Raleigh News-Observer article on ACC expansion

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

IMO, how things have moved around in the last decade, they are more concerned about the brand name, and if there happens to be a good rivalry between those brand names, then that is an added bonus. But they'd rather see Oregon vs tOSU or Texas vs Bama, games that aren't rivalries but have names that draw a ton of eyeballs than having Oregon vs Oregon State, Washington vs Washington State, Kansas vs Mizzou, etc.

I’m afraid this is true. It seems like it would be the antithesis of what was the best thing about the sport (the tradition, the regional interests, etc), but from what has been reported, the “eyeball” numbers and thus the revenues continue to rise as they convert the sport into a Saturday version of the NFL.

Mazel tov, as I say. I personally won’t really follow major college formal without Pitt being (even if only on paper, as we are now) a part of it. Just like I really would not follow the NFL if the Steelers were not a member of it.

Again, I don’t claim that “everyone else is like me; this will fail; they’ll all see!” While wringing my wrinkled fist at the clouds … I acknowledge the opposite, really. The overall ratings and dollar trends don’t seem to lie. I don’t think the leadership of the sport (which extend to the school presidents level) would tear it all down, would go in this radical direction, if not reasonably confident the ratings and revenues wouldn’t be appreciably higher.

Some schools seem to be committing program suicide by letting it all happen; some seem to be delusional (that they’ll get seats at the table), or they might even be relieved to be released from the futility or the incorrectness of it. Pitt looks certainly to be the latter, but I hope they have a realistic plan for how they’ll continue to be keep their desired non revenue sports at the big time level they seem driven to do.

 

[pittdan77]

IMO, how things have moved around in the last decade, they are more concerned about the brand name, and if there happens to be a good rivalry between those brand names, then that is an added bonus. But they'd rather see Oregon vs tOSU or Texas vs Bama, games that aren't rivalries but have names that draw a ton of eyeballs than having Oregon vs Oregon State, Washington vs Washington State, Kansas vs Mizzou, etc.

Well, they know their numbers better than anyone. The first part of realignment was grabbing the biggest brands. Now they have a butt ton of games nobody cares about like Oregon vs Minnesota or Oklahoma vs Rutgers. Maybe it's worth it, maybe not. There is a rumor out there that Pitt is on the B1G's list for that reason but rumors like that are worthless, IMO.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Well, they know their numbers better than anyone. The first part of realignment was grabbing the biggest brands. Now they have a butt ton of games nobody cares about like Oregon vs Minnesota or Oklahoma vs Rutgers. Maybe it's worth it, maybe not. There is a rumor out there that Pitt is on the B1G's list for that reason but rumors like that are worthless, IMO.

I think the most recent rumor is pretty credible because it was reported by Yahoo Sports in their story on Oregon and Washington going to the Big Ten; supposedly, we were one of 12 schools vetted last year after UCLA and USC were invited.

I think our best shot at receiving an invite is if they expand to 28 schools and we help them create a northeast/Atlantic regional pod with Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, perhaps North Carolina and Virginia, etc. I’d love that.

 

[boseman7]

The ratings will drop if there is no emotional connection to the teams playing anymore. I think with a 12 team playoff looming teams are better off staying in an above average conference and occasionally making the playoff than becoming a “ Vanderbilt type team “ in these super conferences. If you win your conference once every 5 to 7 years you can be rewarded with more money being in the playoff rather than just settling for crumbs in the Big 10 or Sec WHICH ARE OVERRATED FOOTBALL conferences driven by media.

 

[Burgh15]

As a fan it might be MORE FUN if they could be 10-2 every year and be small pond champions many times, rather than joining Rutgers and Vandy fighting to get to 5-7. On any given Saturday turning on the TV and seeing a "W" matters most to me, I don't care who they played.

Have we seen Pitt this year? They wouldn't be 10-2 every year. The big thing is not being a bottom dweller if you're playing blue bloods every week.

 

[pittdan77]

I think the most recent rumor is pretty credible because it was reported by Yahoo Sports in their story on Oregon and Washington going to the Big Ten; supposedly, we were one of 12 schools vetted last year after UCLA and USC were invited.

I think our best shot at receiving an invite is if they expand to 28 schools and we help them create a northeast/Atlantic regional pod with Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, perhaps North Carolina and Virginia, etc. I’d love that.

For context, it's a rumor that nobody will really want to verify publicly so I tend to take those with a grain of salt. The TV people will ultimately decide.

 

[DocEdT77]

As a fan it might be MORE FUN if they could be 10-2 every year and be small pond champions many times, rather than joining Rutgers and Vandy fighting to get to 5-7. On any given Saturday turning on the TV and seeing a "W" matters most to me, I don't care who they played.

Amen. There are more schools that fit Pitt's situation. It will be like the different tiers in high school football. I would rather will a AAA championship and have a losing record year in year out in 6A.