(12-18-2014 11:50 AM)Lenvillecards Wrote: Maryland & Rutgers were added for their huge fan bases, LMFAO! They're fan bases are extremely limited due to all the pro sports surrounding them. They were added for their markets to bolster the B1G network payout plain & simple. Making Penn St happy was an added bonus.
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The B10's current model values the TV sets in NJ and Maryland far beyond their fan bases. MD has a decent base, Rutgers not so much. But those addition the B10 are about TV money and giving Penn State more reason not to feel like they are on an island.
The ACC's current model does not yet prioritize a network, but we know it will in the future. That network is not likely to be as important to the ACC as B10, but it will matter. Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, and Louisville all help with that as they stick the ACC's tentacle into areas that had not ACC home presence.
We ALL know the ideal ACC addition for 16th is Penn State. We all know that MD help to blow that up and if you are old enough to remember MD's existential conference actions going back to the 1950's, you know why they did it - you know that MD did not want FSU, you know that MD did not want ND, you know that MD did not want to be southernmost ACC school in a northern ACC division.
While adding a huge rabid fan base sounds great, it's not great if that fan base is not attached to a school that the nation or region will watch. South Carolina for example is the poster child for football and basketball mediocrity over the past 80 years, yet they will put 80K people in their football stands at Williams Bryce.
Test national ratings and you will see that Clemson beats SC - even when Clemson falls into Clemsoning, people outside the region will watch Clemson. Now NC State, UNC, Clemson, GT, Duke, and WF would all profit at the football gate by having SC back in the fold. Some of State's most memorable games are with South Carolina. But does South Carolina add what the ACC needs now?
West Virginia with their weak admission standards and their well known couch burners were the original de-stabilizing force in the Southern Conference in 1952. No one likes their airport. No one likes a night game there. However, they do poke a finger in MD's eye in DC, and they have competitive Football
and Basketball programs.
Once you go past Penn State, and Texas - you are in a world populated by West Va, South Carolina, and perhaps schools like Vandy, Northwestern, Purdue, (schools that can not compete year in and year out on the football field win the SEC or B10 and don't have a basketball program so good that they dominate those leagues)
Then you are down to a set of schools that add something with that something being an extension of the ACC tentacle and a future network outlet into virgin territory, that's when you get to Cincy, Tulane, and Houston - three schools with acceptable academics, three schools that open a new market, even if they are not the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team in that market and three schools that can play football and have recruits in their state. Then you have Navy
But the question was who would be 16th if you had to have a 16th.
The ideal 16th was one of the two schools that approached us in the 1970's and early 1980's - Florida and Penn State.
But the ACC doesn't need a 16th school.
If the playoff if de-regulated we can go forward with 15 school just fine.
Personally I would like to see three divisions of 5 so that you have three division titles, and you could have the best two of the three play, or perhaps further down the road have a playoff with the three division winners and a wild card. - That would be fun.
Let's look at this year with this year's records:
ACC South
Miami
FSU Division Champ 1st Seed
GT Wild Card Seeded 4th
Clemson
WF
ACC Central
UNC
Duke Division Champ 2nd Seed
NCSU
UVA
VT
ACC North
ND
Louisville Division Champ 3rd Seed
Pitt
Syracuse
BC
GT plays at FSU and Louisville plays at Duke (perhaps borrowing NC State's stadium depending on ticket demand)
Then the winners meet in Charlotte. Yes it adds a 14th game for two teams. Yes divisions can be tweeked instead of North, Central, and South you could have West, SE, NE, etc.
My point is we don't need 16 unless the 16th actually brings some real value to the other schools.
The other issue is that the two best teams in the three divisions get an extra home game for their fans and tangible bonus that should offset travel costs to the final in Charlotte.
I think this helps to cure FSU's long time complaint about traveling to Charlotte and losing money. Moreover, it allows schools in the other divisions to play for something and keeps four schools playing for something to the very end of the season. You can also allow a school to compete with less than a full 8 game slate, but have the rule that they have to sweep their division to qualify as the champion of that division.