(03-18-2020 09:00 PM)Statefan Wrote: (03-18-2020 08:34 PM)quo vadis Wrote: (03-18-2020 08:05 PM)Statefan Wrote: UNC, Duke, and UVa together run the ACC. To block anything they don't like they can pick up a vote from WF, ND, or GT before playing politics with NC State or VT. UNC, Duke, and UVa are not going to answer to Bama, Tennessee, and Florida, nor to Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.
Yes, and that's similar to Texas and OU in the Big 12. In the Big 12, those two are the 900 and 800 pound gorillas surrounded by eight 100 pound chimpanzees who are dependent on them.
They'd still be gorillas in the SEC or B1G, but they would be two of several such gorillas and would no longer run the show. Same thing with UNC and UVA and Duke, the ACC is their feifdom, they'd lose that power totally if they left the ACC.
There are also cultural reasons for those schools to want to be in the ACC - the self anointed snobbish gentility of Tobacco Road and the upper-South east of the Appalachians. But power is a big part of it too.
Quo, we prefer to call that a "Tidewater" thing. But no, those three would not be gorillas in the B10 because they are less than half the size of the average B10 school, and in the SEC they can't field a competitive football program without massive cheating.
In all seriousness, the ideal conference for most of the ACC would consist of:
Maryland, UVA, Va. Tech, Carolina, State, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, South Carolina and Georgia Tech.
That in today's world is a perfect 10 team conference.
Corrigan suggested expansion and at an AD's meeting at Sedgefield CC in Greensboro the two schools suggested were tied at 4 votes each (Florida State and Syracuse). If we were to choose a 12 team league, those two would be good ads.
12 teams is enough for any conference.
http://nolefan.org/summary/fsu_acc.html
At the annual ACC meetings on May 22 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Florida State was mentioned for the first time. The discussions led Corrigan to schedule another meeting on July 25 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., in the exact room where the conference was formed in 1953.
Frustrated by the league's lack of focus on the expansion issue, Corrigan opted for a different approach at the Sedgefield meeting.
"I said, 'Let's make believe that we've agreed to expand. Each one of you has to write down a name of school,' " Corrigan recalled.
The secret ballot of member schools turned up four votes each for Syracuse and Florida State.
By the close of the four-hour meeting, Corrigan had permission from the ACC athletic directors to approach both schools to gauge interest. His first call was to Syracuse A.D. Jake Crouthamel. Crouthamel expressed interest, but because the Orangemen were charter members of the Big East, said the ACC would have to build a strong case. Corrigan, however, was not interested in wining and dining and told Crouthamel: "Just forget I called."
His call to Goin, however, yielded a different response.
"Bob said, 'Oh my goodness, I was hoping there was some interest [from] the ACC,'" Corrigan said.