sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Dollar Day!
National Dollar Day celebrates the United States dollar, on the anniversary of the date in 1786 when the Continental Congress established the monetary system. On that day, they set the value of what various coins would be, and what metallic makeup they would have. Among other coins, they set the value of a gold piece at $10, the value of a silver piece at $1, the value of other silver pieces at one-tenth of $1, and the value of copper pennies at one-hundredth of $1. They had already established the dollar as the money unit of the United States the previous July.
The United States Mint was founded in 1792, and the first dollar coin, the Flowing Hair Dollar, was first minted in 1794. Its design was based on the Spanish dollar. Paper money dollars are known as Federal Reserve Notes. The first paper dollar wasn't printed until 1862, and it had Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, printed on it. George Washington first appeared on the $1 bill in 1869. Today, the United States dollar is used in most international transactions and is the world's primary reserve currency.
SU News
Terry Lockett during Syracuse University football practice, Syracuse, N.Y., Friday Aug. 4, 2023. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com
Lockett back at 100%, ready to put difficult year behind him (PS; Leiker)
Terry Lockett knew his injury was serious the second it happened.
The defensive lineman injured his right patella (kneecap) during a play in Syracuse football’s fourth game of the season against Virginia in late September. He had surgery within the next week.
It was the first major injury he’d suffered in his career, but Lockett said his support system — his mom, his sisters and his roommate primarily — kept him from slipping into a dark place mentally.
Lockett missed the rest of the season, one of a slew of players the Orange lost to season-ending injuries in 2022.
Now almost 11 months removed from his injury, Lockett is back on the field. There’s still some padding on his knee, but he says he feels 100%.
“It’s just great to be out back with the boys,” Lockett said. “I’m just trying to get better every day and compete, really.”
Lockett made two starts last season and had eight tackles across the four games he appeared in. He earned a 60.6% overall defensive grade from Pro Football Focus.
The time on the sidelines gave him a different perspective on the game, he said, and that when he’s rewatched the moment of his injury, he sees how it could have been prevented.
He’s also learned some life lessons.
“I learned that time don’t wait on no one,” Lockett said. “You gotta live in the moment, and you gotta make sure you’re giving everything you got because it could be taken from you just like that.”
The injury wasn’t all Lockett went through in the past year.
In March, Lockett was charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, at the same time as teammate LeQuint Allen for a fight that occurred at an on-campus party last December.
Both cases were resolved with an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, meaning the cases are sealed and the charges will be dismissed if there are no further incidents in the ensuing six months.
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Oronde Gadsden II named to Biletnikoff Award watch list (DO; Alandt)
Syracuse tight end Oronde Gadsden II has been named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list, one of 49 college players to make the cut. Though Gadsden is listed as a tight end, the award honors the top receiver in college football regardless of their position.
After eight games last season, Gadsden, who totaled 671 receiving yards and six touchdowns during that span, was named to the watch list on Nov. 2. SU’s top receiving threat finished with 969 yards and six touchdowns through a team-leading 61 receptions. Semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award will be announced on Nov. 20, with finalists named on Nov. 28.
Gadsden has already been named to the Maxwell Award watch list, was selected to the First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference and listed as a third-team preseason All-American. He is one of nine ACC players to be selected to the preseason list, including Florida State’s Keon Coleman, Virginia Tech’s Ali Jennings III and Jaylin Lane, Boston College’s Ryan O’Keefe and North Carolina’s Devontez Walker, whom the Orange will face this season.
No Syracuse player has won the Biletnikoff Award since its inception in 1994. Pittsburgh’s Jordan Addison was the last ACC player to receive the honor.
Camp Notebook: Week 1 - Syracuse University Athletics (cuse.com)
The Syracuse football team returned to Syracuse last week, reporting for training camp and completing the first five practices of their preseason, before taking their first off day on Monday.
Here's what you might have missed from the first week of 'Cuse Camp:
Tuesday, Aug. 1 - Report Day
The Orange reported for preseason camp on August 1. The day began with a media availability with Coach Babers, Damien Alford and Justin Barron, before the required standard fare of team entrance meetings with various support staff units occupied the rest of day one.
Check out what Coach Babers, Alford and Barron had to say on report day:
Wednesday, Aug. 2 - Day 1
The Orange returned to the practice field!
After practice, media met with Coach Babers and offensive players. Check out some of those interviews here: Coach Babers | Garrett Shrader | Oronde Gadsden
Thursday, Aug. 3
The team held its second practice in just helmets as part of the mandated acclimation period to start camp.
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https://www.si.com/college/syracuse/football/acc-to-explore-adding-cal-stanford-per-report (SI; McAllister)
The ACC will have exploratory discussions surrounding adding California and Stanford to the conference, according to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel.
"ACC leaders are set to begin exploratory discussions on the potential additions of Cal and Stanford to the conference, sources told ESPN on Monday," Thamel said in his report. "Sources cautioned that the two scheduled discussions are in the embryonic stages -- one call slated with the ACC athletic directors and a separate call with the league's presidents that will play out on Monday and Tuesday."
The report quoted an ACC source indicating the additions would be complicated due to the travel that would be involved for current member schools.
Outside of location, the profile of the programs would make some sense. Both strong academic schools with some traditional success in football. Recently both have struggled, but it would also open a whole new market to the ACC. In the modern era of collegiate athletics, that is the primary driver of all decisions as it means more money in television contracts. The addition of those schools would give the ACC 16 full time football members.
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Conference Realignment is Speeding Up: Where Should Syracuse Go? (orangefizz.net; Aitken)
The latest round of conference realignment has put the entire world of college athletics on notice. The Pac-12 is down to four teams, the Big Ten and Big 12 are gaining teams left and right, while the SEC is waiting in the wings. Even more relevant to Syracuse, Florida State has one foot in, one foot out of the ACC. FSU’s president even said “staying in the ACC under the current situation is hard for us to figure out.”
While the current Grant of Rights is holding the conference together, things can change in the blink of an eye, like they already have. So what are SU’s options if the ACC starts to crumble?
ACC 2.0
Other conferences have lost several teams at once, yet still rebounded back to full strength. The Big 12 lost four teams, dropping its membership to just eight teams, back in the early 2010s. However, the conference is now bigger and stronger than ever. This could happen with the ACC if it lost several teams.
The ACC wouldn’t even need to necessarily add teams if Florida State, along with just a few other football powerhouses like Clemson, left the conference. There are 15 full-member schools in the ACC, and 14 for football. As long as the conference stays at 10 or more teams, then it can still be a viable power conference and wait to formulate to add more teams longer term.
If more than five teams leave, then it becomes necessary to add replacements. However, there are several solid options for that. The ACC could look at non-power schools like Memphis and USF. Another option is looking at teams who might not love how competitive the Big Ten is getting, like Maryland and Rutgers. There are even reports that the ACC considered adding some of the remaining Pac-12 teams.
As long as the ACC doesn’t completely resolve, staying in the conference is a moderately safe decision for Syracuse. There’s competitive football, a must in the modern era. More importantly, the ACC has a broadcasting agreement with ESPN for the next decade. Even if that deal is tweaked a bit, having a path towards a lucrative TV contract is vital.
Big Ten
The Big Ten is plenty crowded, with a field of 18 teams set for 2024. However, if consolidation continues, it wouldn’t be surprising to see three superpower conferences of 20+ teams. Between the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten, the latter seems to be the best fit for Syracuse.
The Big Ten has been trying to expand its television market into the northeast for over a decade. Rutgers and Maryland joined the conference in 2014, while Penn State joined the Big Ten back in the 1990s. Syracuse would continue to grow the market for Big Ten football in the region, so if the conference wants to get up to 20 teams, maybe SU could be a target for them.
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Syracuse football recruit spotlight: 2024 safety Michael Matthews-Canty (cbssports.com; video; Finneral)
247Sports' James Finneral highlights 2024 Syracuse safety commit Michael Matthews-Canty.
https://syracuse./news/syracuse-recruiting-roundup-8-7-23 (r1vals.com; Sears)
We are finally past the July dead period in college football recruiting, and news has picked up significantly in the Syracuse recruiting world. Let's get right to it in our first roundup of August.
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NATL
7
ST
26
POS
CAMERON
MILLER
UNDECIDED
5'11" | 165 LBS | ATH | 2025
WINSLOW TOWNSHIP
ATCO, NJ
5.7
2025 ATH
Cameron Miller
dropped a top 8 list on Friday on social media, and Syracuse made the cut. The other seven schools are Michigan, Penn State, Georgia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois and Rutgers. Our Charles Kang spoke with Miller about why Syracuse made the cut.
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NATL
-
ST
-
POS
ANDY
BASS
UNDECIDED
6'0" | 200 LBS | PRO QB | 2024
HERITAGE HALL
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
5.5
2024 Oklahoma quarterback
Andy Bass
will announce his college decision on Aug. 24, he announced on social media. His finalists are Oklahoma, Kansas State and the Orange. Our Charles Kang spoke with him about his Orange interest.
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NATL
20
ST
-
POS
JEFFREY
OVERTON JR
UNDECIDED
5'10" | 175 LBS | ATH | 2025
FREEDOM
WOODBRIGE, VA
5.5
One of the first schools to contact 2025 ATH
Jeffrey Overton Jr
. following the dead period was Syracuse. The Orange offered Overton in March, and has continued to recruit the Rivals three-star recruit since. Read what he had to say to our Charles Kang about the latest in his SU interest.
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Preview 2023: Syracuse vs Boston College Football (bcinterruption.com; Flannery)
Boston College football will play the first of their three annual opponents when they travel up to Syracuse to face the Orange in November. These teams know each other quite well and it should make for an interesting game given the up-and-down nature of both programs and with both of them potentially fighting for a bowl game appearance. Not to mention that it’ll be on national TV for the entire country to see!
When: Friday November 3rd at 7:30pm ET
Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse Overview
To put it succinctly, Syracuse football had a weird year in 2022. They opened their season by winning 6-straight games, including against #15 (at the time) NC State, and climbing all the way up to #14 in the national rankings. Then they lost 5 games in a row, defeated BC in the final week of the regular season, and then lost their bowl game against Minnesota. In that 180-degree turnaround, the Syracuse defense went from allowing 13 points per game to allowing 32. The Orange offense went from scoring 36 points per game to scoring just 21. It was an utter collapse that was partly due to strength of schedule, injuries, regression to the mean, and sometimes just flat-out bad play. So it’s tough to predict how this 2023 squad is going to look.A big strength of this Syracuse team is their linebacker corps. Their top two guys Marlowe Wax and Stefon Thompson are very solid ACC starters and they have plenty of depth at the position if either of them get banged up. Cuse had one of the better 2022 run defenses in the ACC even while Stefon Thompson was out with injury. But their pass defense is taking on some losses this offseason, including all-ACC CB Garrett Williams, and it’s not clear who could step up in that group. College football analyst Phil Steele ranks the Syracuse defensive backfield as the worst in the ACC.
The Syracuse offense was working well when starting QB Garrett Shrader was healthy, but he fought through injuries towards the end of last season and the offense suffered as a result. He’s a terrific dual-threat QB, something that Hafley’s teams have sometimes struggled to defend, and his passing downfield got a lot better in 2022 compared to 2021. Shrader had surgery on his right arm in the offseason and is looking to be fully healthy entering 2023, but who knows what could happen by their November match-up with Boston College. Nonetheless, an injured Shrader still managed to pass for 285 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs against BC late last season.
Running back Sean Tucker, the crown jewel of the Syracuse offense in 2022 who ran for 125 yards and 2 TDs on the BC defense last season, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this spring. RB LeQuint Allen is the next obvious choice for lead rusher in 2023, after he dropped his lawsuit against the school, and his play style isn’t exactly like Tucker’s. Allen is more of a pass-catching back than Tucker was and adds an extra layer to the SU offense that wasn’t present last season.
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Get to Know Your Orange Man: #46, LS Tom Callahan (TNIAAM; Wall)
It’s time to start preparing for the upcoming Syracuse Orange football season. We’re going through the roster to take a look at each Syracuse player as we get ready for a critical season for the Orange.
We now turn our attention to the new arrivals. Next up,
Name: Tom Callahan
Position: Long Snapper
Year: Redshirt Junior
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 236 lbs
Hometown: Roseland NJ
High School/Previous College: Seton Hall Prep/Fordham
2022 Stats: Played in twelve games for Fordham and made two tackles. Named to Phil Steele’s First-Team All-Patriot League as the long-snapper. Over his career for the Rams, he forced two fumbles.
2023 projections: Callahan is going to challenge for the starting long-snapper role after transferring from Fordham with two years of starting experience.
How’d he get here?: Had offers from Ball State and Iowa State after entering the portal.
What’d recruiting sites say?: Ranked 15th in his class in Sandusky, Ohio by Auto Parts Sales Monthly
Twitter feed: @tomcallahan57
Instagram feed: @tomcallahan57
Twitter/Instagram posts of wonder: Helicopters are indeed cool.
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Brett McMurphy "Orange Nation" 8-7-23 (ESPN; radiol Orange Nation)
Brett McMurphy, America’s CFB Insider from Action Sports joins Paulie and Steve to discuss conference realignment and what that means for the future of college sports
Mark Bradwick "Orange Nation" 8-7-23 (ESPN; radio; Orange Nation)
Longtime Syracuse fan Mark Bradwick joins Paulie and Steve to give what he thinks are the best road trips of this upcoming season as ranked in his article for NunesMagician.com.
30 Minutes in Orange Nation 8-7-23 (ESPN; radio; Orange Nation)
Steve and Paulie chime in on the conference realignment drama with help from some callers. Later, Jordan runs the guys through last week’s big sports storylines including a baseball fight and two big American soccer stories.
Locked On Syracuse - Daily Podcast On Syracuse Orange Football & Basketball (player.fm; podcast; Locked on Syracuse)
Locked On Syracuse - Daily Podcast On Syracuse Orange Football & Basketball
ACC News
(youtube; video; ACC DN)
The ACC will deploy some of the nation's absolute best this season at the sport's most important position. North Carolina's Drake Maye is viewed by many as the top overall prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. Florida State's Jordan Travis could perhaps make the leap all the way to New York, and a potential Heisman Ceremony. Duke's Riley Leonard exploded onto the scene and led the Blue Devils to a 9-4 campaign. Who else made our top 5 returning quarterbacks for 2023?
Top 5 Returning Running Backs | ACC Football 2023 (youtube; video; ACC DN)
The 2023 ACC Football season is approaching and as we look towards the new season we are checking out some of the best returning players in the conference. The running backs position is one where there is some high top-end talent in the ACC. Clemson's Will Shipley may be the most dangerous weapons in the country when he has the ball in his hands. Florida State's Trey Benson is one of the most elusive backs in the FBS, coming off a season where he forced a missed tackle on half of his carries. There are also a number of other backs ready to make their names known. Find out who made our list of the ACC's Top 5 Returning Running Backs right here!
SEC football doesn't have to fear the Big Ten – yet. But what if the ACC fractures? (tennessean.com; Toppmeyer & Adams)
At 18 teams, the Big Ten will be the biggest FBS conference once Oregon, Southern Cal, UCLA and Washington join next year, but will it be the nation’s best conference?
While the B1G nabbed four of the Pac-12’s top brands in a two-stage process, the SEC will counter with a 16-team league accented by the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas.
The two super-leagues have distanced themselves from the rest of Division I.
The Big Ten can compete with the SEC on the financial ledger, and the conference will span from coast to coast after the arrival of this Pac-12 quartet.
But, the SEC isn't in danger of getting passed on the playing field – not yet, anyway.
On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss what the Big Ten’s additions (and the Pac-12’s demise) mean for the SEC and whether the SEC needs to craft a rebuttal expansion.
Their verdict: While the SEC would have preferred for the Pac-12 to survive , these Big Ten maneuvers do not threaten the SEC's supremacy.
Throughout the College Football Playoff’s nine years, the Pac-12 only supplied two playoff qualifiers. Oregon and Washington each qualified once. USC and UCLA were never playoff teams. The Pac-12’s last team to win a national championship was 2004 USC.
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Quarterback wars in the ACC: Fueling Riley Leonard's drive for excellence - Chatham Journal Newspaper (chathamjournal.com; Galin)
During his breakout session at this year’s ACC Football Kickoff event, Duke University quarterback Riley Leonard shared insights into his journey, the team’s remarkable turnaround, and his aspirations for the upcoming season. The talented quarterback credited Coach Elko for instilling a winning mentality and fostering a culture of hard work and football intelligence. As Duke prepares to face off against formidable opponents, including Clemson, Leonard is determined to prove that last year’s success was no fluke and that the Blue Devils are here to stay.
The Impact of Coach Elko’s Leadership
Under the guidance of Coach Elko, the Duke football team experienced a dramatic turnaround from a 3-9 record to a more promising performance last season. Leonard praised Coach Elko’s emphasis on the present, pushing the team to believe they could win now. This unwavering belief in the team’s potential allowed them to overcome previous setbacks and form a winning culture.
The Value of Hard Work and Football Intelligence
Leonard emphasized that Duke’s edge in the competition lies in their relentless work ethic and football intelligence. Though they may not have the size or speed of some other teams, the players’ dedication to outworking their opponents has been the key to their success. This approach has been further complemented by the team’s emphasis on football intelligence, allowing them to adapt and strategize effectively.
The Significance of Team Unity
The quarterback praised the camaraderie among the players, particularly in the running back room, where they compete while supporting and uplifting each other. This unity has been instrumental in creating a positive team dynamic and, according to Leonard, is the recipe for continued success.
Aspirations for the Upcoming Season
As Duke prepares for the upcoming season, Leonard acknowledges the challenges ahead, especially facing talented quarterbacks in the ACC. However, he expressed his determination to improve and work on his timing and arm strength to take his game to the next level. Leonard also highlighted the influence of studying NFL quarterbacks like Tom Brady and using their mindset as motivation.
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Thoughts on Stanford+Cal for the ACC (RX; HM)
Thoughts on Stanford+Cal for the ACC
The ACC has hemmed and hawed... will it finally take action? Is it too late?
First, here's what Pete Thamel wrote for ESPN in "ACC to begin discussing Cal, Stanford as additions":
Stanford has field Top 10 football teams in the last decade, and there's the possibility of good ACCN subscription revenue given the population of California. No doubt the academics are great, and the research possibilities in "Silicon Valley" are intriguiging. We'll see.
Jonathan (aka "MSTiger" - a Clemson fan) dives a little deep with another excellent contribution:
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Most NFL Hall of Fame Alumni (RX; HM)
Most NFL Hall of Fame Alumni
Just a quick midnight snack...
Who are the top 9 colleges in terms of most all-time NFL Hall-of-Fame players?
The Big Ten is currently tied with the ACC for first place, but when they expand to 18 or 80 or however many teams they end up with in 2024, they'll be ahead by... one.Most Pro Football Hall of Famers By School️ pic.twitter.com/S5PzjWwuU1
— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 5, 2023
One is also the number of SEC teams on this list. The SEC wins by having a high volume of NFL grade talent, but ACC teams often find the brighest gems who end up starring at the next level.
Here's a text version of the list, in case you have trouble viewing the image:
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Links, News and Rumors 2023 Aug 07 (RX; HM)
Links, News and Rumors 2023 Aug 07
Let's start with non-ACC news because, let's face it, the biggest news this weekend came out of the Pac-12...
From CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd: "The Pac-12 is dead as we know it, just don't expect the Big Ten, Big 12 or anyone else to take the blame"
Without a doubt, this one IS different. The Pac-12 is dead, and the Big Ten - and Fox - are holding the smoking gun.
__________
Matt Brown posted an excellent article on ExtraPointsMB called "It didn't have to be this way". Here are a few morsels to whet your appetite (or click the link to read it all):
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Who's Left to Expand With? (RX; HM)
Who's Left to Expand With?
Now that the American Athletic and the Pac-12 have both been picked over, what's left for the ACC to add, should it ever get off its collective behind and actually do something proactive?
The P5 Candidates:
- Stanford - Big private school in the biggest state avoids state politics.
- Cal - Big public school (THE University of California) can't avoid state politics.
- Oregon State - Finished 10-3 in 2022, wins over Boise St, Oregon, and Florida.
- Washington St - weak team in a small market.
Former AQ Candidates:
- Temple - good history in basketball and recent football success, located in Philadelphia
- UConn - excellent basketball but weak football
- USF - AAU, good academics and athletics, located in the middle of Florida
Other Top G5 Candidates:
- E. Carolina - their biggest sin is being in the same state as 4 existing ACC schools.
- SMU - probably the best G5 football add, but attendance is not good.
- Tulane - great academics, decent history, but they stopped trying for a while.
- Memphis - good football, very good basketball, academics... not so much.
- Boise St - the original BCS Buster, the Broncos have hung around a good while.
- San Diego St - good research school, good recruiting location, good athletics.
- Army & Navy - the military academies draw decent TV and in-person numbers.
If the ACC decided to expand West by adding, say, Stanford, they'd want at least 3 more, in which case an argument can be made for SMU, San Diego St, and Boise St. Attendance is a concern, but it might increase if they were in the ACC.
Non-football Candidates:
- UConn - I list them here twice because the ACC might not want UConn football
- Villanova - Always a threat to make the NCAA Tournament and win it (like UConn)
- Georgetown - more of a market/geographic add at this point.
Potential expansion list:
Scenario #1 - Go West! (Best available, new territories)- Stanford and SMU
- possible consideration for Oregon State and either Tulane or Memphis.
It’s not conference realignment. It’s consolidation and no one is safe in the dash for cash (column) (PS; AP)
Don’t call it conference realignment. Call it college football consolidation. Recent history suggests few are safe from being the next to get squeezed out.
And even if your school makes the cut it can come with a cost.
What was once a Big Six in major college football conferences became a Power Five and is now down to four after the Big 12 and Big Ten, motivated by a dwindling pool of television network dollars, carved up the Pac-12 over the course of about 36 hours last week.
The last time college football lost a power conference was right before the Bowl Championship Series was transformed into the College Football Playoff in 2014.
Don’t think it is a coincidence the latest hit came one year before the CFP — and the revenue it creates — expands.
“Once USC and UCLA went to the Big Ten (last year), I knew this was all going to happen,” former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said. “We now have total chaos.”
The Pac-whatever might survive, but it will never be the same.
Tranghese has been through this before. The Big East was a so-called BCS conference back in the day, and the first deemed dispensable. The Atlantic Coast Conference did the majority of the damage over a span of about a decade, starting with poaching Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech in 2003.
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https://athlonsports.com/college-fo...ment-whats-next-acc-big-12-big-ten-pac-12-sec (athlonsports.com; Lassan)
College football's 2023 season starts in less than 20 days, but realignment and expansion have dominated the headlines. The Big 12 grew to 16 teams with the additions of Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah. The Big Ten added Oregon and Washington. And the future of the Pac-12 is in doubt with just four remaining teams and no media rights deal for '24 and beyond. The SEC hasn't added any teams and shouldn't feel any pressure to expand with Oklahoma and Texas joining next fall. The ACC is only held together by its grant of rights, with a handful of teams showing frustration about the growing financial gap to the Big Ten and SEC.
The last week of college football saw several shifts in future conference alignment. What's next for expansion and realignment this offseason? Here are five storylines to watch:
College Football Expansion and Realignment: What's Next for ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC?
What Happens to the Pac-4?
After the departures of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State to the Big 12, and Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten, Oregon State, California, Stanford, and Washington State are left without a conference home for '24 and beyond.
It's possible both California and Stanford pursue FBS Independence for now, while Oregon State and Washington State depart for the Mountain West.
However, there are advantages to keeping the Pac-12 name around for CFB Playoff revenue in '24 and '25, as well as autonomy status by the NCAA.
Could the Mountain West simply dissolve and merge with the Pac-12? With the uncertainty surrounding the '24 season, any type of merger needs to move fast to provide stability for all programs.
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Clemson has One Week to Decide on Potentially Leaving the ACC (yahoo.com; Hilton)
With the conference musical chairs going on, there is no telling on whether or not Clemson will be the next to jump ship.
The decision makers can not waste time though because the official deadline for ACC schools to make a decision is August 15th.
According to insiders, many schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference are exploring ways to leave the Grant of Rights agreement. However, this agreement will not expire until 2036, so it has prevented any schools from leaving thus far. If any schools want to leave and join another conference in 2024, they will need to make a decision soon.
Here on the Clemson Wire, we spoke about the potential of Clemson jumping to the SEC and where they stand with a potential move, but with the deadline approaching close, a decision needs to be made soon.
The media rights deals floating around are heavily focused on football, and it will be a significant factor in making decisions. Currently, schools in the Big Ten and SEC are earning $30 million more than those in the ACC. And because of that Florida State is leaning towards making a leap out of the conference.
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Clemson Football: Can sovereign immunity get schools out of the ACC Grant of Rights? (rubbingtherock.com; Chancey)
Several schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference (seven or eight depending on who you ask) have been dissatisfied with their status in the league, including Clemson Football.
The contract preventing most of them from taking action is the Grant of Rights, which gives the league the rights to their television properties, namely their home games. If a team were to leave, all revenue from their home games would revert to the ACC, not the school.
It would be possible for a institution to negotiate an exit from the GOR, but it would be expensive. The current GOR does not expire until 2036.
Thus far the only possible way anyone has suggested the GOR could be successfully broken has been for enough teams to vote to dissolve the league, which is a measure that likely doesn’t have enough support, assuming it was possible.
An idea that has been floated recently might be a possible way for a school to exit the GOR without being sued for breach of contract, and the precedent is the termination of the late Mike Leach by Texas Tech University.
The ‘choice of law’ provision is:
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California, Stanford interested in ACC: Conference set to evaluate viability of adding Pac-12 teams (cbssports.com; Dodd)
California and Stanford have shown interest in joining the ACC, industry sources tell CBS Sports. What's not known is whether the interest is being reciprocated by the conference.
ACC athletic directors were scheduled to meet to discuss the schools' viability on a Monday call. ACC presidents meet later this week on the subject. It's not clear whether either meeting includes exclusive discussion of expansion. The talks are considered preliminary at this time, but as we've seen over the last couple years, realignment can accelerate quickly.
Furthermore, the University of California Board of Regents has scheduled a meeting at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday to discuss its Pac-12 membership.
Cal and Stanford potentially moving across the nation to the easternmost power conference could be the first significant piece of fallout from last week's significant realignment moves. The Northern California programs have apparently been left out by the Big Ten in any potential plans for further expansion as the Bay Area is considered to be overrated as a television market, industry sources tell CBS Sports.
The Pac-12 was all but killed last week when Oregon and Washington left for the Big Ten with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah following Colorado by moving to the Big 12 -- all at the start of the 2024 season. USC and UCLA had previously decided to join the Big Ten that season.
Why the ACC?
The biggest question in a potential addition of Cal and Stanford by the ACC is whether expanding with those programs would bring enough prominence into the conference to raise the average annual value (AAV) of its media rights contract with ESPN. ACC schools are presently scheduled to earn $30 million from the deal, less than the Big 12 average ($31.7 million) and about half as much as their peers in the Big Ten and SEC....
Sources: ACC plans calls to discuss Cal, Stanford (ESPN; Thamel)
ACC leaders are set to begin exploratory discussions on the potential additions of Cal and Stanford to the conference, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Sources cautioned that the two scheduled discussions are in the embryonic stages -- one call slated with the ACC athletic directors and a separate call with the league's presidents that will play out on Monday and Tuesday.
With the Pac-12 down to just four schools after the defection of five universities on Friday, the four remaining schools -- including Cal and Stanford -- are scrambling to find places to land. Both have elite academic reputations and Stanford consistently has the country's best top-to-bottom athletic department, but the reverberations of realignment have left them at a crossroads.
There will be headwinds to a move for Cal and Stanford to the ACC, as sources on Monday cautioned about the complexities involved.
"It's complicated," an ACC source said. "There's a significant travel expense. I think it's going to be all over the board with both the ADs and the presidents in what they may want to do. [Cal and Stanford] would likely have to take a reduced share. Eventually, though, they're going to want to become a full share."
Finances will be pivotal in the discussions. The ACC is locked into a television deal with ESPN through 2036 that multiple members have publicly griped about being constrictive financially for long-term success. The deal projects to put schools like FSU and Clemson nearly $30 million annually behind schools in the SEC and Big Ten.
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How ACC could make college football could go towards 'Power Three,' per ESPN (on3.com; Kosko)
The ACC could cause college football could head towards a “Power Three” model, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich. Currently, there are the “Power Five” conferences, but the Pac-12 was decimated amid realignment.
With Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah went to the Big 12 and Oregon and Washington were the latest teams to join the Big Ten, along with USC and UCLA. With four teams left in the Pac-12, the conference is almost assuredly out of the “power” conferences and the ACC could be next, per Dinich.
“It depends on what happens in the ACC, Greeny,” Dinich said on Get Up. “That’s where all eyes in college athletics are right now because Florida State’s president was very vocal recently about saying ‘give us more money or we are out.’ It was a public squeeze but it came at a time when the rest of the collegiate landscape was so volatile.
“So it was also raising their hand saying ‘hey, if you want to take us we’ll go,’ but they don’t have any options right now. No offers or invitations from the SEC or the Big Ten.”
However, Dinich didn’t rule out more realignment involving Florida State or other ACC schools in the near future.
“That doesn’t mean it won’t happen,” Dinich said. “And I can tell you there are other schools in the ACC that feel the same way as Florida State, but have a different approach. Now you have to remember, it costs $120 million in an exit fee to leave that conference early. They have a grant of rights that goes through 2036.
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How Miami Could (and FSU Probably Will) Leave the ACC (stateoftheu.com; Weaver)
The “Conference of Champions” is dead. Raided by the Big Ten and, in a twist of irony, the Big XII, it took just over a year for the Pac 12 to shrivel into the Pac 4. The timing can be attributed to the Pac 12’s media rights deal expiring at the end of this year so that every Pac 12 member could depart without penalty. Those circumstances stand in very stark contrast to the ACC, who’s locked into its media rights deal until 2036. That’s another thirteen years for the gap between the haves (Big Ten/SEC) and the have nots (everyone else) to widen.
FSU is having none of it. Last Wednesday, FSU President Richard McCullough told the FSU Board of Trustees that the Seminoles have to seriously consider leaving the ACC. Drew Weatherford, a FSU trustee and former Seminoles quarterback, predicted that “it’s not a matter of if we leave, but how and when we leave” the ACC.
FSU leadership is on point in the sense that the ACC’s demise seems inevitable. The conference was already way behind the Big Ten and SEC in revenue, and seems destined for fourth place behind the expanding Big XII. This past year Miami and FSU joined with Clemson, UNC, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech as so-called “Magnificent 7” schools and negotiated uneven revenue distribution in the ACC based on each school’s ability to attract viewers. That was a stop-gap at best. The Big XII’s uneven revenue distribution didn’t stop Texas and Oklahoma from joining the SEC.
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham criticized FSU for its comments, telling a local radio station that “I don’t think it’s good for our league for them to be out there barking like that.” Cunningham then made a very poignant argument about the ACC collectively ‘owning’ each school’s media rights:
So that’s the big sticking point. In 2013, a bunch of nervous athletic directors got spooked that other schools might follow Maryland in leaving the ACC, and they all decided to sign over their “media rights” to the conference. Here’s reportedly the actual four page media rights document that was presumably extended in 2016 for twenty years. So now, if any member left the conference they wouldn’t own the right to broadcast their own sporting events until 2037.
But is this ironclad? No, I don’t think it is (and as background, my day job is practicing as an intellectual property litigation attorney, and while I don’t represent any school or person involved, and there’s only limited publicly available facts to review for this op-ed, I have dealt with similar contractual issues over the course of my career).
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Introducing the NYS Fair Food Hall of Fame: A tribute to the Fair’s 10 most iconic dishes (PS; Baker)
Food at the New York State Fair is a rite of passage. Sure, there are the rides and the games and the horses and the concerts. But nothing makes the fair as special as those once-a-year foods that have become synonymous with the 13-day carnival. A sausage sandwich can break a politician’s career (looking at you, Rick Lazio). A price change for a cup of milk can incite a revolt. The scent of frying pizza dough might transport you back to your childhood.
But not all Fair foods are created equal. Some of those salty, sticky, sweet or sloppy dishes stand head-and-shoulders above the rest.
Earlier this year, we here at syracuse.com set out to enshrine the greatest fair foods of all time. To that end, we’re launching our New York State Fair Food Hall of Fame, a tribute to the most enduring, most iconic and most essential foods at the annual Central New York festival.
Over the next two weeks, we’ll count down the top 10 all-time foods at the New York State Fair — the ones that belong in our Hall of Fame.
These aren’t your flashes-in-the-pan or the hot thing from that one year (remember Cuse Juice? or the Sudden Death?) No, these are the pillars of the State Fair food scene. The everlasting foods that define the event year in and year out. The ones you tell first-timers they must try. The GOATs.
We polled dozens of frequent fairgoers, from vendors to media personalities to workers to entertainers to former fair officials. Some of our staff writers and editors here weighed in as well. We used all that input to determine the 10 foods that belong in the Hall of Fame.
Each weekday leading up to the Fair, we’ll induct one legendary food. Our food writers here will tell you why it made the list, and what makes it so special. Maybe you think we’re wrong. Maybe we missed your favorite food. Maybe you’re the kind of person who brings a sandwich to the fair to save a buck (lame). Well, you’ll have a chance to weigh in once we’re done with our list. We’ll host a poll and let you vote on your all-time favorites.
So stay tuned over the next two weeks, as we count down the most iconic Fair foods of all time.
In the meantime, here’s some things to know about this year’s Fair, which opens Wednesday, Aug. 23.
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National bubble tea chain opening shop in Syracuse (PS; $; Doran)
A national bubble tea chain is opening a shop in downtown Syracuse, according to the chain’s website.
Gong Cha bubble tea, which has opened more than 2,000 shops in 23 countries, is opening a shop at 142 Walton St. in Syracuse’s Armory Square.
The shop was founded in 2006 in Taiwan. Gong Cha means “tribute tea for the emperor.”
Gong Cha has locations in 21 states.
The Syracuse store is expected to open later this summer.
