Is there a worse BCS conference in America than the Atlantic Coast Conference? You'd be hard pressed to prove that one comes close. Yes, I know, Wake Forest beat UConn, supposedly the second best team in the Big East, but at this point in the season, an argument can be made that Wake just might be the 3rd or so best team in the ACC, so it's not like an ACC lightweight (and I use that term relatively here) beat a Big East heavyweight.

Take into account the ACC hasn't won a BCS bowl since Florida State's win in the Sugar Bowl in 2000, following the 1999 season. No ACC team besides Florida State has won one of the big bowls, which I'll include the Cotton, at least thru 1994, as a part of, since Clemson won the 1982 Orange Bowl. Granted, this could be somewhat skewered by the fact that the 1990 National Champion Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets played in the Citrus Bowl while Virginia accepted an early invite to the Sugar. Even so, it's been over 25 years since a team from the ACC not named Florida State has won a BCS bowl. Can you be any more putrid than that?

So why does the ACC have an automatic berth in the BCS? What has the league done to deserve it? The only bit of credibility the ACC has on the football stage no longer exists, that credibility being the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles descension to mediocrity, and ascension into a program full of off-field scandals has the ACC with absolutely no program to hang their hat on. It's not bad enough that for the duration of the 90's and the early part of this decade they were a one team league, now they've become a zero team league.

When the ACC snatched Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College away from the Big East it was supposed to signify the ACC's coming of age, and becoming a power conference. These additions were supposed to drasticaly alter the landscape of college football. Well, those additions did alter the landscape of college football, but certainly not in the manner the ACC and it's presidents and its schools had hoped. While the Big East has won a BCS game in each of the past three years (beating the SEC, ACC, and Big XII champions in doing so) the ACC is still searching for it's first BCS win since January 4, 2000. Just imagine how bad this league would be without Boston College and Virginia Tech. Who would have been ACC champions this year? Clemson? Wake Forest again?

While Wake Forest was a nice story last year, there is a reason you don't see many stories like that in college football. It's that in the majority of major conferences, for the majority of seasons, the play within the conference is at too high of a level for such a team to shock everyone and win the conference. While they may pull off a shocker or two over the course of the year, being able to do so over the course of an entire season just proves too difficult. Take Kentucky in the SEC for example. They had a team very much like Wake Forest last year, but yet, in each of the last two seasons they've played in second or third tier bowls because of the level of play of the conference they call home. Were they in the ACC, they'd probably have been to Jacksonville at least once in the past two seasons.

So while West Virginia was off thumping the Big XII champion in the Fiesta Bowl, Virgina Tech was losing to a team who didn't even qualify for the Big XII championship game. While the final score of that game said the Hokies lost by just three points, Kansas really dominated that football game. Just as Louisville dominated Wake Forest the year before.

The ACC champion hasn't finished the year ranked higher than 10th since Florida State was in the top 5 following their loss to Oklahoma in the national championship game following the 2000 season. That was the last time an ACC team finished in the top 5.

So why does this league have an automatic berth in the BCS? What have they done to deserve it? The league champion of the ACC time and time again comes up short in comparisons to the champions of the other BCS conferences, so why do they deserve to have this champion guaranteed a spot among the nation's elite bowl games? It's clear that the ACC champion isn't among the nation's elite teams.

Something else to think about is this: Florida State's win in that Sugar Bowl came against Virginia Tech, now a member of the ACC. Just a bit of irony that only adds to the gloom and doom that is ACC football.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/5829-...edy-040108

Here's the truth of the matter...

The raid on the Big East was not to form a superconference as advertised, it was to give life support to a BCS league in trouble. Things haven't changed significantly for them since then.

It's a little like watering a sick tree and getting marginal results. The new Big East, while still a sapling in some respects, is vibrant and budding.

I'm convinced that both BE bowl opponents Wake and Oregon were both much better than their records suggest. People forget that 1-2 of their losses occurred when Skinner was injured. I admit I was rather oblivious to that when picking UConn. I figured that one would be close, and it was, despite the disappointing 2nd half.

Oregon had a long time to adjust to a backup QB, so I knew it would be tougher than people thought. Even still, I was expecting a close one.

That's what I hate about football. You never know how well these conferences stack up with one another until bowl season, because there are hardly any big time OOC matchups preseason.

CardFan636 Wrote:Here's the truth of the matter...

The raid on the Big East was not to form a superconference as advertised, it was to give life support to a BCS league in trouble. Things haven't changed significantly for them since then.

It's a little like watering a sick tree and getting marginal results. The new Big East, while still a sapling in some respects, is vibrant and budding.

All the ACC did is prune off some diseased branches from the tree that is The BEast, and we are healthier for it.

bitcruncher Wrote:

CardFan636 Wrote:Here's the truth of the matter...

The raid on the Big East was not to form a superconference as advertised, it was to give life support to a BCS league in trouble. Things haven't changed significantly for them since then.

It's a little like watering a sick tree and getting marginal results. The new Big East, while still a sapling in some respects, is vibrant and budding.

All the ACC did is prune off some diseased branches from the tree that is The BEast, and we are healthier for it.

And, as much as I hate them, I'd take back all three programs in a heart-beat.

Not likely to happen, obviously, particularly VT, but BC and Miami would be the perfect fit for a split 10 team BEast - giving Syracuse and USF natural rivalries.

Cheers,
Neil

Screw Miami. Let the ACC keep 'em. I'd welcome VT and BC back. But Miami was always the b@stard stepchild in The BEast.

Larry Coker ran Miami into the ground. VaTech lost to a great team. UNC will be better next year, I am thinking 7-8 wins. BC and Wake both had great years. This is not comedy. Duke football is comedy. NC State not producing on the field is mind boggeling. Clemson is solid. FSU, well I don't even know. I thought they were on the rebound. I don't know why you guys are so fixated on the ACC. We are not your rivals. Why aren't you constantly dissing Penn State for giving your conference the cold shoulder. Oh wait, because you rejected them first. Don't blame the ACC for snagging two teams in our footprint. BC is not a public school, they don't bring the Boston market much more than Boston U. Quit hating.

I don't hate the ACC. I just love to see them do bad.

And if you have to ask why, that tells me volumes about the value of a North Carolina education.

Yea yea, too bad WV doesn't border the Atlantic or we would be on a different board talking!

esayem Wrote:Yea yea, too bad WV doesn't border the Atlantic or we would be on a different board talking!

Don't use location as an excuse. Syracuse doesn't border the Atlantic and that was the first choice of the geniuses Swofford and Shalyla. Imagine if they had gotten what they wanted originally. Imagine VT wanted to join the ACC because they didn't want to be the best team in a struggling conference and now they are the best team in a struggling conference.

I'm happy to see people are questioning the ACC auto bid. I guess sometimes the fate you try to impose on others befalls you. I'm lovin it. But I guess tradition will keep the bid alive for the ACC.

I don't think we take VT, BC or UM back. Truth is VT seems like they will eventually win a BCS game but so will Cincy and USF. BC has to be begging to come back to the BE. Being an insignificant part of a southern conference must really suck. BC will never sell out the conference title game. And Oh, yea, lets talk a little about Swofford's million dollar title game. Well, that's enough said about that.

When I told people USF would be bigger than Miami I was laughed off these boards. Who's laughing now.

I haven't figured it out completely, but I honestly believe the powerful SEC is the ACC's biggest problem. I can't understand how you can have the best and worse FB conference operating out of the same geographic footprint. I'm not surprised the BE is this good but dawg, who would have thought the ACC would be so bad?

Well I guess New YOrk, the tip with manhattan island, borders the Atlantic so Syracuse would have fit the cost conference. Well, what you gonna do now ACC? I don't think Swofford is in a position to raid anyone again. I hope the ACC continues to lose its BCS game and the BE continues to win its BCS game. BOOYA!

North Carolina didn't want WVU when the ACC was founded either. They would have had to settle for 2nd place in basketball at that time because WVU was dominant in the old Southern Conference that all ACC schools were once members of. That didn't sit well.

esayem Wrote:Larry Coker ran Miami into the ground. VaTech lost to a great team. UNC will be better next year, I am thinking 7-8 wins. BC and Wake both had great years. This is not comedy. Duke football is comedy. NC State not producing on the field is mind boggeling. Clemson is solid. FSU, well I don't even know. I thought they were on the rebound. I don't know why you guys are so fixated on the ACC. We are not your rivals. Why aren't you constantly dissing Penn State for giving your conference the cold shoulder. Oh wait, because you rejected them first. Don't blame the ACC for snagging two teams in our footprint. BC is not a public school, they don't bring the Boston market much more than Boston U. Quit hating.

I'm from the state of North Carolina, and I can tell you both State and UNC fans are good at "announcing" how good they will be in football...see above "I am thinking 7-8 wins". All schools have an abundance of fans that tend to speak from their heart. Both State and UNC can be very good programs, but they need to prove it ...consistently.

RIFRAF Wrote:I'm from the state of North Carolina, and I can tell you both State and UNC fans are good at "announcing" how good they will be in football...see above "I am thinking 7-8 wins". All schools have an abundance of fans that tend to speak from their heart. Both State and UNC can be very good programs, but they need to prove it ...consistently.

:iagree: :ncaabbs::ncaabbs:

ECU Pirate

It is so nice to see the All Criminal Conference having bad times. Especially the arrogant A---oles from unc and ncsu. I am sure this is somewhat of a phase, we can only hope that it is not the case. I enjoyed the All big East champoinship at JAX.

Well the Bulls will be playing NCST next year.

esayem Wrote:Larry Coker ran Miami into the ground. VaTech lost to a great team. UNC will be better next year, I am thinking 7-8 wins. BC and Wake both had great years. This is not comedy. Duke football is comedy. NC State not producing on the field is mind boggeling. Clemson is solid. FSU, well I don't even know. I thought they were on the rebound. I don't know why you guys are so fixated on the ACC. We are not your rivals. Why aren't you constantly dissing Penn State for giving your conference the cold shoulder. Oh wait, because you rejected them first. Don't blame the ACC for snagging two teams in our footprint. BC is not a public school, they don't bring the Boston market much more than Boston U. Quit hating.

Stop spewing your garbage on our board. The Acc almost destroyed this conference to save themselves from bcs obscurity. Whether it was intentional or not, it doesnt matter. Our league was almost destroyed. The crap that we had to endure during the 2003 and 2004 seasons was very difficult. We were actually in danger of losing the bcs bid. You think we are going to pretend that it never happened? Thats what you are asking.

The Penn State comment was totally off base and dumb, but then again these are the types of comments that I am growing to expect from you these days. Penn State getting rejected by the BE is nothing like the Acc taking 3 teams from our league and almost destroying our league.

So now I will tell you what I tell all visitors that stupidly complain about our subject content on this board, "Go Back To Your Own Board If You Cant Handle What We Discuss On This Board."

We are not overstepping any boundaries over hear by taking a little pleasure in seeing the Acc have to deal with a little of what we had to deal with as a result of their actions. You are the one who is overstepping boundaries by complaining about us on our board. Get real.

The ACC didn't save themselves from BCS obscurity. They just delayed the inevitable.

rodtheman Wrote:It is so nice to see the All Criminal Conference having bad times. Especially the arrogant A---oles from unc and ncsu. I am sure this is somewhat of a phase, we can only hope that it is not the case. I enjoyed the All big East champoinship at JAX.

You are an idiot. I am not arrogant.

cuseroc Wrote:

esayem Wrote:Larry Coker ran Miami into the ground. VaTech lost to a great team. UNC will be better next year, I am thinking 7-8 wins. BC and Wake both had great years. This is not comedy. Duke football is comedy. NC State not producing on the field is mind boggeling. Clemson is solid. FSU, well I don't even know. I thought they were on the rebound. I don't know why you guys are so fixated on the ACC. We are not your rivals. Why aren't you constantly dissing Penn State for giving your conference the cold shoulder. Oh wait, because you rejected them first. Don't blame the ACC for snagging two teams in our footprint. BC is not a public school, they don't bring the Boston market much more than Boston U. Quit hating.

Stop spewing your garbage on our board. The Acc almost destroyed this conference to save themselves from bcs obscurity. Whether it was intentional or not, it doesnt matter. Our league was almost destroyed. The crap that we had to endure during the 2003 and 2004 seasons was very difficult. We were actually in danger of losing the bcs bid. You think we are going to pretend that it never happened? Thats what you are asking.

The Penn State comment was totally off base and dumb, but then again these are the types of comments that I am growing to expect from you these days. Penn State getting rejected by the BE is nothing like the Acc taking 3 teams from our league and almost destroying our league.

So now I will tell you what I tell all visitors that stupidly complain about our subject content on this board, "Go Back To Your Own Board If You Cant Handle What We Discuss On This Board."

We are not overstepping any boundaries over hear by taking a little pleasure in seeing the Acc have to deal with a little of what we had to deal with as a result of their actions. You are the one who is overstepping boundaries by complaining about us on our board. Get real.

Yea we stole those schools. They didn't have a choice. I am not complaining. Why would I? I am just questioning why you blame the ACC which is blaming schools that didn't want all this to happen. Schools voted against expansion, you know.

And Chapel Hill isn't on the coast either, it is the state. NY borders the Atlantic, but trying to add Syracuse was a stupid idea anyway.