Conference Realignment

[Root4GT]

I am going to assume Root is talking about integration. Maybe not, but that was the biggest change in the 1960’s in CFB. I am reminded that GT recruited the first black QB at a major college in the south, and her president stood up to the segregationist GA governor by playing Pitt in the 1956 Sugar Bowl, thus participating in the first integrated football game in the Deep South. That was not the issue. Calculus was an issue, but that change had happened in the late 1950’s well prior to our departure. Dodd was, however, trying to help the recruiting deficits he was experiencing and the SEC’s tendency to abuse recruiting. It backfired, and the timing vis. the coming influx of media dollars was bad, but how could you know?

Yup, and the education system in the South coupled with GT's extremely difficult academics in the 1960s and 1970s made it near impossible to recruit black football players in numbers and quality with the other Sothern schools who were late in integration but when they got into doing so went in way more than GT could.

Then the UGA/Oklahoma court case that changed TV viewing/contracts did the rest. On that GT had no control but was no longer a player on the National Stage.

 

[a5ehren]

Also pro sports came to Atlanta at basically the exact same time that we stopped playing all of our classic SEC rivals.

 

[stinger78]

ATLANTA is a differentiator. Largest Airport to from game easy) , Fortune 500, things to do. Quality recruits easy view games.

Tech needs to show.

Let us start getting serious interest now from the B1G and watch what the SECheat does. I think there would be a LOT of discussion about admitting GT.

 

[LT 1967]

Let us start getting serious interest now from the B1G and watch what the SECheat does. I think there would be a LOT of discussion about admitting GT.

I have said this before on the Swarm, but let's recall when Jim Harbaugh tried to bring his Michigan football satellite camp to Georgia how quickly Saban and Alabama ran to the NCAA to block him.

The SEC does not want the B1G in Georgia.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

GT’s best hope is to get in the BIG and be part of the BIG south division as alluded to earlier by another poster. The BIG has much smarter people running their conference then the SEC. The SEC is a step behind. I can recognize it because I saw years ago how the ACC was 5 steps behind. NIL and the portal caught the SEC by surprise and they are now walking in sand because everyone can now pay. It is the greatest tool to close the talent gap in the history of sports since restrictor plates. Sure, it’s gonna take a decade for the kids in elementary school to accept the new culture of players signing with teams all over the country but it will eventually happen as losses occur and coaches change. Think about Bama - with Saban gone and Bama being shown to be vulnerable their grip on every 5 star in the state is no longer a lock. Eventually Kirby will retire and things can change.

 

[UgaBlows]

The arrogance of our fanbase is unbelievable. Get over yourselves.

Not saying i wouldn’t be ecstatic to get into the SEC or BIG, just prefer the BIG. Sec just feels dirty to come crawling back to them after Dodd made his moral stand and basically ruined our program over it

 

[Southern psu fan]

Not saying i wouldn’t be ecstatic to get into the SEC or BIG, just prefer the BIG. Sec just feels dirty to come crawling back to them after Dodd made his moral stand and basically ruined our program over it

Some of this stuff is above my head but on the school work side and how hard it is to get into GT had GT stayed in the SEC we may have been another Vanderbilt so maybe it worked out for GT? Just saying all teams don’t play by the same standards in the class room. College football changed over the years.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Some of this stuff is above my head but on the school work side and how hard it is to get into GT had GT stayed in the SEC we may have been another Vanderbilt so maybe it worked out for GT? Just saying all teams don’t play by the same standards in the class room. College football changed over the years.

I was quite capable of, and nearly did, wash out all by myself. I admire all the successful young men and women that are athletes and students. Good on them.

 

[orientalnc]

The announcers for the A&M-Texas game made a comment that went like this: If you are a football player and can't in at Clemson, A&M is your safety school.

The classroom playing field is not level.

 

[57jacket2]

The basic problem in the makeup of the ACC was the inclusion of 4 teams from the same state. Does any other conference have more than two? It concentrates too much power in those 4 schools.

 

[orientalnc]

The basic problem in the makeup of the ACC was the inclusion of 4 teams from the same state. Does any other conference have more than two? It concentrates too much power in those 4 schools.

I would agree with you if there was any factual evidence that Wake or Duke is in any allliance with UNC or NCSU to make or retain rules that favor the NC schools. We let our overheatedd interest in sports to hide the missions of these schools. I agree that sports are a big driver of money and interest in the schools, but it is not part of their individual missions.

But, to answer your question, the old Southwest conference had Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, SMU, Baylor, and TCU. The only non-Texas school was Arkansas. The PAC-12 had USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Cal.

 

[Southern psu fan]

The announcers for the A&M-Texas game made a comment that went like this: If you are a football player and can't in at Clemson, A&M is your safety school.

The classroom playing field is not level.

I barely got out of high school so I wasn’t criticizing I was just saying the ACC was a better fit at the time because of academics.

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

The basic problem in the makeup of the ACC was the inclusion of 4 teams from the same state. Does any other conference have more than two? It concentrates too much power in those 4 schools.

TBF, it might have made sense in 1953...

 

[GoJacketsInRaleigh]

There needs to be about 12 schools to vote to end the GOR and end this conference immediately. Even those that don't get SEC or B1G invites would be much better off in the Big 12 than the current version of the ACC.

Stanford and Cal can go back to the new version of the Pac-12 and would probably be happy to do so. BC, Syracuse and WF are **** out of luck but who cares. The other 12 teams would find homes as the Big 12 would take whoever the SEC and B1G does not take.

 

[orientalnc]

There needs to be about 12 schools to vote to end the GOR and end this conference immediately. Even those that don't get SEC or B1G invites would be much better off in the Big 12 than the current version of the ACC.

Stanford and Cal can go back to the new version of the Pac-12 and would probably be happy to do so. BC, Syracuse and WF are **** out of luck but who cares. The other 12 teams would find homes as the Big 12 would take whoever the SEC and B1G does not take.

I lean toward the idea that ACC teams would find landing spots if the conference folds, but I don't think many will be better situated. Wake and BC would likely get hurt financially. Cuse is an attractive potential member for the B1G, but I don't think the B1g has a stomach for bigger. Maybe the SEC is there as well. What if neither wants to grow? Where is the financial incentive? And, the B12 teams are getting less than the ACC teams right now and it gets worse for them.

 

[GoJacketsInRaleigh]

I lean toward the idea that ACC teams would find landing spots if the conference folds, but I don't think many will be better situated. Wake and BC would likely get hurt financially. Cuse is an attractive potential member for the B1G, but I don't think the B1g has a stomach for bigger. Maybe the SEC is there as well. What if neither wants to grow? Where is the financial incentive?

Syracuse will play Big East basketball and can join the AAC in Football. BC and WF will join the AAC too. It is what it is. Cal and Stanford can go back to the new Pac 12. The other 12 schools would find homes.

The Big 12 would be better than the current version of the ACC. The ACC is, and has been, a national joke for years due to piss poor leadership. It's time to just end this mess. We were supposed to be the premier basketball conference while being a football joke. We are a basketball joke at this point outside of Duke and maybe UNC and Louisville. Look at the NCAA tournament bids.

 

[orientalnc]

We're both guessing, but there's no evidence the ACC is about to fold. Or that other conferences are circling for new members.

 

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

Pretty soon this will be the NFL, but instead of NFC and AFC, it’s BIG TEN and SEC and the two winners play for the national championship lol

 

[RonJohn]

We're both guessing, but there's no evidence the ACC is about to fold. Or that other conferences are circling for new members.

The biggest issue with ACC perception is that there isn't anyone strong at the top of the conference. Sankey spins for the SEC all the time. The Big 10 pushes talking points on the media. The Big 12 is easily worse than the ACC based on most metrics, but they spin that they are the third best conference. They have a large portion of the conference that was in the G5 only a few years ago, yet they are able to spin with the media. The ACC does absolutely nothing, except let the media say whatever they want to say. Phillips is not a sales person. He can't spin facts into a narrative. The ACC doesn't have a strong personality who can do that as a spokesperson.

We have five teams tied at 6-2 in conference, and one at 7-1. If that happened in the SEC, the SEC would be in the media constantly talking about how strong and deep the SEC is. Since it is in the ACC, the media (and I assume at nudging from the other conferences) is of the opinion that the conference is extremely week. Where is the person from the ACC who is stressing points about the ACC beating themselves up? Where is the person from the ACC discussing the ACC vs SEC record, which even at 4-6 is almost even and the ACC has the best win. The ACC beat the top team in the SEC, while four of the SEC's wins were against bottom teams in the ACC who didn't even make it to a bowl game. There are things to spin, but the ACC is just sitting back and letting the other three conferences control the narratives with the media.

I don't think the ACC is about to fold, but I have come to think within the last year that if there are no changes made between now and 2028-2030 it will fold at that point. It might be so far past the point or no return by now for any changes to have any effect.

 

[FredJacket]

The biggest issue with ACC perception is that there isn't anyone strong at the top of the conference. Sankey spins for the SEC all the time. The Big 10 pushes talking points on the media. The Big 12 is easily worse than the ACC based on most metrics, but they spin that they are the third best conference. They have a large portion of the conference that was in the G5 only a few years ago, yet they are able to spin with the media. The ACC does absolutely nothing, except let the media say whatever they want to say. Phillips is not a sales person. He can't spin facts into a narrative. The ACC doesn't have a strong personality who can do that as a spokesperson.

We have five teams tied at 6-2 in conference, and one at 7-1. If that happened in the SEC, the SEC would be in the media constantly talking about how strong and deep the SEC is. Since it is in the ACC, the media (and I assume at nudging from the other conferences) is of the opinion that the conference is extremely week. Where is the person from the ACC who is stressing points about the ACC beating themselves up? Where is the person from the ACC discussing the ACC vs SEC record, which even at 4-6 is almost even and the ACC has the best win. The ACC beat the top team in the SEC, while four of the SEC's wins were against bottom teams in the ACC who didn't even make it to a bowl game. There are things to spin, but the ACC is just sitting back and letting the other three conferences control the narratives with the media.

I don't think the ACC is about to fold, but I have come to think within the last year that if there are no changes made between now and 2028-2030 it will fold at that point. It might be so far past the point or no return by now for any changes to have any effect.

This year... It didn't help the teams expected to be at top of ACC ended of having bad seasons. Clemson & FSU ... ironic that FSU hurt the conference by beating Bama Wk1 which artificially elevated their expectations. I'm not defending this position but those early perceptions shape the interpretation of results. Clemson & FSU falling means ACC is weak. Hard to overcome. The SEC generally got in line & stayed that way.

The SEC didn't experience this inversion. Would be interesting if it had.