(02-22-2018 04:28 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(02-21-2018 07:24 PM)bluesox Wrote:  I always thought it was pretty dumb they didn’t go to 12 or at least 10 with FSU and Miami. South Carolina would have probably taken the first offer from the sec or acc. Back than, the acc is thought they were running a private golf club membership instead of an athletic conference.

Conferences weren't expanding like crazy back then. At the start of 1991, only one major or fringe conference had more than 10 members (though that was the year the Big Ten added one to go to 11). The 12 team conference hadn't even arrived yet, at least to D-I.

Conferences were actually composed with sound geography and even academic compatibility in mind. They even thought it was a good idea to try and have a round robin format or close enough.

My "what if" for the ACC goes back a bit further. When South Carolina left the league with 7 members, the ACC was a basketball conference above all. That was their biggest source of revenue without question. Media money for football was still relatively modest for everybody. The ACC still wanted to maintain the double round robin, and were even fixated on having the "perfect 8" for their tournament, which was still unique.

Adding Georgia Tech made perfect sense. They didn't dilute the ACCT ticket allocation too much, and they weren't viewed as a competitive threat in hoops to Tobacco Road. But what if they had been a little more farsighted? Not 21st Century farsighted, but late 20th?

The Big Ten (they weren't the B1G then), had ten members, as did the SEC. What if the ACC had approached Penn State and Pitt, which were both clearly academically compatible to go to ten also? Those two would enhance the league's football stature without threatening the basketball supremacy of Tobacco Road. They would give Maryland some compatriots north of Tobacco Road with whom they already had some relationship. NC State had enjoyed an exciting and successful series with Penn State in the 70's.

Maybe if they said yes to make a ten team ACC, it's not a sure thing that Big East football ever becomes a thing. And then, in 1991, both Florida State and Syracuse now make even more sense. And Boston College probably never becomes part of the conversation.

If the Big Ten had never added Penn State, would they have added Nebraska and perhaps Missouri later to make 12, or would they have stayed at 10 longer? The entire landscape of college football might have been radically different.