I would be for WVU joining the ACC, i accept others will differ with no disrespect intended!
First Choice:
1. Notre Dame 15th
2. Texas 16th
3. WVU 17th
4. Temple 18th
5. UCincy 19th
6. Vanderbilt 20th
Excerpt:
Notre Dame:
Before we dive into the long list of suitors that will be knocking on the ACC’s door as soon as the search process begins, let’s get one thing out of the way: Notre Dame will be a full-member of the conference eventually. Thanks to the new grant of rights announced after the ACC Network became official last summer, ND will be a member of the ACC in all sports (minus football) until at least 2036. It also stated that if the Irish were to cease their gridiron independency, they would be contractually bound to the ACC until that year as well. The new revenue from the ACC Network won’t be enough to have Notre Dame bail on its freedom and NBC contract by itself, but as Stewart Mandel said last July “as the years go by in college football’s rapidly changing structure — one where a four-team playoff and a selection committee have supplanted polls and bowls in importance — Notre Dame may eventually conclude that independence is no longer a viable route. Especially given one of the committee’s primary points of emphasis is … winning your conference.” Notre Dame’s relative mediocrity over the last couple of years hasn’t caused this to be a problem just yet, but the moment ND goes 10-2/11-1 and is left out of the CFP in favor of a Pac-12 conference champ, everything is going to hit the fan. I’d put it at a fairly high chance that happens before 2025 (The NBC contract ends that year) and the conversations will advance pretty quickly from there. That being said, Notre Dame will eventually be a member of the ACC in football, it’s just a matter of who else joins them and when.
Temple
Pros: Coming off back-to-back 10-4 seasons and an AAC conference title, Temple Football is in about as good a place as it has ever been. The Owls have gone 58-43 since 2009, which is far better than their all-time 42% win percentage dating back to 1894. The 32 NCAA basketball appearances also would go along well the ACC’s recent theme of adding schools with strong histories in the sport. The 32 tourny bids would rank 6th in the ACC behind just UNC, UL, Duke, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. Philadelphia’s media market is also one of the 10th biggest in the US and that never hurts when it comes to expansion resumes.
Cons: Despite being one of the larger schools on this list and located in one of the best sports towns in the country, Temple’s national brand is fairly weak overall. The school is heavily overshadowed in its own city by Villanova and in the state in general by Penn State and Pitt. It struggled mightily to make its strong 2016 football season count on the recruiting trail, finishing outside the Top 100 on Rivals and dead last in the AAC. That along with head coach Matt Rhule departing for Baylor likely means this glory period of Temple football will be over soon, if it’s not already.
The Verdict: The school has the size and hometown of a Power 5 program, but leaves a lot to be desired in almost everything except basketball tradition. Athletic revenues of sub $40 million for a university this size is a major red flag, and ultimately I think Temple might be one of the biggest losers at the end of this next wave of expansion.
Cincinnati
Pros: Cincinnati offers a really interesting combination of a large student body, top 30 market, and extremely strong revenue sports. At 33,000 undergraduates, UC is one of the biggest universities in the midwest and is located in a region that is untapped by the current ACC. The school has also been to the NCAA Tournament 7 straight years under the leadership of Mick Cronin and reached a bowl game 9 out of the last 11. The school was one of the few casualties of the Big East’s demise, but that means it has a history with a number of current ACC teams. Its biggest rivalry is the Keg of Nails against Louisville, which was played 53 times between 1929 and the Cards’ Big East departure in 2014. Cincy leads the series 30-22 all-time.
Cons: There’s a few cons to Cincinnati, but they aren’t nearly as devastating as some of the drawbacks other schools mentioned above had. Despite posting a relatively strong decade in both revenue sports, Cincinnati’s national brand still leaves a little to be desired. The school also received under $5 million in athletic related contributions last year from fans, corporations, and donors. That was 2nd to last in the conference only above USF.
The Verdict: On the map, the ACC has already expanded to Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. That leaves a glaring whole in the state of Ohio for the conference to try and expand its northern presence into a fairly large media market. The Bearcats won’t be out of the P5 for long, and will certainly be one of the top schools on watch.
West Virginia
Pros: The Mountaineers are virtually a “Louisville twin” in its expansion candidacy if it ever decides to pursue options outside of the Big XII (Note: Likely). Its football and basketball programs are consistently in the Top 25 and carry a national brand with them wherever they go. Its fan support is one of the best in the country, and its 58000 per game would rank 1st vs fellow expansion candidates and 5th in the ACC behind Clemson, FSU, VT, and Miami. The school also brought in $90 million in revenue last year, $26 million of which was in contributions (which is 6 million more than UNC and Clemson and 9 million more than VT).
Cons: If West Virginia were in the AAC and actively looking for a new conference, this would be a whole lot easier of a transaction. The problem is it isn’t, and pretty much every Power 5 league from ocean to ocean will be looking to add WVU if the Big XII eventually falls apart. Leaving anytime before the Big XII’s Grant of Rights ends in 2025 would lead to forfeiture of conference revenue (Est: $43 million by end of contract). This is especially important when considering West Virginia finally just received its 1st full year of Big XII revenue after having to wait 3 years in the conference as part of the on-boarding process. The main threat here is that both the Big Ten and SEC gave back $32.7 and $32.4 million to their league members last year in revenue, which is a gap of about $6 million more than what the ACC offers currently. Considering West Virginia could be forfeiting Big XII money and has not received its full conference share for the past 3 years, the biggest payday to compensate the losses will surely not come from the ACC.
The Verdict: If the SEC is also looking to expand at the same time the ACC does, they’ll be able to offer a far more enticing financial package to WVU simply based on projected revenues. The timing would have to be just right for the Mountaineers to be ACC bound, but anything can happen in the Wild, Wild West of expansion season.
...............................................
LINK:
http://www.bloggersodear.com/2017/4...ng-which-schools-could-end-up-joining-the-acc
First Choice:
1. Notre Dame 15th
2. Texas 16th
3. WVU 17th
4. Temple 18th
5. UCincy 19th
6. Vanderbilt 20th
Excerpt:
Notre Dame:
Before we dive into the long list of suitors that will be knocking on the ACC’s door as soon as the search process begins, let’s get one thing out of the way: Notre Dame will be a full-member of the conference eventually. Thanks to the new grant of rights announced after the ACC Network became official last summer, ND will be a member of the ACC in all sports (minus football) until at least 2036. It also stated that if the Irish were to cease their gridiron independency, they would be contractually bound to the ACC until that year as well. The new revenue from the ACC Network won’t be enough to have Notre Dame bail on its freedom and NBC contract by itself, but as Stewart Mandel said last July “as the years go by in college football’s rapidly changing structure — one where a four-team playoff and a selection committee have supplanted polls and bowls in importance — Notre Dame may eventually conclude that independence is no longer a viable route. Especially given one of the committee’s primary points of emphasis is … winning your conference.” Notre Dame’s relative mediocrity over the last couple of years hasn’t caused this to be a problem just yet, but the moment ND goes 10-2/11-1 and is left out of the CFP in favor of a Pac-12 conference champ, everything is going to hit the fan. I’d put it at a fairly high chance that happens before 2025 (The NBC contract ends that year) and the conversations will advance pretty quickly from there. That being said, Notre Dame will eventually be a member of the ACC in football, it’s just a matter of who else joins them and when.
Temple
Pros: Coming off back-to-back 10-4 seasons and an AAC conference title, Temple Football is in about as good a place as it has ever been. The Owls have gone 58-43 since 2009, which is far better than their all-time 42% win percentage dating back to 1894. The 32 NCAA basketball appearances also would go along well the ACC’s recent theme of adding schools with strong histories in the sport. The 32 tourny bids would rank 6th in the ACC behind just UNC, UL, Duke, Syracuse, and Notre Dame. Philadelphia’s media market is also one of the 10th biggest in the US and that never hurts when it comes to expansion resumes.
Cons: Despite being one of the larger schools on this list and located in one of the best sports towns in the country, Temple’s national brand is fairly weak overall. The school is heavily overshadowed in its own city by Villanova and in the state in general by Penn State and Pitt. It struggled mightily to make its strong 2016 football season count on the recruiting trail, finishing outside the Top 100 on Rivals and dead last in the AAC. That along with head coach Matt Rhule departing for Baylor likely means this glory period of Temple football will be over soon, if it’s not already.
The Verdict: The school has the size and hometown of a Power 5 program, but leaves a lot to be desired in almost everything except basketball tradition. Athletic revenues of sub $40 million for a university this size is a major red flag, and ultimately I think Temple might be one of the biggest losers at the end of this next wave of expansion.
Cincinnati
Pros: Cincinnati offers a really interesting combination of a large student body, top 30 market, and extremely strong revenue sports. At 33,000 undergraduates, UC is one of the biggest universities in the midwest and is located in a region that is untapped by the current ACC. The school has also been to the NCAA Tournament 7 straight years under the leadership of Mick Cronin and reached a bowl game 9 out of the last 11. The school was one of the few casualties of the Big East’s demise, but that means it has a history with a number of current ACC teams. Its biggest rivalry is the Keg of Nails against Louisville, which was played 53 times between 1929 and the Cards’ Big East departure in 2014. Cincy leads the series 30-22 all-time.
Cons: There’s a few cons to Cincinnati, but they aren’t nearly as devastating as some of the drawbacks other schools mentioned above had. Despite posting a relatively strong decade in both revenue sports, Cincinnati’s national brand still leaves a little to be desired. The school also received under $5 million in athletic related contributions last year from fans, corporations, and donors. That was 2nd to last in the conference only above USF.
The Verdict: On the map, the ACC has already expanded to Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. That leaves a glaring whole in the state of Ohio for the conference to try and expand its northern presence into a fairly large media market. The Bearcats won’t be out of the P5 for long, and will certainly be one of the top schools on watch.
West Virginia
Pros: The Mountaineers are virtually a “Louisville twin” in its expansion candidacy if it ever decides to pursue options outside of the Big XII (Note: Likely). Its football and basketball programs are consistently in the Top 25 and carry a national brand with them wherever they go. Its fan support is one of the best in the country, and its 58000 per game would rank 1st vs fellow expansion candidates and 5th in the ACC behind Clemson, FSU, VT, and Miami. The school also brought in $90 million in revenue last year, $26 million of which was in contributions (which is 6 million more than UNC and Clemson and 9 million more than VT).
Cons: If West Virginia were in the AAC and actively looking for a new conference, this would be a whole lot easier of a transaction. The problem is it isn’t, and pretty much every Power 5 league from ocean to ocean will be looking to add WVU if the Big XII eventually falls apart. Leaving anytime before the Big XII’s Grant of Rights ends in 2025 would lead to forfeiture of conference revenue (Est: $43 million by end of contract). This is especially important when considering West Virginia finally just received its 1st full year of Big XII revenue after having to wait 3 years in the conference as part of the on-boarding process. The main threat here is that both the Big Ten and SEC gave back $32.7 and $32.4 million to their league members last year in revenue, which is a gap of about $6 million more than what the ACC offers currently. Considering West Virginia could be forfeiting Big XII money and has not received its full conference share for the past 3 years, the biggest payday to compensate the losses will surely not come from the ACC.
The Verdict: If the SEC is also looking to expand at the same time the ACC does, they’ll be able to offer a far more enticing financial package to WVU simply based on projected revenues. The timing would have to be just right for the Mountaineers to be ACC bound, but anything can happen in the Wild, Wild West of expansion season.
...............................................
LINK:
http://www.bloggersodear.com/2017/4...ng-which-schools-could-end-up-joining-the-acc
Last edited: