It's official - ACC to expand

This seems fair...
Ranked by sport:

Football:
North - Miami, Maryland, Virginia, Ga Tech, Syracuse, BC
South - Fla St, NC State, Clemson, UNC, Wake, Duke

Basketball
North - Syracuse, Maryland, Ga Tech, Va, Miami, BC
South - UNC, Duke, Wake, NC State, Fla St, Clemson

Seems pretty fair in both to me

 

there won't be a seperate basketball and football grouping... the logistics and extra cost for this would cut into the profit... trust me they won't cut out their bottom line.

 

I understand what you are saying about FSU and Miami, so for example you have FSU and Miami in the same bracket and then UNC my team in the other and not saying we are going to be that good, but now a 7-4 or 8-3 mark could easily put us in the championship game. Now if you have FSU and Miami split the bar gets raised a lot where you will need to be 9-2 or better to have a chance I would think. I am looking at this from a recruiting standpoint for teams like UNC and dook which way do you think benifits them the most. Knowing that you could play FSU or Miami in a season or hoping you win your bracket and one of those 2 teams wins theirs to have a chance to play them.

 

If I'm UNC's coach... and lets say I finish high enough in my division to go to the ACC Championship... and I'm recruiting this is what I tell my recruits... "We were the 2nd best team in the ACC last year. We were won win from being the ACC champs, and we're hoping you can come play for us to help us take that step to be the BEST team next year." ...It doesn't matter if I've got a 7-4 record... and 2 or 3 teams in the other division have better records... because I played in that title game my team was the "2nd best team in the ACC" ...I'm working that angle like a sum bitch... and due to that you WILL get quality recruits... they're ignorant haven't you ever noticed the Wonderlic scores they post to enter the NFL?? and that's AFTER at LEAST a year of college... some would fall for it... for that reason one division builds while the other is in the nation title hunt... in time it would even the playing field

 

I like the idea of a rotating schedule + natural rival.

For example....

Right now there are 9 teams, so 8 conference games in football and 16 in basketball. Those numbers should stay the same no matter the divisions.

So, at 6 teams a division, you've got 5 football games in your divisions per team, and 10 basketball games in your divisions. This would allow for 1 rival game with the other division in football, and two rotating every year, and double in basketball. That would allow for more natural rivalries to deveop and keep the divisions fairly balanced.

For instance:

South

Florida State
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Wake Forest
Syracuse
Virginia


North

North Carolina
Duke
Miami
NC State
Maryland
Boston College

FSU/Miami would be natural rivals, play every year in football and home/home in b-ball.
Boston College/Syracuse would be natural rivals, to keep the big east/travel rivalry going.
North Carolina would get Wake, Duke would get Virginia, and that leaves State and GTech.

What do you guys think? The divisions are a little topheavy in the south as far as football, but with FSU a little down it makes sense. The north is a little topheavy in basketball, but you HAVE to keep those rivalries intact, and with multiple teams in the tourney the divisions aren't as important in basketball.

 

I would say the North in your divisions would be stronger in Football. The South only has Florida St. and maybe Virginia. Who else in there other then on occasion GT is good?

 

I'm tellin you it WON'T work... not that its not a bad alignment just the fact that Miami's roll will be butter to get them to come here... they come here we can CHOOSE the other 2... and Miami WANTS to be in Fla. St. division... and you can say well they still play each other normally... well they can answer that with "how can we be assured of that"... the ONLY way they can is to be in the same division... whether any of us like it or not its the ONLY way its gonna happen.

 

Natural rivals set up upon the new divisions would be a rule. The ACC could make it work. And I think Clemson/GT/Virginia/Syracuse is a LOT stronger in football than UNC/Maryland/Boston College/NC State. Maybe you don't.

 

Either way it works out I am just happy to have Miami in the ACC for football alone. As long as we build it and they come here, with UNC playing dook twice in bball then I could live with it.

 

A natural rival + 2 other revolving teams per year keeps the in-conference games the same amount (i.e. every team in the ACC currently as well as the new members would have the same opportunity for out of conference games, not less).

It could be written in the by-laws, that those teams would play home and home in basketball as well as once in football every year.

Therefore, like you said earlier, Miami and FSU could play early in the season, and whoever lost still has a shot to get back in the ACC Championship Game.

That way, FSU and Miami could both be 11-1, or 12-0 and 10-2, and both be eligible/probable for BCS Bowls. Huge payday for every ACC team. It makes sense on so many levels.


edit: A team who goes undefeated in the new ACC would be a lock for the National Championship, even if there are two other conferences with undefeated champions imo.