ACC and BIG
- Thread starter stennet
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I think top to bottom the ACC is better. Now all the ACC has to do is get the BIG's bowl hookups.
That's just it. You can have mediocre B1G teams like Iowa and Penn State playing on NYD and a ranked ACC team playing in Carolina Ford Dealer's Bowl in Tarboro.
I think that is because overall the B1G teams have been around forever in their conference and have earned the tv ratings. In my opinion you have 1 team per state so there are huge followings, i.e. Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, The Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana, even Rutgers, Penn State has a huge following, Northwestern is a brand unto themselves. The ACC was a different conference then than it is now. A little while ago teams like Louisville, Va Tech were not even really heard from. Miami (Fl) and Fla State are relatively new. As the old saying goes, just win and they will come. As this conference grows and wins, the better bowls will follow as it is all about putting fannies in the seats.
PSU isn't very good this year, but look at Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue and Maryland. My god I wonder how those teams would finish in the AAC.
Before Louisville joined the Big East, I always considered them a lower tier than Pitt, same with Cincy, but they certainly passed Pitt to a much higher level. If only Pitt would do ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING they do, maybe they could get the players to get there.
Sadly, bowls have nothing to do with how good a team is. Well, they do in a sense, but if you have a big alumni traveling base, you get good bowls. Therefore, the Big 10 will always have better bowls.
As it stands now:
ACC
36-10 vs. OCC, 6-5 vs. P5
Big Ten
32-9 vs. OCC, 7-4 vs. P5
Head to head:
ACC 3, Big Ten 1
ACC
36-10 vs. OCC, 6-5 vs. P5
Big Ten
32-9 vs. OCC, 7-4 vs. P5
Head to head:
ACC 3, Big Ten 1
Bowls like teams whose fans travel. That's the bottom line. The B1G travels well, the ACC, not so much.
Too many small schools in the ACC.
Other than this past bowl in Annapolis, Pitt has proven time and time again over the last 18 years that it won't travel. So even if the ACC had the B10's lineup, it would get passed over often by worse teams with bigger fan bases. Pitt will have to earn its way to good bowls the old fashioned way...by winning its way in.
BTW, extremely disappointed by the turnout of Pitt fans in Charlottesville. Pitt fans need to catch on to what a great weekend destination it is. Should be a great biennial destination for Pitt fans to roadtrip.
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It seems to me that the B10 is in decline except for a few programs.
The ACC is on an upswing!
ND as an independent is also trending down.
If the ACC plays its cards right it may be the conference of the future!
The ACC is on an upswing!
ND as an independent is also trending down.
If the ACC plays its cards right it may be the conference of the future!
It has definitely improved with the emergence of Clemson and return of FSU and has an argument to be among the best. The Coastal has to step up. If Miami comes back, it could be off the charts, because few programs draw eyeballs like the Canes. Strength will be perceived by how Miami, FSU, and Clemson are. Trend is in the right direction and it is vastly improved to where it was 5 years ago.
This year the ACC is a legit football conference. It's night and day a superior league from where it was just three years ago, when nobody made FSU break a sweat on their way to a national title.
Paco, the turnout at UNC was a disappointment too vs. 2 years ago. It seems a lot of fans do it only for the novelty.
Pitt always had a good turnout for Navy in Annapolis. There's a big concentration of alumni in the DMV (biggest outside PA).
Charlottesville should be the new Annapolis. Craft breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries all over the place. Tons of historic sites. Lots going on for adults and families. Pitt fans should be over running the place.
I think as the team performs more consistently you'll see better road and bowl turnouts.
Oh I agree, but we always traveled well to Navy... which in part was because of the alumni base there. I just think Charlottesville could be a good biennial destination for the fan base....including for the DMV based alumni base.
It's close to Shenandoah National Park too.
Disagree. They had a nail biter against NCSU, but have also beaten the likes of Auburn on the road and L'Ville at home. L'Ville would challenge any team in the BIG right now, including both OSU and Michigan. Sorry, I'm not buying the hype of Michigan who has played a bunch of patsies outside of Wisconsin.
The thing is, Clemson is actually playing like they were last year, except for the turnovers.
It can be more like 3 hours depending on traffic and where in the DMV you are coming from.
Was the turnout bad? Depends if you are comparing it to a typical Pitt turnout or a turnout to a team that actually travels well. It was a smaller Pitt turnout than I expected though.
Michigan also beat Colorado soundly.
Clemson looked bad in the Auburn game, and Malzahn might have been out of a job if there were 2 more seconds on the clock in the LSU game. Clemson looked like crap against NCSU & Troy. They played well against Louisville. We will see how it plays out. At this point, I fully expect them to get Clemsoned somewhere down the road.
I think some people think it's a harder trip than it is, I really do. You can get there in six hours or less. It's a beautiful place, a great place to watch a game. It's everything an ACC road trip offers that a trip to some grey craphole 30 miles outside of Hartford wasn't.
I hope we get lucky enough to get Clemsoned and go 21-1 and play in the national title game.
They'll pull it together. Their next game against FSU will be another great test for that program. With a sound win over FSU, I cannot see how you keep that team out of the Top 3.
All teams have letdowns against inferior competition from time to time; bottom line is that they continue to win, with at least 2 wins against stronger teams. I don't know about the Clemsoned statement; they have all of the pieces to make another run at the National Championship game this year.
Oh yeah, me too.
With what's in front of them, they need to win out. This is supposed to be their year. If they stumble, the whole 'Clemsoned' will be back. A few years ago, Jimbo Fisher & FSU had the rep of choking one away they shouldn't each year. Until the Tigers win it all, that's going to be their MO, fair or not.
With what's in front of them, they need to win out. This is supposed to be their year. If they stumble, the whole 'Clemsoned' will be back. A few years ago, Jimbo Fisher & FSU had the rep of choking one away they shouldn't each year. Until the Tigers win it all, that's going to be their MO, fair or not.
VA, they do. That's why Saturday was so alarming. That game was out of their control. If NC State could kick a FG, Clemson's run at a NC was over. The game was wedged in between BC & an open date. No excuses & not the business approach you would expect from a vetern team.
Your logic is dumb. You could apply that to every team in the country that has not won a national title in the last 25 years. Clemson has been one of the best programs in the country under Dabo.
Of course Clemson has been one of the top programs. I'm talking about the type of scrutiny reserved only for the 15 to 20 football factories that feel they should be in the title hunt most seasons. Dabo deserves credit for getting them in that mix.
Cmon TD, did you watch the Colorado-Michigan game?
The final margin may has been 17 points, but Colorado led for a large part of that game.
I
Buffs led early in the game, but Michigan had taken the lead by the half. Colorado might have went ahead briefly in the 3rd, I can't remember. Michigan controlled most of the 2nd half. Colorado is a pretty good team, and it was a game where I never felt the outcome was in serious doubt.
They have also played only one game on the road thus far at Rutgers. Looking at their schedule, other than Iowa they don't play one good team until they go to Ohio State.
Bowls are cute and help with recruiting if you can get into good ones. All but a couple are something of a joke but getting cool gifts and a winter time trip is part of the fun of killing yourself for the other 11 months of the year.
I'd rather not see Pitt and the rest of the ACC playing for "quality Tier II" bowl games. I'd rather see them playing to win championships and if they miss, the rest takes care of itself.
I'd rather not see Pitt and the rest of the ACC playing for "quality Tier II" bowl games. I'd rather see them playing to win championships and if they miss, the rest takes care of itself.
It just comes down to travel. If I had to rank all teams by fan travel (all else equal), it would be:
1. OSU
2. Nebraska
3. Michigan
4. Penn State
5. Iowa
6. Wisconsin
7. Clemson
8. Florida State
9. VT
10. NCSU
11. Louisville
12. MSU
Just too many huge traveling BT fanbases.
Agree with you to an extent. The problem with Charlottesville is access and hotels. Limited flights, limited hotels, makes it tougher to be an easy destination. Agree that it is/was a great weekend destination...but never think it will get the kind of crowds that a place like Annapolis draws. I suspect the largest road crowd this year will be at Clemson. Most Pitt fans have never been...so it is an "event" which as you know, always draws Pitt fans out. Hail to Pitt!
I do not think the turn out was bad. Virginia splits up the visitors among several sections in the upper deck--so I think it was a bit deceiving. I'd say it [UVA] was the largest Pitt road crowd this season, nudging out UNC. The OKState traveling crowd was pretty much only the hard core Pitt traveling fan base. I expect Clemson will be the largest this season. Hopefully there will also be a good turn out for Miami...as that is a stadium where there is plenty of room for the visitors. Hail to Pitt!
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