest

Not good - we will constantly be looking over our shoulders for the other shoe (UVA/unc) to drop
Fla state, ga tech/clemson to big 12?
Va tech/nc state to sec?

Maybe, eventually good - or the worst possible scenario I can imagine (bc, cuse to b1g)
Unc, va tech to sec?
Unc, UVA to sec?

There really are not many good outcomes for us if this occurs, but I suppose they are all but one better than the status quo.

 

[Waquoit]

You mean Luther Campbell is still alive?

 

[gars44]

I'm agnostic on this. I still think UConn is sitting pretty, but the official papers are being held up.

But if you really believe that the ACC is facing a simultaneous raid from the SEC, Big 12 and B1G then the ACC's hierarchy of needs has shifted dramatically.

Instead of domination, the ACC is now focused on self preservation. If FSU and Clemson insist on Louisville then that pisses off a few other schools. But if they add three schools is that a compromise that works for anyone? Who knows?

And this points to what Frank the Tank has been suggesting, which is that the ACC has completely changed its mentality.

Zoo, if the ACC wants to have its own network, BB will play a huge part in it - if it controls the NYC/Northeast demographic. It can do it with the old BE schools: ND, Pitt, Syr, Louie, Cincy, and Uconn together with the ACC powers. They can use the basketball to market the network for football and everything else. Model it after the BTN with BB as the calling card. That would explain Cincy, Ville and Uconn as a package deal.

 

[ZooCougar]

Zoo, if the ACC wants to have its own network, BB will play a huge part in it - if it controls the NYC/Northeast demographic. It can do it with the old BE schools: ND, Pitt, Syr, Louie, Cincy, and Uconn together with the ACC powers. They can use the basketball to market the network for football and everything else. Model it after the BTN with BB as the calling card. That would explain Cincy, Ville and Uconn as a package deal.

That may be getting ahead of things. If you are in self preservation mode, you may not be wondering about a network.

There are probably zero people in the world who really know what is happening from the perspective of every conference and school in question. Piecing it together is a fool's errand.

 

[Jericho]

That may be getting ahead of things. If you are in self preservation mode, you may not be wondering about a network.

Although not the only method, starting a network would be a great solution to self preservation.

 

[nomar]

You think this story couldn't get any weirder and then this guy is named as a source

 

[upstater]

Zoo, if the ACC wants to have its own network, BB will play a huge part in it - if it controls the NYC/Northeast demographic. It can do it with the old BE schools: ND, Pitt, Syr, Louie, Cincy, and Uconn together with the ACC powers. They can use the basketball to market the network for football and everything else. Model it after the BTN with BB as the calling card. That would explain Cincy, Ville and Uconn as a package deal.

The BB side gets ignored too often because people want to repeat "football drives the bus" ad nauseam. The fact is, the tourney alone is worth $700 million, that's what the networks pay. But that amount is distributed in so many different ways, that people have concluded it doesn't matter.

If the football schools break off into superconferences, they might be shocked to see what happens with that money and who gets it. The ACC is this close to creating a basketball superconference. A conference that will draw anyone who is anyone in high school basketball. It will be where you go prior to the NBA. Cutthroat. It's simply dumb to look past one's nose at the amount of money that might be made by a clearly dominant conference.

Effectively, if you take the 2 most powerful conferences of the last 3 decades and combine them, what do you have?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Bearcat's Scout board moderator is adamant that he has a very strong source that confirms Cincinnati is headed to ACC. This is actually someone that has something to lose by being wrong, since he has some paying subscribers who could be pissed off if he gets this wrong.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=341&f=2608&t=10728027&p=2

Maybe the 3 schools to the ACC rumor is true.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Bearcat's Scout board moderator is adamant that he has a very strong source that confirms Cincinnati is headed to ACC. This is actually someone that has something to lose by being wrong, since he has some paying subscribers who could be pissed off if he gets this wrong.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=341&f=2608&t=10728027&p=2

To be fair he's already wrong on the info so at this point all he can do is double down. The timing might indicate that a vote did take place yesterday morning in the alleged conference call. I would sign up for a UVA, GT departure and a three team add w a GOR to strengthen the remaining bonds.

Maybe the 3 schools to the ACC rumor is true.

 

[UConnDan97]

Bearcat's Scout board moderator is adamant that he has a very strong source that confirms Cincinnati is headed to ACC. This is actually someone that has something to lose by being wrong, since he has some paying subscribers who could be pissed off if he gets this wrong.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=341&f=2608&t=10728027&p=2

Maybe the 3 schools to the ACC rumor is true.

It makes sense to me to take all three, from a product standpoint. The question is; does it make sense from a tv standpoint (since that is all that has ever mattered). That's hard for me to say, but I guess we'll find out what the ACC thinks about it relatively soon...

 

[tzznandrew]

This rumor only makes sense in these scenarios:

• ACC expects to lose at least one more member.
• ACC thinks the endgame is 18
• ACC is willing to go to 18

Because there needs to be space for the ND that will never show up, but keeps suggesting that maybe it will.

 

[freescooter]

The BB side gets ignored too often because people want to repeat "football drives the bus" ad nauseam.

The most successful basketball program of the past 30 years or so is being left effectively praying for its life with the prospect that it might be left with only its hockey program in a major national conference. Consider that and then tell me how important basketball is to the equation.