Should the ACC expand? What do you think?

(* I'd like to keep this to a poll of only UNC fans, but I realize that won't be possible. If you are a fan from another team and you vote in the poll, please make a post about it so I can also keep a count of what UNC fans think.)

-JD

add 1, miami

<span style='color:blue'>As a UNC fan also, I'd love to see the ACC expand to 12 teams. It would be fun to have a championship game like the SEC has in football, plus adding say Syracuse and Conneticut in basketball would only make it stronger!</span>

If the ACC wants to compete with the big boys (i.e. the SEC and the Big 12), it's going to have to expand. UGa fan here who voted.

I don't want the ACC to expand to more than 10 teams. The only good that would come out of a 12 team league is money, and as a fan, that doesn't really matter to me. I tend to look at this more from hoops fan's standpoint.

If the ACC had more than 10 teams, the scheduling would have to be completely changed. The league would probably have to be divided into two divisions and it would mess up the classic rivalries of the league. Can you imagine not playing all 8 other teams in the league twice!!?!?...it would be terrible. Now that the ACC has loaded up with some great coaches (CoachK, Roy, GaryW, Hewitt, Prosser) I think ACC hoops will return to where it was a few years ago.

My vote: no expansion....but if it has to happen, not more than 10 teams.

I say nope.

If the ACC adds more than 1 team, it will lose the luster of the regular season. For us UNC fans and the Dookies, how could it be the same only playing once in the regular season? The same goes for the rest of ACC's rivals. Yes it would make the ACC stronger, but why are the teams even considering it, because the ACC is the best conference in baseketball, and the third?? (Big 10 & SEC) best in football, the only 2 sports that bring in considerable amounts of money. I just don't feel it would be the same without playing Duke, Maryland, and the others twice each season. We could always do an ACC preseason tourney, that would be cool!!

Nope. Lets leave it like it is.

If there are 10 teams it screws up the tournament big time. I guess they would then would have to give the top 2 teams 1st round byes then.

Duke fan voted +3

nate jonesacc Wrote:Duke fan voted +3

Nate coach K is right.Leave it be. :D

I see the no's have it 6-5 in the poll.

just say no roy Wrote:I see the no's have it 6-5 in the poll.

Poll, Schmoll. They're gonna do it no matter what we think, and, mark my words, we won't like the results. This is a money decision, driven by football concerns.

The money says it will be Syracuse, Miami and Boston College. The Big Least is useless as a football conference; several schools don't even field a team. There's some debate as to whether or not Miami would join the ACC, if asked. Yeah, riiight! They'll join in a New York Minute and so will Syracuse. Virginia is pushing for Virginia Tech to join, but that's not where the money is. It'll be BC.

The big question is how to "divisionalize" the expanded conference and keep as many of the traditional rivalries as possible. One thing is sure, dook and UNC will be in the same division because of basketball.

<<<<< voted for adding 3

:wave:

Here are the divisions I'd love to see:

Division A
UNC
dook
NC State
Wake
UVa
Maryland

Division B
Florida State
Miami
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Syracuse
BC (or VPI)

I could also see inserting Clemson for Maryland and making Division B half-North and half-South, with Division A being a true middle. This would be my favorite proposal -- but I don't think it happens.

More than likely, there will be a geographical split... something like:

North
North Carolina
dook
UVa
Maryland
Syracuse
BC (or VPI)

South
NC State
Wake
FSU
Miami
Clemson
Georgia Tech

If that's the case, I'd like to see the basketball scheduling set up so that each team would play its 5 divisional foes twice, 2 "rival" teams from the other division twice, and the other 4 teams from that division once. That would be a total of 18 conference games.

In football, each team would play its 5 divisional foes every year, 2 "rival" teams from the other division every year, and then 2 other teams from the other division (rotating between those 4). That would be 9 total conference games.

The "rivals" could be designated something like this:

UNC -- Wake, NC State
dook -- Wake, NC State
Wake -- UNC, dook
NC State -- UNC, dook

Miami -- Syracuse, BC
FSU -- Syracuse, BC
Syracuse -- Miami, FSU
BC -- Miami, FSU

Maryland -- Clemson, Georgia Tech
Virginia -- Clemson, Georgia Tech
Clemson -- Maryland, Virginia
Georgia Tech -- Maryland, Virginia

That would keep some old rivalries alive... and start some new ones for a few teams.

-JD

I like that idea, JD. The same can be done in football. We could do like SEC does and play the 5 in our division, plus 3 in the other division with the option of playing one annual rival (like UGA vs Auburn, Tenn vs Bama, etc). The cross-division rivalry game doesn't have to be played, but here's what it might look like...

Carolina vs BC/VT
Duke vs Tech (I believe we have played them for about 75 years in a row)
State vs FSU
Wake vs 'Cuse
UVa vs Clemson
Maryland vs Miami

The other two games could alternate.

I'm more inclined to think now that it will be a geographical split, with Syracuse and BC joining UNC, Dook, UVa and Maryland in the "Basketball" Division, while Miami joins FSU, Clemson, GTech, Wake, and NCSU in the "Football" Division.

How basketball would pair up in regular season would have a lot to do with how the ACC Tournament would be structured. If you allowed seedings based on overall standing (not divisional standing), which would be my preference by far, you could just have a flat 16 game schedule - 10 in your division and 6 vs. the other division.

Then come tournament time, you would rank all 12 teams 1-12, top 4 regardless of division get a bye, 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11 and so on, until you get a champion.

OTOH, if you go with a divisional format, with the top 2 in each division getting a bye, and the two divisional "champions" meeting for the title, you would really hurt the "Basketball" Division which could (and would) probably have the top 3-4 teams every year.

And, if you play 18 games with special "rivalry" formats, like UNC playing State and Wake twice, it would be seen as a real handicap. I think that could only work if you rotated the two extra games - one year Wake & NCSU, next year Clemson & Tech, and so on. Besides, who would be Syracuse's "rival" from the Football Division? Miami? Clemson? I think 16 games will work better.

In any case, this is likely 2-3 years away and a lot can change in that time - just look at our last 3 years.

no

Nope....keep ACC the same.

Avoid lawsuits, messy situations, and anything that will shake up the WHOLE NCAA, and distract people from the awesome football season that will be coming up.

The ACC is already spoiled with a great basketball conference. Keep em as is.

If you change even 3 teams....sooooo many other things will change as well.

ZinfanHeel Wrote:I'm more inclined to think now that it will be a geographical split, with Syracuse and BC joining UNC, Dook, UVa and Maryland in the "Basketball" Division, while Miami joins FSU, Clemson, GTech, Wake, and NCSU in the "Football" Division.

How basketball would pair up in regular season would have a lot to do with how the ACC Tournament would be structured. If you allowed seedings based on overall standing (not divisional standing), which would be my preference by far, you could just have a flat 16 game schedule - 10 in your division and 6 vs. the other division.

Then come tournament time, you would rank all 12 teams 1-12, top 4 regardless of division get a bye, 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11 and so on, until you get a champion.

OTOH, if you go with a divisional format, with the top 2 in each division getting a bye, and the two divisional "champions" meeting for the title, you would really hurt the "Basketball" Division which could (and would) probably have the top 3-4 teams every year.

And, if you play 18 games with special "rivalry" formats, like UNC playing State and Wake twice, it would be seen as a real handicap. I think that could only work if you rotated the two extra games - one year Wake & NCSU, next year Clemson & Tech, and so on. Besides, who would be Syracuse's "rival" from the Football Division? Miami? Clemson? I think 16 games will work better.

In any case, this is likely 2-3 years away and a lot can change in that time - just look at our last 3 years.

Very interesting information Zinheel. I agree with you about how the divisions will be setup. As far as basketball is concerned, I think the ACC might use three divisions instead of two. :ninja:

just say no