(03-07-2014 01:26 PM)bigblueblindness Wrote: (03-07-2014 01:24 PM)bigblueblindness Wrote: (03-07-2014 11:28 AM)JRsec Wrote: (03-07-2014 09:50 AM)bigblueblindness Wrote: (03-07-2014 09:29 AM)XLance Wrote: Florida State indeed wa in a cash crunch.
They had promised Jimbo enough money to compete with the SEC and it started to suck funds away from other sports at FSU. The athletic department was even having to have fund raising events to be able to make mortgage payments for their baseball stadium upgrade.
FSU has the same problem as Carolina, too many sports to be able to allocate the amount of money necessary to compete with SEC teams in football.
No, not a banker, my company has done business with multiple banks.
Speaking is ..isms (socialism, communism, etc.) when all of the P5 schools earn the same amounts on their media contracts, then Vanderbilt might be worth the same amount as Florida State, but until then is still 2 for 1 ('lil carolina AND Vanderbilt for Florida State). We all know that the chickens aren't worth much and when Spurrier retires, they will sink back to their customary level.
XLance, instead of wanting South Carolina, the ACC should set its sights on a bigger target. First, I would still try to woo Vanderbilt for all the reasons already stated. I would keep Florida State, as well. My next move would be to make whatever deal it takes to claim a contiguous state school that is still touching the Atlantic and would instantly be the top revenue and football attendance school in the ACC. They would also have the best historical (and recent) football pedigree in the conference. They are about the same in overall research capabilities and functions as Syracuse and better than Clemson. They will keep their in-state annual game at the end of the year as yet another awesome SEC/ACC rival matchup, and you will work the ACC schedule around them so they may play Georgia and Florida as often as they wish. Work out a deal that, despite what the ACC pays out, they will always be given a supplementary payment by the ACC that will bring them to equal plus $1 whatever the SEC pays to its members.
With JR leading this thread, I do not even want to utter the name, but you know who I am talking about. Offer a king's ransom, knowing that the return on investment will be more than just monetarily profitable. What's the worst they can say? If the ACC is serious about staking its flag in the Southeast, adding this school would do it, especially in addition to Vanderbilt.
Your absolutely right BBB. The ACC should let Louisville join the Big 12 and they should add Kentucky. Keeping Florida and Georgia on their schedule should be important to the Cats.
But seriously if you sacrifice Vanderbilt, why not sacrifice Ole Miss as well. I doubt the SEC would want to give up a perennial top 10 earner in Auburn. Furthermore the annual television games of interest Auburn/A&M, Auburn/LSU, Auburn/Georgia, Auburn/Alabama, and until the motorcycle ride Auburn/Arkansas, all annually made CBS or a top ESPN evening time slot. Besides we are the largest University in the State of Auburama.
Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Texas. There is your contiguous movement to the Longhorns. There is your Western pod for the ACC. Then the SEC could pick up two from the ACC and add Oklahoma and Kansas. So the trade would be Ole Miss and Vanderbilt (both close together) and not too remote from Tulane for N.C. State and Virginia Tech. Nothing would do more for Ole Miss football than playing a predominant ACC schedule. Then the Egg bowl becomes ACC/SEC and Vandy/Tennessee becomes ACC/SEC. Then the ACC has the top school in the nation and a ready made network to boot.
Touche, JR. I realize Kentucky's place in the pecking order of things. I said that the ACC should offer a king's ransom for Auburn. Would they or should they go? Nope, but the offer should still be made. The ACC should see Auburn the same way that the SEC saw Texas A&M; they are a more than ready made package from a state with two powerhouses that brings all positives and no negatives. You know how offers go... the recipient receives only benefits. The offer can be used as ammo to improve their current situation (in this case, a conference), or they can take the offer if the current situation is not improved to their liking.
Vandy and Ole Miss are intriguing for the reasons you laid out. If the ACC could put together a financial and "favors" package that was anywhere near what they receive in the SEC, I think both schools would flourish in the ACC. If you had to choose a better overall SEC fit between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, I do believe that State would win out. In terms of brand and function, Ole Miss is a cocktail and dessert, and Mississippi State is meat and potatoes. The same designation could be made among the Virginia and North Carolina public schools, by the way.
Don't feel badly about your suggestion, it is certainly something that more than a few Auburn folks have considered. Our oldest rival is Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida State have a short history of great games and there is much potential there for a great rivalry, and our games with Clemson go back to the Southern Conference days. If we could keep Georgia and Alabama on the schedule it could be a possibility with 1 gigantic exception and a second almost as large.
1. Money. The potential of the SEC is tremendous. The ACC may yet be on someone's menu. Perhaps Auburn can gain those games with Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Clemson by simply waiting and that doesn't risk loss of revenue at all.
2. Recruiting. There is no way Auburn recruits as well outside of the SEC.
So those two are monster deal breakers.
Should the Big 10 ever make a successful multiple team raid on the ACC then I strongly believe that both Clemson and Florida State will be ours. Georgia Tech is another matter.
Another point to keep in mind BBB is that in the ACC neither Ole Miss nor Vanderbilt would have to commit the same level of resources to sports in order to be highly competitive. So there is a give and take with the income issue. If the ACC could stay within 5 million of the SEC then cutting your athletic budget by 15 or 20 million would not only net you money, but even provide the extra travel costs in the process. And actually Tulane would not be necessary as the foot of Mississippi is close enough to Texas to bring Baylor and U.T. on board. Now I'm being purely speculative but it could be worked either way. Let's say we swapped Vanderbilt and Ole Miss for a pair of redundant ACC schools. If both conferences wanted to go to 18 to end the Big 12 the ACC could boost themselves with Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, and West Virginia. The SEC could add Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State.
Texas, Baylor, Ole Miss, Florida State, Vanderbilt, and Kansas State form a division.
North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Miami, Duke and Wake Forest form a division.
Boston College, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Louisville, and Virginia form a division.
While a hypothetical long shot something like it is not inconceivable.
Then your SEC looks like this:
Auburn, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia Tech
Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Texas A&M
Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech