(07-21-2018 04:28 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote: (07-21-2018 04:10 PM)ken d Wrote: Of all the possible G5 schools to get a golden ticket, Tulane would probably rank no higher than #20. Ain't happening.
Without ranking them... yeah, that sounds about right.
If the ACC adds any G5 teams, the top candidates would have to be
Cincinnati
Temple
UConn
USF
Memphis
Houston
Maybe UCF
That's it. No one else need apply. And honestly, half the teams on that list have no realistic shot.
UConn, Memphis, and Temple have no shot due to geography, academics, and positive contacts with other league members.
Cincy, Houston, USF, and Navy are the only G-5's that I think would ever be considered. All four have at least one thing in their favor.
Cincy is located in Ohio and their academics and research are beyond rapproach.
Houston is located in the fourth largest city in the nation, located in Texas, has very good academics and research and in fact their academic rankings stay down because they also function as the local university.
USF is relatively new but they have been pushing researched for three decades have a much better academic profile than many realized and are located in the third most populous part of Florida.
Navy is the Naval Academy and Annapolis is a defacto burb of DC.
All four share a key problem - they share their home metro with multiple professional franchises.
Navy competes with 7 pro franchises in Baltimore and DC
Houston competes with 4 franchises
Tampa and Cincy compete with 2
That competition hurt Maryland, and it hurts Pitt, BC, and GT now. USF and Cincy are competing against almost 1,200,000 tickets for sale in their home metro. Navy is pushing competition against 3.5 million. That's a real issue.
By a quirk of geography, Tulane remains in the game so to speak. Everyone would love New Orleans, but Tulane has downgraded sports three times in the past 60 years.
Navy mends a wound and pokes MD in the eye.
Houston and Tulane add totally new markets.
Cincy adds a partially new market.
USF does not add a market, but it adds a beach.
If you are adding one versus two, that might change the 16th. If you adding to please ND, or FSU/Clemson that also might change things.
As an NC State fan, I have a fondness for Houston. We had some games against them in the 60's and 70's and beat then at Houston when they were ranked 3rd. We also won an important basketball game against them in the 80's.
If the ACC had to expand with one these five, it would likely be Cincy. After that the 16th would be a free for all.