(07-28-2013 09:39 PM)john01992 Wrote: (07-28-2013 09:25 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote: (07-28-2013 09:12 PM)Dr. Isaly von Yinzer Wrote: (07-28-2013 08:51 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote: (07-28-2013 07:33 PM)Theodoresdaddy Wrote: actually it's Big 4 with the ACC tagging along
Do all WVa fans have ***** envy?
It's called psycho ex-girlfriend syndrome (PEGS). The ACC rejected them, then chose their arch rivals in their place, and - like all psycho ex-girlfriends - they lost their cotton-picking minds.
Don't be fooled. That's what all of this nonsense has always been about.
You are correct. West Va was a mistake first made in 1950. They destroyed the Southern Conference in just two years by supporting VT's then president on his anti-bowl game stance. MD, Clemson, South Carolina, NC State, Wake and UVa were all so disgusted by West Va, that when UNC's represenative nominated them for the 9th spot in the ACC, the motion died for lack of a second. Even VT got 4 votes despite pissing off MD, Clemson, and Duke.
ive never heard this story before but would like to hear more about it
The ACC and SEC are both children of the mother conference the Southern Conference. It formed in 1921 and by 1933 had grown way too big (23 schools). Tulane, Bama, Georiga, Florida, GT, Sewanee, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippii State, Kentucky, Auburn, Vandy and LSU pulled out in 1933, leaving NC State, UNC, Clemson, Duke, South Carolina, Maryland, UVa, VT, Washington and Lee and VMI. In 1937 the SoCon started up again with adding schools after UVa left - fed up with UNC's cheating (it's in their minutes), adding Wake Forest at the behest of NC State, UNC, and Duke (at the time WF was near Raleigh). Then William and Mary and a few others were added.
(Lots of folks forget that Tulane, Sewanee, and GT were SEC members and that the SEC had shrunk to ten by 1964)
Everything was fine in the SoCon - Duke, Clemson, Maryland and even UNC were regulars in the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, and Orange Bowls. The SoCon had a tie to the Orange Bowl and NC State had build the largest basketball arena in the South - Reynolds Colesium.
Then in 1950 someone got the bright idea to add West Va. and all hell broke loose. (It was VT's and VMI's idea)
VT's president was the defacto SoCon President at the time and wanted to ban post season bowls (remember this is at a time that MD is the number one team in the nation and Duke has been to 2 Rose, 2 Orange and 1 Cotton Bowls over prior dozen or so years).
It was West Virginia's addition that gave VT's president the mathematical majority to push through the change and West Virginia supported the change to stick it to MD.
Maryland responded by meeting with Duke, Clemson, and SC and they formed the ACC, bringing along NC State and UNC and bringing WF, at NC State and UNC's behest. It was already decided that UVa would be invited and they were the first "expansion". These 8 then meet in Greensboro in late 1953 regarding rules, etc.
UNC proposed forgiving VT since VT had been a conference mate of UNC and NC State since the 19th Century - the motion died 4-4 with UVa essentially casting the deciding vote against VT. Duke, MD, and Clemson were still mad at VT. UNC, Wake, NC State and South Carolina were willing to forgive.
Then UNC turned around and proposed West Va. The motion died for lack of a second and the rest of the represenatives were so mad that the session ended (Bill Brill a UVa grad and now dead sports writer has written all about this).
The league learned to live without VT and then in 1962 Duke had a change of heart about football, did not want to recruit a certain kind of kid and pushed through the 800 minimum SAT rule that kept most all blacks and as well as dumb white kids out of the ACC a decade.
It set ACC football back 20 years. In 1962 Duke went to the Cotton Bowl, and an ACC team would not go to a major bowl again for 15 years and the ACC would not be truly competitive at the national level again for 20 years (Clemson-1982).
This is the history of the SoCon/ACC. Almost all of the SoCon time is forgotten which is due primarily to UNC not wanting those record to count. The Big 12 and PAC 12 by contrast keep their old records even under different conference names.
The ACC is far older than the 1953 date indicates. For all practical purposes the ACC's formation date is really 1933 - when the SEC schools left the Southern Conference - as such when you wonder why the ACC does things a certain way - you need to go back to the SoCon and that will answer EVERY question.
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Nomenclature shift: Big 5, not Power 5
