(05-22-2020 02:15 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(05-22-2020 09:55 AM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  Of all the P5 conferences, I find the ACC as the one that truly lacks an identity. As much as the Pac-12 and Big XII have issues ranging from their conference network distribution to revenues to having one school call the shots, at least they have something in common. The Pac-12 has like minded institutions that like to be in each other’s company. The Big XII has mostly big state schools that are football first and have rabid fan bases. I just don’t see any of that in the ACC. As an outsider, all I see is a fragmented conference that has two different agendas: those from Tobacco Road and the football first group of Clemson-Florida State-Virginia Tech. The ACC from 2005-present was expanded for TV purposes only.

I get what the Pitt fan says. It’s really sad money destroyed rivalries like the Backyard Brawl.

The identity of the ACC is, and has been, transformed the most. Fifty years ago Maryland, Virginia and Carolina were the face of the country club. Now it is Florida State and Clemson that are the leaders of a business. As an ACC fan, I believe that the transformation was essential to survival and actually indicates cohesion.

It is true that the identities of the B12 (UT and OU) and PAC (USC) have not changed as much, but that may not be a good thing. The PAC schools may “like to be in each other’s company” because there is no alternative. The B12 has rabid fans, but it only has one geographic market.

Perhaps the AAC identity is that the league is unlike the other four P5s. And that's not a bad thing.

Given I prefer college hoops to college football (though only modestly more so), I strongly enjoy the AAC basketball group. It is (IMO) the best hoops league in the country — at least based on number of all-time great programs. And I'm fine with Notre Dame's arrangement.

I do feel kind of bad for Pitt (and even Syracuse and Boston College). As I've noted, my nephew-in-law is currently a student at Pitt and I am aware of some of the concerns some posters have made in this thread. In an insane hypothetical, Maryland, UConn, Rutgers, Temple and West Virginia would be in a 20-team, two-division ACC. That would offer the league a chance for a north and south divisional setup that could foster rivalries.