Which was really stupid on a number of levels.
"Leaked" data shows which programs valued most by ESPN, FOX
- Thread starter HailToPitt725
- Start date
Terrible TV market and akademix. Now, if they had a great football program, that would have been able to been overcome but they have been mediocre for their entire existence. You cant overcome a terrible TV market and possibly being the worst major school academically with mediocre football.
I would just like to point out that there are people who regularly post on this board who have taken things that this guy posted in the past seriously.
One would hope they would now never make that mistake again.
We can agree to disagree. We may need to beg the so-called glorified CUSA for admission in another year or so.
Same.
Also, I don't believe Iowa adds much value. Their ranking is solely due to the conference and not actually them.
Take conference affiliation away and many of these programs would have very little interest.
I suspect that whoever compiled this ranking used some sort of formula that they created themselves, with different factors getting different weights. I strongly suspect that a factor like “being a state flagship school in a market without many or any professional sports teams” ended up getting a pretty substantial weight, which is why you see schools like Iowa, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, etc. end up suspiciously high versus the conventional wisdom.
The ACC added sports programs which are better than WVU (Louisville and Pitt), better academically (Syracuse) or both (Pitt).
These athletics conferences are businesses but they're also clubs. And WVU doesn't fit in with the other members. Not smart enough, not wealthy enough, not good looking enough. Louisville doesn't really either but they're like a hot bimbo to the point where the rest of the club can overlook the lack of brains.
The ACC isn't missing out on WVU whatsoever. The fact that they've declined to offer WVU membership at least three times in favor of VT, Miami, BC, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, Cal, Stanford, and even SMU (lmfao) tells you all you need to know about where WVU truly ranks in the athletics expansion area. Thinking they are top 25 or even top 40 is preposterous.
As I keep telling you people. The "we" makes it all too obvious for us troll hunters.
It wasnt "commissioned" by anyone. He made the list up himself. Do people not realize who this guy is?
To be honest, I didn’t realize this dude was ‘The Dude.’ I think Greg Swaim has more credibility than him. Just thought it’d make for good discussion was all.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
The Big12 fan base has become this cult of personality and they sit around and create fantasy fiction similar to any fan base that is in love with itself. Some of them are still hanging onto FSU going to the Big12 which was the popular narrative around 2010. The popular path to notoriety in this community is to create lists like this one that stink of confirmation bias and openly predict anything and everything so that they can cite themselves as a source. "Data" provided by Fox and ESPN for analysis is probably nothing more than ratings along with scheduling information than anyone and everyone can read. This guy has manipulated it into his own list while pretending he has something nobody else has.
I'm certain there are algorithms the media people use but most of it is pretty easy to understand. Oh, Iowa State is playing Alabama A&T? Who cares? It's probably more complicated when you get into the weeds and have to decide how to handle Vandy and Arkansas but it's likely that there are a promised number of games on each platform, per school, that have to happen along with a number of other factors. End of the day, they're going to maximize ratings and advertising dollars as best they can regardless of who is playing because even the worst games still draw a passing interest from each school's fan base and that's probably still better money than running a lot of the no pro sport content they push on their platforms.
I think a lot of it is based on a lot of fans’ preference in favor of geographically contiguous conferences, which is where the fixation on WVU and Cincinnati comes from. Plus a healthy dose of nostalgia/rivalry stuff for Pitt in particular.
The issue is that it clearly doesn’t align with the ACC’s overall strategy. Dating back years now, it seems clear that the ACC’s strategy is in being the second national conference to the Big Ten, aligned with strong academic schools in large, mostly urban markets with excellent overall athletic departments, who care enough about football to see some growth potential. There’s a reason why the ACC was primarily targeting Cal, Stanford, Washington and Oregon, instead of the AAC schools that the Big 12 added or even the four corners schools. Keeping a tight geographic footprint simply isn’t a priority, and I think it’s the right move for what the ACC’s revenue structure looks like.
It’s why IMO if some combination of Florida State and Clemson leave in the near future (i.e. not close enough to 2030 to poach western Big 12 members), the short list will be Oregon State, UConn, USF and Tulane.
They are really really good at what they do. And they continue to breed these types. That Baylor student who does the Locked On podcast has become the new voice of Big 12 Imperialism.
This kind of goes back to my "WVU doesn't fit in the club" point though.
It's a small and shrinking state. The school is quite bad academically. The sports programs are great for their size and resources but objectively they aren't anything special. And perhaps most importantly, no genteel grad from UVA, UNC, Duke, BC, or the rich/tech guys from Cal, Stanford, and Georgia Tech want to spend time with WVU graduates. Certainly not in Morgantown.
This isn't just a sports caliber or TV viewership problem and the ACC especially doesn't treat it as such. The ACC really values academics, geographic footprint, population growth, and fan preferences. They kind of held their nose a bit with new money Louisville but WVU just requires way too many compromises.
Agreed on all counts. And even with Louisville you can squint your eyes and see some more positives. Louisville has 625,000 people and is the largest city in a larger state than West Virginia. It bridges the gap somewhat geographically between the rest of the conference and Notre Dame. It’s one of the premier basketball brands in the nation, which the ACC clearly values, with a better overall athletic department. For a Tobacco Road conference, Louisville also feels more vaguely southern than WVU and feels like a closer cultural fit, despite the academic profile.
And, probably most importantly, they were good enough at football to satisfy Florida State and Clemson, who were nonplussed at the Syracuse and Boston College additions a few years earlier because of the football concerns with those schools.
And as I said, if WVU was really good, you could thumb your nose and admit them but they are mediocre, maybe slightly better than mediocre. But that just isnt enough to overcome no TV market and bad academics. Going 8-4 a lot just isnt enough.
Which is why on a real list WVU isn't #1. Or #21. Or #41.
But in some WVU fan's fever dream? Sure, why not?
