(09-13-2020 12:33 PM)Wahoowa84 Wrote:  

(09-13-2020 11:51 AM)NJ2MDTerp Wrote:  

(09-13-2020 07:32 AM)TerpsNPhoenix Wrote:  So I saw this article today. It's long but good and is mostly about how close the vote was for the Big Ten to add PSU (TLDR : Northwestern is why PSU is in the Big Ten and not the ACC).

https://twitter.com/djoneshoop/status/13...25474?s=19

But here is the relevant part.

"When I wrote my original story on this topic in 1994, Tarman a few days later pulled me aside at a Penn State basketball game and told me then-ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan had called him the day after the original invitation announcement in 1989 and exclaimed: “Why didn’t you tell us you wanted in a conference? We’d have had you in in a heartbeat!” I called Corrigan in 2013 for a story and he confirmed that’s exactly what happened, that he’d have “made it his business” to persuade the ACC presidents to invite Penn State. Ikenberry is convinced they would be in the ACC now:

“I believe that would have happened. Penn State would not have been left out in the cold very long. They would’ve gone someplace, yes. Very likely the ACC.”

So... little decisions can have some big impacts down the road.

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Corrigan became the ACC Commissioner in 1987, knowing the conference was weak in football. But it appears the country club mentality by which the ACC operated refrained Corrigan from reaching out to Penn State. There was no sense of urgency until Penn State was lost.

Agree that the ACC was way too conservative and had no sense of urgency.

I also wonder whether PSU would have had reciprocal interest. UVA’s coach, George Welsh, had strong ties to PSU. UMCP and PSU had competed for years. Clemson and GT had good football programs, but their competition were southern schools.

Penn State's President, Bryce Jordan, earned his PhD at North Carolina and spent his first decade in academia at College Park. Penn State played against Maryland and State pretty regularly. I would say if the choice were between PSU and FSU, PSU would've gotten the invitation. Perhaps FSU could've weaseled its way in as the 10th school.