One interesting aspect of this is something that has been kicked around in the twitterverse---eastern time zone content. Fox had ZERO eastern time zone content except for W Virginia. The Big Ten gives Fox 6 new eastern time zone schools. That's a BIG deal for their broadcast inventory. Better yet, they got some of the biggest names in that time zone--Penn St, Michigan, Michigan St, and Ohio St. For a network that only had access to one eastern time zone program, that's a programming game changer.

(05-19-2016 02:28 PM)pesik Wrote:  the winner in that would be the AAC..

ESPN: loses 2 top 5 programs

FS1: You just paid an unsustainable amount of money for purdue an illinois, yes ohio state will draw but they'll find out not that many casual fans are looking for iowa vs Illinois

The BIG 10: their big 3 will be fine but in the long run the remain 11 will feel the effects of less exposure when most of them are in state with less talented recruits, and it will negatively effect the leagues perception

The AAC: ESPN just lost a ton of major tv spots and might even lose more and gained back alot of capital
FS1 just got stronger and ESPN wont empower anyone else
ESPN Likes us ..they chose Houston/Oklahoma on abc over ( UCLA at Texas A&M, North Carolina vs. Georgia, Clemson at Auburn, Missouri at West Virginia to name a few)
ESPN knows they have the power to build the AAC up

Its an interesting point. I'll throw this out as food for thought---because of the new way that power conferences are defined in the CFP era, ESPN can literally create a P6 out of thin air.

The actual nomenclature for a "P5" and "G5" in the CFP documents is "contract conference" and "non-contract conference". Contract conferences had a contract with a major CFP bowl that guaranteed their presence every year. None-contract conferences have no such agreement. Conferences were free to try to make a deal with tv for a major bowl. The AAC was unable to swing a deal that paid enough to get the CFP seal of approval (it needed to pay about 40 million). None of the other G5's were able to swing a deal either---which is why they got lumped together fighting for a single access bowl slot.

All that ESPN would have to do is buy the rights to such a bowl, and boom---instant "contract conference". The deal is already there to be made. In addition to their slots in the Sugar and Rose Bowls, the SEC and Big10 (along with Notre Dame) share a slot in the Orange Bowl. The Big12 and Pac-12 have no extra shared slot and earn less money because of this quirk. So there's your opening---AAC champ vs top ranked school from the B12/P12 after the playoff and Rose/Sugar Bowls are filled. It would simply be the Pac-12/Big12 bookend slot to the Orange Bowl--and it would help equalize some of the income disparity between these P5 conferences.

ESPN signs a long term deal that pays the AAC schools say 7 million a year (to make sure they separate from the G5) and signs a deal for contract game which will host the AAC champ. Just like that, ESPN gets the entire package of rights to a full "contract conference" for less than half of what 50% of the Big10 rights would cost---They create 6th contract conference out of thin air.

(05-19-2016 05:20 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:28 PM)pesik Wrote:  the winner in that would be the AAC..

ESPN: loses 2 top 5 programs

FS1: You just paid an unsustainable amount of money for purdue an illinois, yes ohio state will draw but they'll find out not that many casual fans are looking for iowa vs Illinois

The BIG 10: their big 3 will be fine but in the long run the remain 11 will feel the effects of less exposure when most of them are in state with less talented recruits, and it will negatively effect the leagues perception

The AAC: ESPN just lost a ton of major tv spots and might even lose more and gained back alot of capital
FS1 just got stronger and ESPN wont empower anyone else
ESPN Likes us ..they chose Houston/Oklahoma on abc over ( UCLA at Texas A&M, North Carolina vs. Georgia, Clemson at Auburn, Missouri at West Virginia to name a few)
ESPN knows they have the power to build the AAC up

Its an interesting point. I'll throw this out as food for thought---because of the new way that power conferences are defined in the CFP era, ESPN can literally create a P6 out of thin air.

The actual nomenclature for a "P5" and "G5" in the CFP documents is "contract conference" and "non-contract conference". Contract conferences had a contract with a major CFP bowl that guaranteed their presence every year. None-contract conferences have no such agreement. Conferences were free to try to make a deal with tv for a major bowl. The AAC was unable to swing a deal that paid enough to get the CFP seal of approval (it needed to pay about 40 million). None of the other G5's were able to swing a deal either---which is why they got lumped together fighting for a single access bowl slot.

All that ESPN would have to do is buy the rights to such a bowl, and boom---instant "contract conference". The deal is already there to be made. In addition to their slots in the Sugar and Rose Bowls, the SEC and Big10 (along with Notre Dame) share a slot in the Orange Bowl. The Big12 and Pac-12 have no extra shared slot and earn less money because of this quirk. So there's your opening---AAC champ vs top ranked school from the B12/P12 after the playoff and Rose/Sugar Bowls are filled. It would simply be the Pac-12/Big12 bookend slot to the Orange Bowl--and it would help equalize some of the income disparity between these P5 conferences.

ESPN signs a long term deal that pays the AAC schools say 7 million a year (to make sure they separate from the G5) and signs a deal for contract game which will host the AAC champ. Just like that, ESPN gets the entire package of rights to a full "contract conference" for less than half of what 50% of the Big10 rights would cost---They create 6th contract conference out of thin air.

You stated it much better than I did, but that is what I was getting at about the P6 business that Aresco keeps pushing. ESPN could literally make it happen and may be motivated to do so; because financially it would be easier to push the AAC programming. The AAC would never get a playoff spot unless there was an increase in the number of playoff bids, but I finally understand what Aresco is getting at. I am beginning to think that the guy might actually have a really solid plan afterall.

(05-19-2016 05:20 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:28 PM)pesik Wrote:  the winner in that would be the AAC..

ESPN: loses 2 top 5 programs

FS1: You just paid an unsustainable amount of money for purdue an illinois, yes ohio state will draw but they'll find out not that many casual fans are looking for iowa vs Illinois

The BIG 10: their big 3 will be fine but in the long run the remain 11 will feel the effects of less exposure when most of them are in state with less talented recruits, and it will negatively effect the leagues perception

The AAC: ESPN just lost a ton of major tv spots and might even lose more and gained back alot of capital
FS1 just got stronger and ESPN wont empower anyone else
ESPN Likes us ..they chose Houston/Oklahoma on abc over ( UCLA at Texas A&M, North Carolina vs. Georgia, Clemson at Auburn, Missouri at West Virginia to name a few)
ESPN knows they have the power to build the AAC up

Its an interesting point. I'll throw this out as food for thought---because of the new way that power conferences are defined in the CFP era, ESPN can literally create a P6 out of thin air.

The actual nomenclature for a "P5" and "G5" in the CFP documents is "contract conference" and "non-contract conference". Contract conferences had a contract with a major CFP bowl that guaranteed their presence every year. None-contract conferences have no such agreement. Conferences were free to try to make a deal with tv for a major bowl. The AAC was unable to swing a deal that paid enough to get the CFP seal of approval (it needed to pay about 40 million). None of the other G5's were able to swing a deal either---which is why they got lumped together fighting for a single access bowl slot.

All that ESPN would have to do is buy the rights to such a bowl, and boom---instant "contract conference". The deal is already there to be made. In addition to their slots in the Sugar and Rose Bowls, the SEC and Big10 (along with Notre Dame) share a slot in the Orange Bowl. The Big12 and Pac-12 have no extra shared slot and earn less money because of this quirk. So there's your opening---AAC champ vs top ranked school from the B12/P12 after the playoff and Rose/Sugar Bowls are filled. It would simply be the Pac-12/Big12 bookend slot to the Orange Bowl--and it would help equalize some of the income disparity between these P5 conferences.

ESPN signs a long term deal that pays the AAC schools say 7 million a year (to make sure they separate from the G5) and signs a deal for contract game which will host the AAC champ. Just like that, ESPN gets the entire package of rights to a full "contract conference" for less than half of what 50% of the Big10 rights would cost---They create 6th contract conference out of thin air.

Do you think that scenario would require the AAC to float the idea of a GOR? Obviously. if the top teams are gone, then that answer is no.

(05-19-2016 05:20 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:28 PM)pesik Wrote:  the winner in that would be the AAC..

ESPN: loses 2 top 5 programs

FS1: You just paid an unsustainable amount of money for purdue an illinois, yes ohio state will draw but they'll find out not that many casual fans are looking for iowa vs Illinois

The BIG 10: their big 3 will be fine but in the long run the remain 11 will feel the effects of less exposure when most of them are in state with less talented recruits, and it will negatively effect the leagues perception

The AAC: ESPN just lost a ton of major tv spots and might even lose more and gained back alot of capital
FS1 just got stronger and ESPN wont empower anyone else
ESPN Likes us ..they chose Houston/Oklahoma on abc over ( UCLA at Texas A&M, North Carolina vs. Georgia, Clemson at Auburn, Missouri at West Virginia to name a few)
ESPN knows they have the power to build the AAC up

Its an interesting point. I'll throw this out as food for thought---because of the new way that power conferences are defined in the CFP era, ESPN can literally create a P6 out of thin air.

The actual nomenclature for a "P5" and "G5" in the CFP documents is "contract conference" and "non-contract conference". Contract conferences had a contract with a major CFP bowl that guaranteed their presence every year. None-contract conferences have no such agreement. Conferences were free to try to make a deal with tv for a major bowl. The AAC was unable to swing a deal that paid enough to get the CFP seal of approval (it needed to pay about 40 million). None of the other G5's were able to swing a deal either---which is why they got lumped together fighting for a single access bowl slot.

All that ESPN would have to do is buy the rights to such a bowl, and boom---instant "contract conference". The deal is already there to be made. In addition to their slots in the Sugar and Rose Bowls, the SEC and Big10 (along with Notre Dame) share a slot in the Orange Bowl. The Big12 and Pac-12 have no extra shared slot and earn less money because of this quirk. So there's your opening---AAC champ vs top ranked school from the B12/P12 after the playoff and Rose/Sugar Bowls are filled. It would simply be the Pac-12/Big12 bookend slot to the Orange Bowl--and it would help equalize some of the income disparity between these P5 conferences.

ESPN signs a long term deal that pays the AAC schools say 7 million a year (to make sure they separate from the G5) and signs a deal for contract game which will host the AAC champ. Just like that, ESPN gets the entire package of rights to a full "contract conference" for less than half of what 50% of the Big10 rights would cost---They create 6th contract conference out of thin air.

I like the AAC, but let's be honest. This is no Big Ten. It can't replace the Big Ten.

(05-19-2016 07:19 PM)mascotswinchampionships Wrote:  I like the AAC, but let's be honest. This is no Big Ten. It can't replace the Big Ten.

all incompassing terms are nice
"g5" like the sunbelt and AAC are the same
"power teams" like wake forest is alabama

the big 10...we will never replace the 20-ish games from Ohio state/Michigan/Penn state

we aren't now but espn easily has the power to build the 12 aac teams to be the same or bigger than other 11 other big 10 teams (a 100-ish games)

espn controls perception and what you are valued as in the eyes of college ...it took espn 7-10 years to turn a league of underfunded small private schools into the biggest basketball league at the time (the original big east)

(05-19-2016 07:11 PM)kmfloyd Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 05:20 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:28 PM)pesik Wrote:  the winner in that would be the AAC..

ESPN: loses 2 top 5 programs

FS1: You just paid an unsustainable amount of money for purdue an illinois, yes ohio state will draw but they'll find out not that many casual fans are looking for iowa vs Illinois

The BIG 10: their big 3 will be fine but in the long run the remain 11 will feel the effects of less exposure when most of them are in state with less talented recruits, and it will negatively effect the leagues perception

The AAC: ESPN just lost a ton of major tv spots and might even lose more and gained back alot of capital
FS1 just got stronger and ESPN wont empower anyone else
ESPN Likes us ..they chose Houston/Oklahoma on abc over ( UCLA at Texas A&M, North Carolina vs. Georgia, Clemson at Auburn, Missouri at West Virginia to name a few)
ESPN knows they have the power to build the AAC up

Its an interesting point. I'll throw this out as food for thought---because of the new way that power conferences are defined in the CFP era, ESPN can literally create a P6 out of thin air.

The actual nomenclature for a "P5" and "G5" in the CFP documents is "contract conference" and "non-contract conference". Contract conferences had a contract with a major CFP bowl that guaranteed their presence every year. None-contract conferences have no such agreement. Conferences were free to try to make a deal with tv for a major bowl. The AAC was unable to swing a deal that paid enough to get the CFP seal of approval (it needed to pay about 40 million). None of the other G5's were able to swing a deal either---which is why they got lumped together fighting for a single access bowl slot.

All that ESPN would have to do is buy the rights to such a bowl, and boom---instant "contract conference". The deal is already there to be made. In addition to their slots in the Sugar and Rose Bowls, the SEC and Big10 (along with Notre Dame) share a slot in the Orange Bowl. The Big12 and Pac-12 have no extra shared slot and earn less money because of this quirk. So there's your opening---AAC champ vs top ranked school from the B12/P12 after the playoff and Rose/Sugar Bowls are filled. It would simply be the Pac-12/Big12 bookend slot to the Orange Bowl--and it would help equalize some of the income disparity between these P5 conferences.

ESPN signs a long term deal that pays the AAC schools say 7 million a year (to make sure they separate from the G5) and signs a deal for contract game which will host the AAC champ. Just like that, ESPN gets the entire package of rights to a full "contract conference" for less than half of what 50% of the Big10 rights would cost---They create 6th contract conference out of thin air.

Do you think that scenario would require the AAC to float the idea of a GOR? Obviously. if the top teams are gone, then that answer is no.

Probably. Actually, I think a GOR, provided we get enough money to stay competitive and a CFP bowl of our own, might pass (depending on its length). If a proposed GOR expired about the same time as the GOR in the ACC and Big-12, then it would be of little hindrance to the long term options for AAC members. I doubt administators would automatically turn up their nose at their own contract bowl and 50 million extra dollars paid over the next 10 years or so (really, it would be closer to $66 million extra per team over 10 years if your consider the CFP payout of the contract bowl).

The reality? I doubt that scenario ever plays out, so Im not too concerned about a GOR at this time. That said, there is a level of AAC pay and bowl benefits at which all 12 AAC members would be willing to sign a GOR. That is a fact. The only question would be---What is that level?

If Fox is full with B10, P12, B12, Big East and whatever other crap they air, who bids against ESPN for AAC rights? Isnt that a key factor to getting more cash? They arent going to just throw money at a league for the hell of it.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

(05-19-2016 09:02 PM)Hood-rich Wrote:  If Fox is full with B10, P12, B12, Big East and whatever other crap they air, who bids against ESPN for AAC rights? Isnt that a key factor to getting more cash? They arent going to just throw money at a league for the hell of it.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

nbc was the main bider last time, they havent added 1 college progam since espn matched

and cbssports randomly just dumbed a ton c-usa games...

fox has never shown interest in the the AAC, whether they are full or not wont make a difference

(05-19-2016 09:54 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 09:02 PM)Hood-rich Wrote:  If Fox is full with B10, P12, B12, Big East and whatever other crap they air, who bids against ESPN for AAC rights? Isnt that a key factor to getting more cash? They arent going to just throw money at a league for the hell of it.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

nbc was the main bider last time, they havent added 1 college progam since espn matched

and cbssports randomly just dumbed a ton c-usa games...

fox has never shown interest in the the AAC, whether they are full or not wont make a difference

FOX Sports did not exist when AAC TV Rights were up for bid.

Now, FOX and FOX Sports (1 and 2) have been trying to add more sports programming...so any and all bidders would be a good thing (i.e. ESPN, FOX/FOX Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports).

I do think there is a lot more added value with ESPN Networks...as they generally get more eyeballs and cross promotions (plus ESPN3 availability) much more so than the other current line-ups...as exposure for this brand new conf, AAC, was EXTREMELY important, even over a slightly larger payout.

I don't see ESPN doing nothing for AAC. I still think it is likely they get a piece of B10 before all is done. And if they don't, they already have a piece of SEC and all of ACC in the east.
Why give AAC another 50 to 60 mil per year, when they can give ACC 20 to give .... lets say Cincy and Uconn 10 mil per year each for the remainder of ACC contract.
Then they can actually negotiate AAC deal down. They gain 24 more ACC games, and in the end it cost them 18mil or less per year.

(05-19-2016 09:54 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 09:02 PM)Hood-rich Wrote:  If Fox is full with B10, P12, B12, Big East and whatever other crap they air, who bids against ESPN for AAC rights? Isnt that a key factor to getting more cash? They arent going to just throw money at a league for the hell of it.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

nbc was the main bider last time, they havent added 1 college progam since espn matched

and cbssports randomly just dumbed a ton c-usa games...

fox has never shown interest in the the AAC, whether they are full or not wont make a difference

If you think NBC and CBS Sports is going to drive up AAC value much Im not sure what to tell you.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

(05-20-2016 07:54 AM)Hood-rich Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 09:54 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 09:02 PM)Hood-rich Wrote:  If Fox is full with B10, P12, B12, Big East and whatever other crap they air, who bids against ESPN for AAC rights? Isnt that a key factor to getting more cash? They arent going to just throw money at a league for the hell of it.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

nbc was the main bider last time, they havent added 1 college progam since espn matched

and cbssports randomly just dumbed a ton c-usa games...

fox has never shown interest in the the AAC, whether they are full or not wont make a difference

If you think NBC and CBS Sports is going to drive up AAC value much Im not sure what to tell you.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

nbc was just bought by comcast..cbssports is kinda poor but lets not act like nbc didn't just spend billions on the nhl and olympics

(05-20-2016 07:44 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  I don't see ESPN doing nothing for AAC. I still think it is likely they get a piece of B10 before all is done. And if they don't, they already have a piece of SEC and all of ACC in the east.
Why give AAC another 50 to 60 mil per year, when they can give ACC 20 to give .... lets say Cincy and Uconn 10 mil per year each for the remainder of ACC contract.
Then they can actually negotiate AAC deal down. They gain 24 more ACC games, and in the end it cost them 18mil or less per year.

So, let me flip the question on you---why give the AAC 40 million extra (20 million per new team) just to get Cinci and UConn---when you can get all 12 AAC teams for almost the same amount (60 million would give the AAC about 6 million per team)? The biggest issue for the AAC is the Big12. If the Big12 ales the top 2 (possibly 4) schools, I don't see much of a raise (if any) coming,

(05-20-2016 09:27 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(05-20-2016 07:44 AM)goodknightfl Wrote:  I don't see ESPN doing nothing for AAC. I still think it is likely they get a piece of B10 before all is done. And if they don't, they already have a piece of SEC and all of ACC in the east.
Why give AAC another 50 to 60 mil per year, when they can give ACC 20 to give .... lets say Cincy and Uconn 10 mil per year each for the remainder of ACC contract.
Then they can actually negotiate AAC deal down. They gain 24 more ACC games, and in the end it cost them 18mil or less per year.

So, let me flip the question on you---why give the AAC 40 million extra (20 million per new team) just to get Cinci and UConn---when you can get all 12 AAC teams for almost the same amount (60 million would give the AAC about 6 million per team)? The biggest issue for the AAC is the Big12. If the Big12 ales the top 2 (possibly 4) schools, I don't see much of a raise (if any) coming,

This is a good point. It will all come down to supply and demand and if the current 12 AAC members are still intact. If NBCsn, CBSsn or Fox are in need for some solid but not spectacular content to complement their premier investments in the P5 conferences I can see the value of the AAC being pushed up nicely, especially if the safety net being the ability to renegotiate the contract if certain programs leave is part of the deal. It won’t sniff the P5 level deals but should be a nice increase over where we are now.

If the timing isn’t right and the demand for programming isn’t there, based on what the MAC and CUSA recently got god only knows what our deal may end up looking like. We can speculate all we want about what we deserve or what should or shouldn’t get based on this or that but it really won’t mean anything, the nature of the market 12 months prior to our current contract expiration date will be the determining factor on what we get next time around, that and which schools and markets are part of the AAC.

(05-19-2016 03:21 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:00 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 07:51 AM)NYCTUFan Wrote:  I think it may factor into the next deal for the American but does this divorce push ESPN in the direction of starting the ACC network to lock up that content long term? ACC fans may be able to add something to this but I believe that part of the current ACC deal with ESPN consists of a 45 million dollar payment to the ACC by ESPN if a conference network isn’t in the works by I believe it’s this July.

If it does this may be the next area of conference expansion with ESPN pushing the ACC to go to 16 full members as part of the deal to create the maximum amount of content.

Yep and I expect them to work out a deal with the big 12 to get West Virginia. Big 12 made a mistake taking a team so far out of their footprint. They'd take the buy out $ to rid WV to the ACC. A 16 team ACC (with WV & UCONN) gives them a true North/South set up. The South would be a lot stronger than the North but FSU and Clemson would be happy as would the NC schools. My prediction.
Cheers!

WV to the ACC will NEVER happen

I thought the same about Louisville to the ACC.....

IF the. Big XII ever breaks up I expect ESPN will try to keep Texas, OU and Kansas in either the ACC or SEC. I don't know about WVU.

Something the Big Ten doesn't want to give up (totally) is ESPN Network exposure, even for Basketball (though lots of games are shown on Big Ten TV Network).

This year's Pac-12 Conf Tourn Championship game drew 388,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1...as Pac-12 lost almost 5 times the viewership from their previous title game which was on ESPN the previous year.

This year's AAC Conf Tourn Championship game on ESPN drew 1.5 Million viewers (even though fans of one team were protesting/not watching most of their teams games over the last month or two), almost 4 times this year's Pac-12 audience.

ESPN has the negotiating power in regards to exposure but FOX is rolling out the cash.

Just like the Big 12...I think the Big Ten wants BOTH networks to be partners...which keeps both of them hungry..and ensures promotion/stories/reports on both networks during the entire season...as everyone has seen what happens when ESPN drops your conf or sport (i.e. Big East Basketball highlights? Few and far between...same for regular season NHL games).

Another interesting fact as to why the power of ESPN is soooooooo valuable:

In 2014, Big East had their Conf Tourn Championship Game on Fox Sports 1 and drew just a 0.5 rating.

In 2015, Big East had their Conf Tourn Championship Game on Fox Sports 1 and drew just a 0.3 rating.

In 2016, Big East had their Conf Tourn Championship Game on Network TV, FOX, and drew a 1.0 rating (approx 1.3 Million viewers....approx 230,000 less than AAC Championship game which went head-to-head with Big Ten Championship on CBS, who had the largest national TV audience for conf championship games).


Big Ten Title game: Michigan State vs Purdue — 3.1 million estimated on CBS
SEC Title game: Kentucky vs Texas A&M — 2.893 million on ESPN
ACC Title game: North Carolina vs Virginia — 2.813 million on ESPN
Big 12 Title game: Kansas vs West Virginia — 2.42 million on ESPN
American Title game: UConn vs Memphis — 1.532 million on ESPN
Big East Title game: Villanova vs Seton Hall — 1.3 million on FOX
Pac-12 Title game: Oregon vs Utah — 388,000 on FS1

(05-20-2016 03:00 PM)8BitPirate Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 03:21 PM)Cubanbull Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 02:00 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(05-19-2016 07:51 AM)NYCTUFan Wrote:  I think it may factor into the next deal for the American but does this divorce push ESPN in the direction of starting the ACC network to lock up that content long term? ACC fans may be able to add something to this but I believe that part of the current ACC deal with ESPN consists of a 45 million dollar payment to the ACC by ESPN if a conference network isn’t in the works by I believe it’s this July.

If it does this may be the next area of conference expansion with ESPN pushing the ACC to go to 16 full members as part of the deal to create the maximum amount of content.

Yep and I expect them to work out a deal with the big 12 to get West Virginia. Big 12 made a mistake taking a team so far out of their footprint. They'd take the buy out $ to rid WV to the ACC. A 16 team ACC (with WV & UCONN) gives them a true North/South set up. The South would be a lot stronger than the North but FSU and Clemson would be happy as would the NC schools. My prediction.
Cheers!

WV to the ACC will NEVER happen

I thought the same about Louisville to the ACC.....

Louisville is a closer fit to ACC schools than WV.