Conference Realignment

[stinger78]

I think this thread will be lively over the next few years.
Lord willing, Tech is scooped up at the same time Clem, FSU, Miami leave (other conjecture is UNC and UVA as possible poaching targets too)

My question is: if tech isn’t taken, and those 3+ leave, is the ACC just dissolved? I would guess there is language in the tv contracts that would sever any ties if multiple members leave, so with no money? Is it just 12+ teams that are homeless until a new conference is formed?

I would imagine we'd get a Big 12 invite if that were to happen. GT would be a good team for them. Good football, basketball, and baseball.

ETA: But the ACC won't just dissolve. There are teams in FL elsewhere from there to Texas who might come over. I think of UCF, USF, Tulane, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma St, maybe even WVU.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

Yes, but like all major decisions, you have to provide context. Also, he tried to get back in 15 years later, and had support of Alabama, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Vandy, and Kentucky, but was voted down due to the Mississippis, Auburn, and especially UGAg. Does he get any credit for that?

At that point the damage was already done. I understand Dodd's justification for the decision, I just disagree with it. Tech leaving the SEC didn't change what Bama was doing and didn't result in changes to how the SEC operated. The SEC's behavior continued to get worse while the conference furthered it's football prestige nationally.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but IMO, Tech leaving the conference was never going to force any change. The same conference that was willing to sweep things under the rug and look the other way wouldn't have any interest in taking action against its power players. Even back then there was a lot of money involved.

 

[AugustaSwarm]

My question is: if tech isn’t taken, and those 3+ leave, is the ACC just dissolved? I would guess there is language in the tv contracts that would sever any ties if multiple members leave, so with no money? Is it just 12+ teams that are homeless until a new conference is formed?

I think the ACC would be stuck in a dire situation if those 3 teams leave. They represent the bulk of the TV viewership in the current ACC and without them, the value of the ACC media rights takes a HUGE hit.

 

[stinger78]

At that point the damage was already done. I understand Dodd's justification for the decision, I just disagree with it. Tech leaving the SEC didn't change what Bama was doing and didn't result in changes to how the SEC operated. The SEC's behavior continued to get worse while the conference furthered it's football prestige nationally.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but IMO, Tech leaving the conference was never going to force any change. The same conference that was willing to sweep things under the rug and look the other way wouldn't have any interest in taking action against its power players. Even back then there was a lot of money involved.

He wasn't trying to force them to change. He tried that when he was there and it failed - complete with Bear Bryant double-crossing him. Leaving the SEC was always plan B, but they showed they were intransigent. He had no choice. Leving wasn't to make them change, it was because they refused to change.

The plan (plan B) was to go independent and play a national schedule so he could recruit nationally. If you look at the post-1964 schedules, he replaced Florida with Miami and added Navy. In 1965 he swapped Alabama for UVA, and the old Florida spot became TAMU, plus Navy. In 1966, Penn State, UVA, and TAMU were all on the schedule. In 1967, it was TCU, Tulane (who had become independent), Miami, and Notre Dame. By 1968, we only played UT, Auburn and UGA from the old SEC schedule and the new opponents were TCU, Miami, Tulane, Navy, and ND. In 1969, it was SMU, Baylor, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, and Tulane. In 1970, we picked up South Carolina, FSU, Miami, along with Tulane, Navy, and ND. In 1971, it was Michigan State and Army, along with USCe, FSU, Navy, and ND. 1972, he added Rice and BC, and in 1974 he added Pittsburgh. You saw us playing in Texas (Rice, SMU, TCU, Baylor, TAMU) and Florida (Miami, FSU) a bunch, plus the Midwest (Pitt, PSU, MSU, ND). Dodd's plan was to recruit nationally.

So, what happened? I think the money dried up and Tech hired a Pres who didn't like football... all at the same time as conferences began to sign tie-ins to bowl games. and reap the reward of those games as they began to proliferate. In 1964 there were 9 college bowl games: Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange, Gator, Sun, Liberty, Bluebonnet, and Tangerine. By 1974 there were 11, and by 1978 there were 15. Money was starting to flow into the conferences and Tech was becoming closer to bankruptcy.

 

[slugboy]

Congress is paying attention this week

Democrats:




Republicans (believe that’s Chip Roy out of Texas?):

 

[orientalnc]

CARA might not be the path forward, but unless Congress passes something that creates a single entity, College Football, and eliminates the ability of the conferences to negotiiate their own TV deals and set their own rules, the root probem is not going away. The huge piles of money must be spread more equably or the LSU's and Texas A&M's of the world will continue to buy up whatever they wish. Plus, I do not think it is rational to expect the colleges to police themselves, or to expect an organization they control, to police anyone. Maybe none of this works and we'll just stand by and watch the game spiral into nothing but squabbles over money and rankings.

 

[MWBATL]

CARA might not be the path forward, but unless Congress passes something that creates a single entity, College Football, and eliminates the ability of the conferences to negotiiate their own TV deals and set their own rules, the root probem is not going away. The huge piles of money must be spread more equably or the LSU's and Texas A&M's of the world will continue to buy up whatever they wish. Plus, I do not think it is rational to expect the colleges to police themselves, or to expect an organization they control, to police anyone. Maybe none of this works and we'll just stand by and watch the game spiral into nothing but squabbles over money and rankings.

I AM IN VIOLENT AGREEMENT WITH @orientalnc ON THIS TOPIC…..

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Let’s say we do get in a bigger conference. Does everyone that doesn’t make the playoff, which will be a lot, fire their coach?
Looks like the direction it’s heading.

 

[Mandingo Finkelstein]

Let’s say we do get in a bigger conference. Does everyone that doesn’t make the playoff, which will be a lot, fire their coach?
Looks like the direction it’s heading.

Why wait to find out whether you make the playoffs or not? Just go ahead and fire them after the first loss. And, if Team Color X loses to Team Color Y in the spring game, then whoever is coaching Team Color X needs to be fired. By golly, spring football games need to be taken seriously. Another thing, if the women's tennis team loses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament...then the head football coach needs to go.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

He wasn't trying to force them to change. He tried that when he was there and it failed - complete with Bear Bryant double-crossing him. Leaving the SEC was always plan B, but they showed they were intransigent. He had no choice. Leving wasn't to make them change, it was because they refused to change.

The plan (plan B) was to go independent and play a national schedule so he could recruit nationally. If you look at the post-1964 schedules, he replaced Florida with Miami and added Navy. In 1965 he swapped Alabama for UVA, and the old Florida spot became TAMU, plus Navy. In 1966, Penn State, UVA, and TAMU were all on the schedule. In 1967, it was TCU, Tulane (who had become independent), Miami, and Notre Dame. By 1968, we only played UT, Auburn and UGA from the old SEC schedule and the new opponents were TCU, Miami, Tulane, Navy, and ND. In 1969, it was SMU, Baylor, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, and Tulane. In 1970, we picked up South Carolina, FSU, Miami, along with Tulane, Navy, and ND. In 1971, it was Michigan State and Army, along with USCe, FSU, Navy, and ND. 1972, he added Rice and BC, and in 1974 he added Pittsburgh. You saw us playing in Texas (Rice, SMU, TCU, Baylor, TAMU) and Florida (Miami, FSU) a bunch, plus the Midwest (Pitt, PSU, MSU, ND). Dodd's plan was to recruit nationally.

So, what happened? I think the money dried up and Tech hired a Pres who didn't like football... all at the same time as conferences began to sign tie-ins to bowl games. and reap the reward of those games as they began to proliferate. In 1964 there were 9 college bowl games: Rose, Cotton, Sugar, Orange, Gator, Sun, Liberty, Bluebonnet, and Tangerine. By 1974 there were 11, and by 1978 there were 15. Money was starting to flow into the conferences and Tech was becoming closer to bankruptcy.

The squeeze Tech got caught in happened fast. Tech went from being the first college team in the nation to win every one of the bowls to having more and more trouble getting into a bowl.

 

[57jacket2]

The squeeze Tech got caught in happened fast. Tech went from being the first college team in the nation to win every one of the bowls to having more and more trouble getting into a bowl.

Dodd made a big mistake. Loved watching his teams play. First option type plays (belly series) . Defense 1st priority. Drove me crazy punting on 3rd down. Unique coach.

 

[GT1990CHAMPS]

Dodd made a big mistake. Loved watching his teams play. First option type plays (belly series) . Defense 1st priority. Drove me crazy punting on 3rd down. Unique coach.

Completely agree. Stepping back, I could see an argument that he caused more harm than good to GT.

 

[stinger78]

Completely agree. Stepping back, I could see an argument that he caused more harm than good to GT.

Yeh, that's the take... the guy who's one of a handful of folks in the CFB HoF as both a player and a coach, and who has both the COTY named after him and ACOTY after one of his AC's did more harm than good. SMH.

The guy did what he felt needed to be done w/o the benefit of the hindsight so many on here lean heavily on. It was not a bad plan, but changes, both in ATL and CFB, that he could not foresee, killed the plan.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yeh, that's the take... the guy who's one of a handful of folks in the CFB HoF as both a player and a coach, and who has both the COTY named after him and ACOTY after one of his AC's did more harm than good. SMH.

The guy did what he felt needed to be done w/o the benefit of the hindsight so many on here lean heavily on. It was not a bad plan, but changes, both in ATL and CFB, that he could not foresee, killed the plan.

Tech. We eat our own.

 

[slugboy]

The Secretary of State chimes in. There’s lots of reason to wonder if this is noise, or it leads to action, but

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Yeah, let’s include more corruption into a sport that has been corrupt for 100 years.

You guys are nuts. The only system that will work is a system with no rules. Then atleast everyone is on the same level.

And GT’s fatal flaw wasn’t leaving the SEC (although in hindsight even Dodd recognized that was an error). GT’s greatest flaw was not using the bagmen system like every other southern team who kept relevance in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Sure, we had some solid years in there but for the most part we were at the bottom of the southern totem pole because we played by the rules while everyone else admitted morons and paid them. Now that we can pay suddenly we are decent. That’s not a coincidence.

 

[WreckinGT]

The Secretary of State chimes in. There’s lots of reason to wonder if this is noise, or it leads to action, but

Great. We are going to have teams just straight up buying playoff spots soon.

 

[RonJohn]

The Secretary of State chimes in. There’s lots of reason to wonder if this is noise, or it leads to action, but

It appears to me that there was a coordinated media effort by the SEC today. Alabama announced they were moving the USF game next year to several years in the future on the same day that the final rankings before conference championships come out. There was an immediate reaction by media personalities saying almost the same thing. (Almost as if the SEC had been discussing talking points with those media personalities this past weekend) The result of all of the media attention to the Alabama announcement is that Alabama got moved up to a position that ensures they will make the playoffs even if BYU beats TT. IF Rubio actually made this statement, it is just more politicking to pressure the committee to get teams in. The entire process is a farce.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Great. We are going to have teams just straight up buying playoff spots soon.

It’s almost as if that is already happening. We have become a nation of petulant children who change the rules every time we don’t like the results.

I keep trying to enjoy football but I’m constantly fighting my total disgust.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

It’s almost as if that is already happening. We have become a nation of petulant children who change the rules every time we don’t like the results.

I keep trying to enjoy football but I’m constantly fighting my total disgust.

I’ve been disgusted for 35 years now. I can’t fathom why fans who have tolerated this corrupt sport for decades are now suddenly up in arms about teams 9-15. Where were you when Tom Osbourne, Switzer, Johnson, Schembechler, Hayes, Dodd, Dooley, Dye, Neyland, Bryant were strong arming and buying media votes for a Natty?

Were you disgusted when an undefeated ACC champion was passed over?

Were you disgusted when Auburn bought a QB that directly led to a Natty and the NCAA just sat there?

I could go on and on. If you have endured the last 60 years of this sport then you can surely handle a few 10-2 teams posturing to be an 11 or 12 seed.