ACC-SEC merger?

[PhilSimms11]

Jay Bilas suggested that the ACC propose a merger with the SEC. Hell, at this point, that may not be a bad idea. It's not something that I'm in favor of nor am I a fan of 16-team conferences, but it seems that's where we're headed. It could essentially mirror the NFL format if you went 8 divisions of 4. If the ACC and SEC merged it could look something like this...I chose 4 divisions of 8 (32 teams).

North--Boston College, Kentucky, Louisville, Penn St, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, West Virginia.
South--Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida St, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami.
East--Duke, NC St, No Carolina, So Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, VA Tech, Wake Forest.
West--Arkansas, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M.

I added Penn St and West Virginia.

This is basically NFL Jr....a league of their own. They could have a complete schedule of all conference games, have their own playoff, and not play anybody on the outside. Again, this looks extreme, but it would not surprise me if something like this happens.

 

[PIBuckeye]

no.

 

[Hitman Hart]

SEC has zero incentive to do that.

 

[JohnShadows]

Yeah, that's too much. Though the expansion may not stop at OK/TX. Word is they're still courting Clempson.

 

[Duckboy33]

SEC has zero incentive to do that.

The only potential argument is if ESPN/ABC is worried that enough valuable ACC schools may join the Big Ten (FOX). Maybe then ESPN/ABC forces a merger. I still doubt it though.

 

[Hitman Hart]

The only potential argument is if ESPN/ABC is worried that enough valuable ACC schools may join the Big Ten (FOX). Maybe then ESPN/ABC forces a merger. I still doubt it though.

This is a good point. tbh, in this entire Oklahoma/Texas to the SEC story, FOX's silence is pretty telling. From a distance, it appeared that the Big XII was an asset to them, but they weren't going to overpay for a 2-team league. With the ACC GOR, I think the ACC is safeish for now. With that said, the ACC has about ten years to figure this thing out, or else they're going to have the same fate as the Big XII.

 

[Tomhusker]

Listening to local sports radio today and this idea was discussed, but with 20 teams, and the B1G merged with the PAC12. This formed two 20 team power conferences and left the rest to fend for themselves.

 

[Duckboy33]

This is a good point. tbh, in this entire Oklahoma/Texas to the SEC story, FOX's silence is pretty telling. From a distance, it appeared that the Big XII was an asset to them, but they weren't going to overpay for a 2-team league. With the ACC GOR, I think the ACC is safeish for now. With that said, the ACC has about ten years to figure this thing out, or else they're going to have the same fate as the Big XII.

I don't think any of this will happen for a while. I think you're right about the timeline. ACC has about 10 years to figure this thing out, if it's in the same boat then, I think it could be in trouble. If they can sway Notre Dame, that's going to be the game changer for the conference. WVU would be a good 16th team to round things out.

If that happens, I wouldn't be shocked to see UNC, UVA, GT and Duke leave for the Big Ten (this is what ESPN is worried about it). I don't think they want anything to do with the SEC if there's another viable alternative. At that point, Clemson, FSU, VT and NC State would probably join the SEC.

 

[Payton]

1) No… This is fun to muse about, but it won’t happen.

2) No… The ACC honestly has very little to figure out in the next 10 years as nobody knows how the new $$$ rules for athletes are going to affect things. The ACC is not “In Danger” of losing flagship Universities like UNC or UVA to the B1G and it is arrogant as f@ck to think so, quite frankly. The ACC is not struggling, though it’s amusing to watch the Big 12 tank after the arrogance I heard from folks on here about how they had it all together and the ACC would be eaten alive by them… LMAO!!

 

[Hitman Hart]

1) No… This is fun to muse about, but it won’t happen.

2) No… The ACC honestly has very little to figure out in the next 10 years as nobody knows how the new $$$ rules for athletes are going to affect things. The ACC is not “In Danger” of losing flagship Universities like UNC or UVA to the B1G and it is arrogant as f@ck to think so, quite frankly. The ACC is not struggling, though it’s amusing to watch the Big 12 tank after the arrogance I heard from folks on here about how they had it all together and the ACC would be eaten alive by them… LMAO!!

i'm sympathetic towards the Big 12 schools that are getting left behind, but man, remember those Clemson/FSU to Big XII rumors that surfaced back in 2012/13? Hilarious. I'm pretty sure some random WVU fan made it all up, but man, people on the net really bought into it for a few minutes there.

 

[Hitman Hart]

I don't think any of this will happen for a while. I think you're right about the timeline. ACC has about 10 years to figure this thing out, if it's in the same boat then, I think it could be in trouble. If they can sway Notre Dame, that's going to be the game changer for the conference. WVU would be a good 16th team to round things out.

If that happens, I wouldn't be shocked to see UNC, UVA, GT and Duke leave for the Big Ten (this is what ESPN is worried about it). I don't think they want anything to do with the SEC if there's another viable alternative. At that point, Clemson, FSU, VT and NC State would probably join the SEC.

if ESPN is so worried, then they need to give the ACC five billions dollar in cash. Right meow.

in all seriousness, I do agree. I doubt that the North Carolina and Virginia schools will initiate anything, though. If the ACC dies, it will be due to Clemson/FSU jumping ship. The North Carolina and Virginia schools will then follow suit.

 

[Payton]

i'm sympathetic towards the Big 12 schools that are getting left behind, but man, remember those Clemson/FSU to Big XII rumors that surfaced back in 2012/13? Hilarious. I'm pretty sure some random WVU fan made it all up, but man, people on the net really bought into it for a few minutes there.

Yeah, exactly. And it really did seem to possibly have legs at the time. Looked like the Big 12 was so smart financially and the ACC just was never going to be able to figure things out… Guess ESPN really proved to be the saving grace there?

 

[Hitman Hart]

Yeah, exactly. And it really did seem to possibly have legs at the time. Looked like the Big 12 was so smart financially and the ACC just was never going to be able to figure things out… Guess ESPN really proved to be the saving grace there?

I've read that Big XII games that didn't feature OU or Texas have had horrible ratings over the course of the past 8 years. I'd be interesting to see the TV ratings for ACC games not involving FSU or Clemson. Are they higher, lower or comparable to the Big XII's ratings? If they're higher, you could certainly make a case that there is a correlation between the Big XII's low TV ratings and having FOX as their main television partner.

 

[gob]

Doubt it would happen. We're moving to one "super league" for top programs before that, I think

 

[hatcher3333]

why make Vandy's schedule easier?

 

[JohnShadows]

why make Vandy's schedule easier?

Come on, Vandy - Duke could be a quarterfinal for the SAT Bowl.

 

[Tomhusker]

I'm

Doubt it would happen. We're moving to one "super league" for top programs before that, I think

Thinking the same thing. Maybe one 64 team league.
There will be much butt hurt, but I believe that it is inevitable. The ncaa will run the schools that don't make it in.
And membership could be fluid.

 

[PhilSimms11]

I'm
Thinking the same thing. Maybe one 64 team league.
There will be much butt hurt, but I believe that it is inevitable. The NCAA will run the schools that don't make it in.
And membership could be fluid.

64 teams.

ACC-SEC
North--Boston College, Kentucky, Louisville, Penn St, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, West Virginia.
South--Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida St, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami.
East--Duke, NC St, No Carolina, So Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, VA Tech, Wake Forest.
West--Arkansas, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M.

Big Ten-Big XII-Pac-12
East--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan St, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio St, Purdue.
Midwest--Iowa, Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma St, Wisconsin.
Central--Arizona, Arizona St, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah.
West--Cal, Oregon, Oregon St, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington St.

-12-game regular season schedule (all 7 division foes and 5 non-division)
-NO conference championship games
-16-team playoff (?)
-Division winners receive automatic playoff berth
-No team would play more than 16 games
-Playoff teams seeded by CFP rankings (example: a division winner could be seeded 10th, 11th)
-1 v 16, 2 v 15, 3 v 14, 4 v 13, 5 v 12, 6 v 11, 7 v 10, 8 v 9

I think this could work. It'd be something to get used to, but that would come with time. This could be the future. I emphasize COULD. Time will tell.

 

[PhilSimms11]

One question I have is...are there current power-5 teams that when it's all said and done and this potential 64-team league is created are left out, told to hit the road, get out, etc.? Teams that come to mind are Kansas, Rutgers, Vanderbilt.

 

[therealsportsguru]

Jay Bilas suggested that the ACC propose a merger with the SEC. Hell, at this point, that may not be a bad idea. It's not something that I'm in favor of nor am I a fan of 16-team conferences, but it seems that's where we're headed. It could essentially mirror the NFL format if you went 8 divisions of 4. If the ACC and SEC merged it could look something like this...I chose 4 divisions of 8 (32 teams).

North--Boston College, Kentucky, Louisville, Penn St, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, West Virginia.
South--Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida St, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami.
East--Duke, NC St, No Carolina, So Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, VA Tech, Wake Forest.
West--Arkansas, LSU, Miss St, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M.

I added Penn St and West Virginia.

This is basically NFL Jr....a league of their own. They could have a complete schedule of all conference games, have their own playoff, and not play anybody on the outside. Again, this looks extreme, but it would not surprise me if something like this happens.

In theory it could work but what about everyone else? The national champion is gonna come out of this power conference every season. They are gonna get all the recruits. I mean this is kinda unfair competition if you look at it. If you think about it. In 4 major sports, (basketball, football, baseball, track and field) the schools listed have how many national championships in each? I have counted more than 20 national titles in basketball alone and god knows how many in football. This is OD but I like it. The South is gonna run it though..