(10-29-2023 11:11 AM)XLance Wrote: (10-27-2023 02:12 PM)ken d Wrote: If the ACC loses only FSU, why not just stay at 16 for FB, 17 OS. Unless an add increases their average media revenue, what's the point?
The way things are looking now, we could end up with 4 conferences of 18 each.
The SEC's best defense is a strong ACC.
If we want to maintain any semblance of regional emphasis this is the path that must be taken. If the Big 10 and SEC move to 20 each regionalism for all but the SEC is dead, and the SEC's regionalism will be more loosely defined than before, but at least contiguous peripheral expansion is somewhat justifiable.
If the SEC added just Florida State for the insured presence in Florida that gives them in terms of advertising advantage, and Kansas to cement a rivalry and create a 6 team definable former Big 12 sub region to cut down a bit on travel, then movement to 18 would not only make sense in obtaining objectives, but in profit margins beyond FOX and ESPN.
A stronger ACC would keep the SEC from worrying about a diminishing Big 10 from seeking to augment their influence politically and broaden their recruiting athletically by poaching their way down the East Coast. And as the census indicates the loss of seats in Congress up North their aspirations for Virginia and North Carolina will grow. USC and UCLA boosted markets helped slightly with their recruiting but adding them and Washington and Oregon also helps with representation. The South is growing in general and while that poses no immediate threat to them institutionally it raises concerns about political influence in the future.
IMO, realignment has been obviously about sports, and stealthily about influence. A strong ACC allied closely with the SEC is better for all of us in many ways. In helping with representation in areas important to grants, in regional business and infrastructure concerns, in preservation of culture in the midst of a culture war, and ultimately in holding our natural advantages in athletics, which is part of that culture. The Big 10 didn't just pounce on Los Angeles because of the value of Texas football. They pounced on California because of the political strength of Texas.
You won't find any articles supporting this, because political influence is something you don't talk about publicly, or you risk losing some of it. You can keep company with whores as long as the relationship isn't acknowledged, and that goes for the South as well as the North. And state institutions are inherently political.
Florida State and Kansas essentially finish what the SEC needs. If Vanderbilt wants the ACC because it will be a better fit for them then the ACC has to work the deal. And I'm addressing this to Xlance. The SEC will not boot a school. But the problem then is that the SEC will need another school. I think you would prefer to keep Clemson, and the SEC doesn't have a driving need of them. You can't afford to give up Miami too, and the SEC doesn't have a major need of them if we have FSU. I would suggest N.C. State or Virginia Tech but the ACC needs some decent sized states that 100% their own otherwise you split carriage and lose ad revenue. Maybe at that point a Colorado would hold some interest for the SEC. They would fit well with UT, OU, Missouri and Kansas, and would, like Missouri, be the only P4 school in a state of 6 million. I just see them as a bridge too far for Sankey. If we lose Vanderbilt we'll need a private if the legal matters stay as they are currently. Perhaps T.C.U. gets the golden Wonka ticket.
The only way this works and we don't grow to a Super Two is if Notre Dame anchors the ACC. Without FSU and with Tulane you would have assembled the total reach they want. Othewise we move to 20 for the SEC and Big 10 and from there for inventory's sake in an upper tier TV deal likely 24.