(03-19-2020 10:33 PM)NJ2MDTerp Wrote:  

(03-19-2020 08:07 AM)XLance Wrote:  In all seriousness, the ideal conference for most of the ACC would consist of:
Maryland, UVA, Va. Tech, Carolina, State, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, South Carolina and Georgia Tech.

For this to happen, both Maryland and South Carolina would have to give up their dreams of becoming a major player in college football. I imagine Clemson would want to remain a football-first school.

The two schools are one state away but could the University of North Carolina and Clemson be any more different? It's not just their primary sport, UNC is in the Raleigh/Durham area, Clemson is in the middle of nowhere (I mean the town is literally called Clemson). Clemson's not bad academically (USNWR #70) but Carolina's one of the top public schools in the country (#29, tied for 5th for public schools).

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/ran...top-public

Clemson should really be an SEC school, not an ACC school.

My criteria:

If you're good in college basketball, you should be in the ACC. If you're not as good, you should be in the SEC. Florida and Kentucky should be in the ACC. Clemson and Virginia Tech should be in the SEC.

If you're in a large city/state, you should be in the ACC. If you're in a small city/state, you should be in the SEC. South Carolina is the smallest state by population currently in the ACC. They'd fit right at home with Alabama and Mississippi in the SEC. In the ACC, you've got three schools in the Triangle, Miami, Boston (College), Louisville, Pittsburgh. In the SEC, you got Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Baton Rouge, Oxford, Athens, Columbia. Which group would Clemson fit in more with?

If your college girls wear dresses to football games, you belong in the SEC. Anyone not from the South thinks that stupid. It's just one sign of being "Southern". Accents can be another. I'd be willing to bet Clemson, SC and Clemson is more "Southern" than UNC is. I'll bet they're more Southern than the University of Florida is or Florida State is.

Academics. I know it's stereotypical, but the ACC has the higher ranked schools and that's shown consistently not just in the USNWR rankings but others according to other academic rankings in the academics thread. Clemson is near the bottom of the ACC in academics, it's a fact. Now they'd be at the top of the SEC so saying they belong in the SEC isn't accurate, they'd really belong somewhere in between the two. Florida meanwhile is clearly an ACC school academically. So is Georgia.

In a bizarro world where the ACC were able to raid the SEC,

Florida no doubt would be their first choice. They're a winner demographically, academically, bring a great basketball team and a great football team, and my guess is that they aren't too southern although years in the SEC might have corrupted their girls into forcing them to wear dresses to football games, hopefully they'll go back to normal in the ACC.

Georgia has great academics. They're also a large state. Athens has over 100,000 people and is a little over an hour away from Atlanta (although of course the ACC has Atlanta covered). They'd flunk the Southern test and the men's basketball test but I think the ACC can live with those shortcomings.

Kentucky would pass the basketball test. Lexington is a fairly large city. Kentucky isn't that large a state. It would be great to have Kentucky and Louisville together. They're probably northern enough that they won't be too Southern. The academics would be a problem but then again the ACC already has Louisville.

Obviously the ACC would take Alabama, despite their academics, small town/state (Tuscaloosa's not that small), lack of men's basketball, Southerness, who cares? And obviously Alabama would never go unless the revenue stream changed direction. But they'd be a terrible fit in the ACC (or the Big Ten, but again we'll take them and it's not like the Big Ten doesn't have a ton of small towns like Champaign Urbana and University Park). I don't know if that's a complement or an insult to Alabama. Alabama is an SEC school. North Carolina is an ACC school. Is Clemson an ACC school or an SEC school? You tell me.