This past year was much closer thanks to the first ever BCS at-large bid, but over the last 9 years the SEC has been bringing in about $5.5 million extra in BCS money (thanks to always having 2 teams and always getting the extra MNC money), plus an extra $7 million per year just because they are tied to better bowls.

That's an extra $12.5 million per year. Every year. Something MUST be done!
[see "What the ACC can do (part 3 - Bowls)"]

I'd like to see what YOU guys think the ACC needs to do... (no profanity, please, even though I'm sure you want to cuss).

A couple problems with your blog post.


The Gator Bowl always has and always will covet a SEC affiliation. That in of itself means that the ACC is likely shut out because of the 2 pre-existing bowl match ups with the SEC (Chick-fl-A and Music City) and the already multiple regular season matchups (Clemson/South Carolina, FSU/UF, GT/UGA, Wake/Vandy, Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic) limits the ability of the bowls to match up teams that haven't already played during the season. This same reasoning will prevent us from securing the Liberty Bowl as well.

It's also going to be hard to pry the B1G away from any bowl because quite frankly we only have 3 teams that travel worth a dang to bowl games....VT, Clemson, and FSU...while everybody in the B1G travels decent, with a few huge fanbases.

The SEC has the following schools that 1) consistently win and 2) possess deep traveling fanbases:

Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and (now) Texas A&M. Plus, Kentucky fans will travel deep when their team is eligible and the game is not far away. That's 9 1/2 schools with DEEP traveling fanbases.

The ACC...?

Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech.

NC State is getting close to that list, and while I wanted to include North Carolina, I want to see how they do post-probation and how well this Fedora guy does.

As much as we like our private school brethren, they are a liability when it comes to bowl options because at any moment, Wake Forest or Boston College COULD become bowl-eligible and, worse, win the conference and represent the league at the Orange Bowl.

Someone call Frank (the Tank) over here and get his thoughts on the matter.

(04-04-2012 01:17 PM)ecuacc4ever Wrote:  The SEC has the following schools that 1) consistently win and 2) possess deep traveling fanbases:

Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and (now) Texas A&M. Plus, Kentucky fans will travel deep when their team is eligible and the game is not far away. That's 9 1/2 schools with DEEP traveling fanbases.

The ACC...?

Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech.

NC State is getting close to that list, and while I wanted to include North Carolina, I want to see how they do post-probation and how well this Fedora guy does.

As much as we like our private school brethren, they are a liability when it comes to bowl options because at any moment, Wake Forest or Boston College COULD become bowl-eligible and, worse, win the conference and represent the league at the Orange Bowl.

Someone call Frank (the Tank) over here and get his thoughts on the matter.

Mississippi State travels in droves as well. Took me a week after the 1999 Peach Bowl for my ears to stop ringing from the cowbells.

South Carolina has an enrollment approaching if not over 60,000. They do kegger parties for the spring game of 0-11 teams. Because if you've been to Columbia, SC ... you know the only thing to do is drink.

The ACC does better on TV (except when ESPN gently cups and massages the SEC's testicles....), but the SEC does better on travel.

(04-04-2012 01:13 PM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  A couple problems with your blog post.

The Gator Bowl always has and always will covet a SEC affiliation. That in of itself means that the ACC is likely shut out because of the 2 pre-existing bowl match ups with the SEC (Chick-fl-A and Music City) and the already multiple regular season matchups (Clemson/South Carolina, FSU/UF, GT/UGA, Wake/Vandy, Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic) limits the ability of the bowls to match up teams that haven't already played during the season. This same reasoning will prevent us from securing the Liberty Bowl as well.

It's also going to be hard to pry the B1G away from any bowl because quite frankly we only have 3 teams that travel worth a dang to bowl games....VT, Clemson, and FSU...while everybody in the B1G travels decent, with a few huge fanbases.

Roger that.

So, what I hear you saying is "the SEC and Big Ten kick our tails in bowl money... always have, probably always will". Can't argue with that.

I guess the best we can hope for is to be tied with Big-12 for 2nd place. Not that Big-12 fans don't travel well (they do), but their TV markets are just so small (outside of OU and Texas) that they just don't get good 3rd, 4th, 5th bowls...

Pac-12 fans don't care all that much, and there aren't enough Big East fans to worry about them.

STILL... makes the $7 million/year TV discrepancy look like chump change, doesn't it?

(04-04-2012 01:52 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  South Carolina has an enrollment approaching if not over 60,000. They do kegger parties for the spring game of 0-11 teams. Because if you've been to Columbia, SC ... you know the only thing to do is drink.

Hey, Riverbanks Zoo is nice...

(04-04-2012 01:59 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(04-04-2012 01:13 PM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  A couple problems with your blog post.

The Gator Bowl always has and always will covet a SEC affiliation. That in of itself means that the ACC is likely shut out because of the 2 pre-existing bowl match ups with the SEC (Chick-fl-A and Music City) and the already multiple regular season matchups (Clemson/South Carolina, FSU/UF, GT/UGA, Wake/Vandy, Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic) limits the ability of the bowls to match up teams that haven't already played during the season. This same reasoning will prevent us from securing the Liberty Bowl as well.

It's also going to be hard to pry the B1G away from any bowl because quite frankly we only have 3 teams that travel worth a dang to bowl games....VT, Clemson, and FSU...while everybody in the B1G travels decent, with a few huge fanbases.

Roger that.

So, what I hear you saying is "the SEC and Big Ten kick our tails in bowl money... always have, probably always will". Can't argue with that.

I guess the best we can hope for is to be tied with Big-12 for 2nd place. Not that Big-12 fans don't travel well (they do), but their TV markets are just so small (outside of OU and Texas) that they just don't get good 3rd, 4th, 5th bowls...

Pac-12 fans don't care all that much, and there aren't enough Big East fans to worry about them.

STILL... makes the $7 million/year TV discrepancy look like chump change, doesn't it?

Easier said than done, however.

The difference between us and the SEC is not only the top payouts ($4.25 million payout per team from the Capital One compared to $2.9 million payout for the Chick-fil-a) but in the 2nd and 3rd level payouts ( 2nd level $3.1 million for the Outback vs $2.1 million from the Champs Sports, 3rd level $2.75 million from the Gator Bowl vs $1.9 million from the Sun Bowl) That's where the SEC kills us. It would be far easier to get the lower level bowls to collectively up their payouts than trying to get the folks in Atlanta/Orlando/El Paso to up theirs.

We are also going to need to add at least one bowl with the additions of Syracuse and Pitt. We don't need to add another bottom feeder like the Military Bowl or the Fight Hunger Bowl, what we need to do is look towards something like the aforementioned Pinstripe Bowl....despite the bush league, second tier factors of playing in a baseball stadium and the weather not being attractive. and the Ticket City Bowl.

(04-04-2012 02:01 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(04-04-2012 01:52 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  South Carolina has an enrollment approaching if not over 60,000. They do kegger parties for the spring game of 0-11 teams. Because if you've been to Columbia, SC ... you know the only thing to do is drink.

Hey, Riverbanks Zoo is nice...

I live in Lexington County and the only reason I cross the Congaree River is to go to work. The Air Force could use the entire City of Columbia as a bombing range and I wouldn't shed a tear. As soon as my kids are out of high school I am pulling up stakes and hauling butt to the sticks.

(04-04-2012 02:20 PM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  

(04-04-2012 02:01 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote:  

(04-04-2012 01:52 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  South Carolina has an enrollment approaching if not over 60,000. They do kegger parties for the spring game of 0-11 teams. Because if you've been to Columbia, SC ... you know the only thing to do is drink.

Hey, Riverbanks Zoo is nice...

I live in Lexington County and the only reason I cross the Congaree River is to go to work. The Air Force could use the entire City of Columbia as a bombing range and I wouldn't shed a tear. As soon as my kids are out of high school I am pulling up stakes and hauling butt to the sticks.

Behind enemy lines!

Wake represented the ACC a lot better in the Orange Bowl than Clemson did. We took more than 30,000 fans there and actually had the lead in 4th quarter over a team ranked in Top 5.

(04-04-2012 08:28 PM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Wake represented the ACC a lot better in the Orange Bowl than Clemson did. We took more than 30,000 fans there

That's the benefit of having the game on Tuesday Jan 2nd, where most people only had to take 2 days of vacation right after the holidays versus having to take it on Wednesday, Jan 4th where you had to take at least 3. I know it prevented myself and at least 6 other people I know from going because we simply couldn't get the time off that soon after the holidays, and my kids were already back in school.

Even with the horrid date of the game the 67K crowd was overwhelmingly orange, so I highly doubt that Wake took more fans than Clemson.

(04-05-2012 12:54 AM)catdaddy_2402 Wrote:  

(04-04-2012 08:28 PM)WakeForestRanger Wrote:  Wake represented the ACC a lot better in the Orange Bowl than Clemson did. We took more than 30,000 fans there

That's the benefit of having the game on Tuesday Jan 2nd, where most people only had to take 2 days of vacation right after the holidays versus having to take it on Wednesday, Jan 4th where you had to take at least 3. I know it prevented myself and at least 6 other people I know from going because we simply couldn't get the time off that soon after the holidays, and my kids were already back in school.

Even with the horrid date of the game the 67K crowd was overwhelmingly orange, so I highly doubt that Wake took more fans than Clemson.

I'm glad the BCS committee is looking at this again because those mid-week BCS bowls are ridiculous (at least the minor bowls are in December when schools are out and many employees have extra time off).

Good news: This year's Orange Bowl falls on Jan. 1st, so it'll be a holiday
Bad news: Jan. 1st, 2013 falls on a Tuesday.

According to US News, South Carolina has an enrollment of 21,383. That's probably undergrad so add a few thousand for post grad.

The ACC has 8 bowl tie-ins totaling ~$29 million. The SEC has 9 tie-ins totaling $41 million. The big difference is the Cotton Bowl ($6.75 million) and Capital One Bowl ($4.25 million).

If we add a bowl these seem to make geographic sense. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge the current tie-in though.
Capital One Bowl, Orlando - $4.25 million. B1G vs SEC
Outback Bowl, Tampa - $3.4 million. B1G vs SEC
Gator Bowl, Jacksonville - $2.5 million. B1G vs SEC
Pinstripe Bowl, New York - $2.0million. BE vs B12

There is also $85 million in at-large BCS bowls. Each one of those spots the ACC gets probably takes one away from the SEC.

Bottom line...start playing better football!

(04-05-2012 07:22 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  According to US News, South Carolina has an enrollment of 21,383. That's probably undergrad so add a few thousand for post grad.

The ACC has 8 bowl tie-ins totaling ~$29 million. The SEC has 9 tie-ins totaling $41 million. The big difference is the Cotton Bowl ($6.75 million) and Capital One Bowl ($4.25 million).

If we add a bowl these seem to make geographic sense. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge the current tie-in though.
Capital One Bowl, Orlando - $4.25 million. B1G vs SEC
Outback Bowl, Tampa - $3.4 million. B1G vs SEC
Gator Bowl, Jacksonville - $2.5 million. B1G vs SEC
Pinstripe Bowl, New York - $2.0million. BE vs B12

There is also $85 million in at-large BCS bowls. Each one of those spots the ACC gets probably takes one away from the SEC.

Bottom line...start playing better football!

The ACC could easily dislodge the Big East of of the Pinstripe Bowl, when the current contract is up. I don't think the Steinbrenner's envisioned games featuring San Diego State, Central Florida, and Houston on a regular basis. 5/8 teams are no longer located in the northeast for the Big East. Instead there or 3/soon to be 14. Which matches up with the ACC. The ACC doesn't have the likes of SDSU, Memphis, SMU, etc though.

(04-05-2012 07:53 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(04-05-2012 07:22 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  According to US News, South Carolina has an enrollment of 21,383. That's probably undergrad so add a few thousand for post grad.

The ACC has 8 bowl tie-ins totaling ~$29 million. The SEC has 9 tie-ins totaling $41 million. The big difference is the Cotton Bowl ($6.75 million) and Capital One Bowl ($4.25 million).

If we add a bowl these seem to make geographic sense. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge the current tie-in though.
Capital One Bowl, Orlando - $4.25 million. B1G vs SEC
Outback Bowl, Tampa - $3.4 million. B1G vs SEC
Gator Bowl, Jacksonville - $2.5 million. B1G vs SEC
Pinstripe Bowl, New York - $2.0million. BE vs B12

There is also $85 million in at-large BCS bowls. Each one of those spots the ACC gets probably takes one away from the SEC.

Bottom line...start playing better football!

The ACC could easily dislodge the Big East of of the Pinstripe Bowl, when the current contract is up. I don't think the Steinbrenner's envisioned games featuring San Diego State, Central Florida, and Houston on a regular basis. 5/8 teams are no longer located in the northeast for the Big East. Instead there or 3/soon to be 14. Which matches up with the ACC. The ACC doesn't have the likes of SDSU, Memphis, SMU, etc though.

It seems that the Pinstripe Bowl represents the Acc's best chance at getting another good paying bowl. The Acc isnt going to be taking any of those bowls from the Big 10 or SEC. But I bet the folks running the Pinstripe would love to pit up an Acc team vs a Big 10 team though, since those two leagues have all of the traditional northern teams locked up, with the exception of Rutgers and Temple. I really dont want anything to do with the Gator Bowl and that clown who runs it. Not the way he ran down the Big east when they had that bowl. It was totally unnecessary.

I think first and foremost we need to start winning the games we're in! The more successful our programs our, the more the fans will follow. Another 2-6 bowl season with more BCS bowl losses will not help that cause. We need to win!

(04-05-2012 08:37 AM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(04-05-2012 07:53 AM)OrangeCrush22 Wrote:  

(04-05-2012 07:22 AM)Wolfman Wrote:  According to US News, South Carolina has an enrollment of 21,383. That's probably undergrad so add a few thousand for post grad.

The ACC has 8 bowl tie-ins totaling ~$29 million. The SEC has 9 tie-ins totaling $41 million. The big difference is the Cotton Bowl ($6.75 million) and Capital One Bowl ($4.25 million).

If we add a bowl these seem to make geographic sense. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge the current tie-in though.
Capital One Bowl, Orlando - $4.25 million. B1G vs SEC
Outback Bowl, Tampa - $3.4 million. B1G vs SEC
Gator Bowl, Jacksonville - $2.5 million. B1G vs SEC
Pinstripe Bowl, New York - $2.0million. BE vs B12

There is also $85 million in at-large BCS bowls. Each one of those spots the ACC gets probably takes one away from the SEC.

Bottom line...start playing better football!

The ACC could easily dislodge the Big East of of the Pinstripe Bowl, when the current contract is up. I don't think the Steinbrenner's envisioned games featuring San Diego State, Central Florida, and Houston on a regular basis. 5/8 teams are no longer located in the northeast for the Big East. Instead there or 3/soon to be 14. Which matches up with the ACC. The ACC doesn't have the likes of SDSU, Memphis, SMU, etc though.

It seems that the Pinstripe Bowl represents the Acc's best chance at getting another good paying bowl. The Acc isnt going to be taking any of those bowls from the Big 10 or SEC. But I bet the folks running the Pinstripe would love to pit up an Acc team vs a Big 10 team though, since those two leagues have all of the traditional northern teams locked up, with the exception of Rutgers and Temple. I really dont want anything to do with the Gator Bowl and that clown who runs it. Not the way he ran down the Big east when they had that bowl. It was totally unnecessary.

I thought the Syracuse guys would jump on the Pinstripe bowl!

Being outgained by ~$1M/year/team by the SEC in bowl revenue isn't a big deal to me. Potentially being outgained by ~$5M/year/team by every major conference in tv revenue is a huge deal to me.

(04-05-2012 07:54 PM)JustAnotherName Wrote:  Being outgained by ~$1M/year/team by the SEC in bowl revenue isn't a big deal to me. Potentially being outgained by ~$5M/year/team by every major conference in tv revenue is a huge deal to me.

Yoju are wasting your time expressing those concerns here. All you'll get around these parts is a bunch of folks saying this: