ESPN-ACC GOR: Time was Running Out

[Chris02M]

Noting that the B1G still may wanna expand and that the ACC's current design of 14+1 for football and 15 for basketball makes for weird scheduling, why doesn't the ACC add #16 now (i.e. UCONN or Cincy, but preferably UCONN) ?

IMO, adding UCONN would keep the B1G from encroaching anymore on the Northeast AND help with scheduling as hoops could go to 16 with two divisions and football could have three 5-team pods that'd allow for a very neat 9-game league schedule with teams always playing all teams in their pod and rotating between the other two each year.

Plus, it'd add all sorts of content to an ACC Network. More mens hoops, more mens soccer, more baseball, more track & field, more women's hoops, more womens soccer, more softball, more everything.

And the ACC Men's Hoops would go to a level never before seen in America... You'd have, arguably, 5 of the top 10 teams of the last 15-20 years all in one conference - with a few other national heavyweights looking to take their shot.

BTW, no need to respond with "" - I'm trying to raise a legitimate question.

the acc isn't adding number 16 until notre dame 100% isn't joining in football in 2025.. in basketball they will never go to divisions as it is unnecessary and UConn would not necessarily be 1st if they did add another team

 

[baggerbob]

Add UConn, Cincinnati, Texas for 5 games like Notre Dame, and full membership in 5 years, giving Time to work out LHN, and NBC contracts.

 

[bnoro]

Add UConn, Cincinnati, Texas for 5 games like Notre Dame, and full membership in 5 years, giving Time to work out LHN, and NBC contracts.

why in the world would you add uconn and cincy if Texas was coming in with ND?

 

[Btstimpy]

Biggest take away from that article now that I re-read it was this.
Commissioner Jim Delany told CBSSports.com that his league entered confidentiality agreements with possibly six or more schools to protect conversations about conference membership.

Who are these 6 teams?
Nebraska
Rutgers
Maryland
are 3 for sure
North Carolina
Virginia
Georgia Tech
Those are what they want us to believe, but something tells me Georgia Tech was always smoke screen to push North Carolina/Virginia I don't know if the 6th team was Missouri or my dark horse Duke. Delany's a North Carolina alum he has to know Duke-North Carolina must play twice a year in basketball for their basketball season ticket-holders I think UNC was only an option in a B1G with Duke, Maryland, Virginia along with them, and I doubt the B1G was ready for 18 teams yet.

The Big Ten is all about AAU schools. I know Nebraska isn't anymore, but they were when the Big Ten invited them. Given this, it's somewhat easy to determine who the Big Ten approached. They also want contiguous states to Big Ten states or schools in Big Ten states. If it is 6 in addition to Maryland and Rutgers, the 6 are going to be on this list:

Pittsburgh
UVA
UNC
GT
Missouri
Kansas
Vanderbilt
Iowa State

 

[Toga]

The Big Ten is all about AAU schools. I know Nebraska isn't anymore, but they were when the Big Ten invited them. Given this, it's somewhat easy to determine who the Big Ten approached. They also want contiguous states to Big Ten states or schools in Big Ten states. If it is 6 in addition to Maryland and Rutgers, the 6 are going to be on this list:

Pittsburgh
UVA
UNC
GT
Missouri
Kansas
Vanderbilt
Iowa State

Aside from the fact they embarrassed themselves by begging to get into the Big Ten, I still don't quite get why one note Johnny from a low population state (Nebraska) was felt to be a more attractive get than a good all-around brand from a good sized population state (Mizzou).

 

[riskylogic]

The ACC can't add 15th team till ND wants to commit fully, ND has given the ACC its verbal, but until signing day they aren't a part of the football division. The ACC can't go 10 years with 15 teams and create horrible football scheduling nightmares. If ND would commit tomorrow even the football schools Clemson, and Florida State would be okay with UConn as the 16th team. If the B1G takes UConn there will always be Cincinnati or West Virginia to be had as the 16th team.
Tha ACC has no pressure to add UConn because they aren't infinitely better than Cincinnati. That is why the ACC is done expanding until "signing day" and Notre Dame faxes over the LOI.

Two basic facts:
1. Any future ACC expansion will revolve around ND
2. ND will not be a full revenue sharing member any time soon

Given those restrictions, the first thing to talk about is what would it take to get ND to SIX games? Here is what I think the ACC can offer at little cost:

1. A chance to compete for the ACC championship. Put ND in a three team pod (Pitt and somebody else), resulting in one variable eight team and one variable seven team division.
2. Make the Shamrock neutral site series an ACC game.

Make that happen, and then work can begin on adding a team and putting 7-8 ACC games on the ND schedule.

 

[riskylogic]

Aside from the fact they embarrassed themselves by begging to get into the Big Ten, I still don't quite get why one note Johnny from a low population state (Nebraska) was felt to be a more attractive get than a good all-around brand from a good sized population state (Mizzou).

It made sense until they took Maryland and Rutgers.

 

[Alsacs]

Aside from the fact they embarrassed themselves by begging to get into the Big Ten, I still don't quite get why one note Johnny from a low population state (Nebraska) was felt to be a more attractive get than a good all-around brand from a good sized population state (Mizzou).

Nebraska was a better addition than Missouri. Nebraska is a top 10 if not top 5 all-time football program, and a majority of TV money comes from football. The B1G didn't need Missouri over Nebraska due to markets because adding a 12th team would have paid for itself due to the conference championship game. If I had the choice between Missouri and Nebraska I would take Nebraska 10 out of 10 times due to the football brand, and their fans that travel like crazy. Nebraska-Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State is a better game for TV than Ohio St/Michigan/Penn State vs Missouri.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Noting that the B1G still may wanna expand and that the ACC's current design of 14+1 for football and 15 for basketball makes for weird scheduling, why doesn't the ACC add #16 now (i.e. UCONN or Cincy, but preferably UCONN) ?

IMO, adding UCONN would keep the B1G from encroaching anymore on the Northeast AND help with scheduling as hoops could go to 16 with two divisions and football could have three 5-team pods that'd allow for a very neat 9-game league schedule with teams always playing all teams in their pod and rotating between the other two each year.

Plus, it'd add all sorts of content to an ACC Network. More mens hoops, more mens soccer, more baseball, more track & field, more women's hoops, more womens soccer, more softball, more everything.

And the ACC Men's Hoops would go to a level never before seen in America... You'd have, arguably, 5 of the top 10 teams of the last 15-20 years all in one conference - with a few other national heavyweights looking to take their shot.

BTW, no need to respond with "" - I'm trying to raise a legitimate question.

F UCo... oh ok.

Seriously though, UConn or UC will always be an option but IF ND comes on board fully the ACC should be entertaining bigger fish with the bait of ND, FSU, Clemson, Va Tech, Miami, Louisville, and the big dog Syracuse to play football with. Should be netting a very nice pay day by then with the yearly, or 5 year look in? on the TV deal. Penn State would be the logical choice being in the ACC footprint or potentially gun to bring Maryland back when their books are in order before heading down the UConn or UC road. B1G has no buyout so IF the ACC can prove themselves as financially viable (or trending towards better) and are in a more desirable area some B1G teams could become targets while the rust belt continues to rust and population density continues to move South.

 

[tcc_dc]

F UCo... oh ok.

Seriously though, UConn or UC will always be an option but IF ND comes on board fully the ACC should be entertaining bigger fish with the bait of ND, FSU, Clemson, Va Tech, Miami, Louisville, and the big dog Syracuse to play football with. Should be netting a very nice pay day by then with the yearly, or 5 year look in? on the TV deal. Penn State would be the logical choice being in the ACC footprint or potentially gun to bring Maryland back when their books are in order before heading down the UConn or UC road. B1G has no buyout so IF the ACC can prove themselves as financially viable (or trending towards better) and are in a more desirable area some B1G teams could become targets while the rust belt continues to rust and population density continues to move South.

I think the end result of the ACC will be one of two things:

1) ND joins as a full member and Penn State follows along

or

2) ND tells ACC they are fine where they are at, but we need more quality games, so ACC offers same deal to Texas

I just do not see UConn, Cincy, etc ever being part of the ACC.

Besides Penn State, the school who is the most ACC school not in the ACC is Kentucky and would be a great addition, but if we took Kentucky, Slive would have FSU and Clemson on the hook in 5 seconds

 

[ImperialOrange]

I think the end result of the ACC will be one of two things:

1) ND joins as a full member and Penn State follows along

or

2) ND tells ACC they are fine where they are at, but we need more quality games, so ACC offers same deal to Texas

I just do not see UConn, Cincy, etc ever being part of the ACC.

Besides Penn State, the school who is the most ACC school not in the ACC is Kentucky and would be a great addition, but if we took Kentucky, Slive would have FSU and Clemson on the hook in 5 seconds

To be fair, if the ACC was in a position to take Kentucky it would mean the SEC was no longer in a position to take FSU and Clemson. Might be the case 30 years from now but not likely in the next 10.

 

[Resonator]

Biggest take away from that article now that I re-read it was this.
Commissioner Jim Delany told CBSSports.com that his league entered confidentiality agreements with possibly six or more schools to protect conversations about conference membership.

Who are these 6 teams?
Nebraska
Rutgers
Maryland
are 3 for sure
North Carolina
Virginia
Georgia Tech
Those are what they want us to believe, but something tells me Georgia Tech was always smoke screen to push North Carolina/Virginia I don't know if the 6th team was Missouri or my dark horse Duke. Delany's a North Carolina alum he has to know Duke-North Carolina must play twice a year in basketball for their basketball season ticket-holders I think UNC was only an option in a B1G with Duke, Maryland, Virginia along with them, and I doubt the B1G was ready for 18 teams yet.

Any talk of UNC ever joining the Big 10 was pure fantasy. Carolina is not going to leave ancient rivals NC State, Duke, and, Wake Forest, to go and play the likes of Minnesota, Iowa, or Nebraska. The fanbase would have been in complete revolt, IMO. The ACC is a league we helped found, and, improving its lot was preferable to joining a midwestern-based league where we have no history with anybody.

The ACC has improved its own lot tremendously in the past year. This newer version is going to be a great league that runs the entirety of the eastern seaboard. This fall cannot get here soon enough.

 

[Resonator]

I think most FSU fans realized the SEC was a pipe dream as Florida wasn't going to be forced by the state administrators a la Virginia with Virginia Tech to invite FSU into the SEC. On the B1G front I think FSU would go if offered, but I agree all that was a smokescreen by the B1G as you stated.

The B1G/SEC both want North Carolina if they are available as they are the crown jewel of the ACC due to the fact they OWN the NC market, are the flagship university, are a top 10 brand in college merchandize sales nationwide, and would automatically cause the cable channel of the SEC or B1G be on NC basic tier with fear of revolt from their fanbase if their games weren't available.(Also, NC is the fastest growing state IMO, as the Texas growth from the last census was mainly due to Hurricane Katrina relocaters.)

There would also be a huge revolt if the administration ever voted to have Carolina join the B10.

The difference between Missouri and Florida State was this I don't think the B1G realized Nebraska was available before they poked the bear. The B1G realized that whomever the 12th team was they would pay for their own inclusion due to the conference championship game. Missouri brought the St. Louis, Kansas City TV markets for the BTN, but only brought 3 star football and 4 star basketball. When 5 star football/2 star basketball Nebraska realized Texas A&M was unhappy and Texas always had the Pac-10 in its back pocket they smartly went ahead and started a public feud with Texas over its Longhorn network. Nebraska ALWAYS benefited from the Big 12 unequal revenue sharing along with Texas. Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Kansas. However, they realized that Missouri was flirting with a spot that they were obviously better off taking and blaming their departure on Texas and the fact the Big XII never protected their Big 8 rivalry with Oklahoma. Nebraska realized that the stability of the B1G was better than dealing with the ego of Texas, but they along with Oklahoma always had significant influence in the room with Texas they just didn't have Texas Tech, Baylor, Iowa State's futures dependent on keeping Nebraska happy like they did with Texas. So, Nebraska took off and sniped Missouri's spot. Basically what Nebraska did to Texas was what Shaq O'Neal did with Kobe Bryant when he got traded from the Lakers. He went public and started lobbying bombs at Kobe/Texas and got public support for their departures and got all the blame put on the other party Kobe/Texas.

With Florida State I don't think North Carolina was ever threatened by the talk of them going to the B1G because if they were the 15th team who would have been 16? UConn or Georgia Tech? If Ga. Tech and Florida State went to the B1G then Virginia and North Carolina could call Mike Slive today and be extended invitations to the SEC.

An outstanding point. UNC was blessed to have options, should that have occurred.

The biggest mistake the B1G made was not getting 2 ACC schools and instead taking Rutgers along with Maryland.

I believe that Maryland was the only school that the B10 could shake loose. Because they were in such dire straits in their athletic department. Rutgers was chosen for the NJ TV market. It sure wasn't because of their great athletic accomplishments.

What this showed was the ACC wasn't as vulnerable as we were led to believe by the butthurt dumba$$es from WVU, and gives credance to the fact that Maryland left because NC St AD Debbie Yow left their AD program in so much red they had to wh*re themselves out to the B1G to keeps its AD afloat.

Another outstanding point.

The ACC can blame Maryland's departure on Debbie Yow. North Carolina KNEW it could live without Maryland. Taking Maryland hurt the ACC, but didn't wound it as honestly Louisville has better football and basketball in the past decade and has reason to believe it can be sustained. Florida State to the B1G wouldn't have harmed North Carolina one bit either as they knew the SEC/B1G BOTH want them, and honestly I don't know which the school/fanbase prefers over the other.

Just from the UNC fans I know, they preferred the SEC, hands down.

 

[Resonator]

Noting that the B1G still may wanna expand and that the ACC's current design of 14+1 for football and 15 for basketball makes for weird scheduling, why doesn't the ACC add #16 now (i.e. UCONN or Cincy, but preferably UCONN) ?

IMO, adding UCONN would keep the B1G from encroaching anymore on the Northeast AND help with scheduling as hoops could go to 16 with two divisions and football could have three 5-team pods that'd allow for a very neat 9-game league schedule with teams always playing all teams in their pod and rotating between the other two each year.

Plus, it'd add all sorts of content to an ACC Network. More mens hoops, more mens soccer, more baseball, more track & field, more women's hoops, more womens soccer, more softball, more everything.

And the ACC Men's Hoops would go to a level never before seen in America... You'd have, arguably, 5 of the top 10 teams of the last 15-20 years all in one conference - with a few other national heavyweights looking to take their shot.

BTW, no need to respond with "" - I'm trying to raise a legitimate question.

The ACC will not add UConn for two reasons:

1) It was their former state AG, Blumenthal, who initiated legal proceedings aganst the ACC. I know others took part as well. But, it was Connecticut who started it. ACC administrators and fans will not forget that anytime soon. They have two huge black marks against them ever joining. And, that is the absolute biggest.

2) They will never get the 80% vote required to gain acceptance. The football-first schools...FSU, Miami, Clemson, Tech, and VPI...will all vote against them. So will NCSU. Thats way more than enough to permanently block them. This league needs stronger football brands, and, they simply don't have it. That is the second big black mark against them. We have more than enough quality basketball programs to have the best league in the country.

We simply do not need them, and, they made lifetime enemies with the legal wrangling.

IMO, Cincinnati would stand a much better chance at being accepted.

See, no '' comment. Just as you requested.

 

[Resonator]

The Big Ten didn't need to "destabilize" the Big 12 to get Nebraska to join. The Big 12 had been destabilizing itself since the moment it formed. Nebraska had been unhappy for years -- they lost annual games against their biggest historic football rival, and were forced to deal with the massive ego of Texas.

If the B1G wanted UNC, UVA and GaTech then they'd go talk to UNC, UVA and GaTech. They wouldn't need to fake interest in FSU to destabilize the ACC.

Occam's Razor.

That is very true, but, I am betting Delany knew that he couldn't get any of those three.

I think he has legit interest in FSU. But, their academics are not where B10 presidents want. So, they are a no-go for them. IMHO, thats a joke. Nebraska is not AAU, and, they certainly aren't any sort of great plains academic bellwether.

In the end, FSU was not going to join the B10 on their own, even if they got an invite. Without some regional partners to go with them, they'd be on an even bigger island than WVU is. And, none of the others were leaving the ACC.

 

[Resonator]

You nailed it in the last paragraph. If the SEC wanted the best football teams Florida State and Clemson which are SEC football teams are the obvious picks, but without the SEC wanting Florida State and the fact North Carolina is VERY comfortable with the status quo nothing more is going to happen, and honestly all WVU did was cause a lot of unnecessary stress and probably irrevocably harm there chances of ever being invited to the ACC even though they after Penn State are probably the best choice for team 16 when Notre Dame joins full-time eventually. I think eventually the 4 of Big XII teams Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas aren't going to go to the Pac-12, but they will be eaten by the B1G/SEC 2 each. I don't know which where, but my guesses Texas/Oklahoma State to the SEC West with Auburn/Alabama going to the SEC East, and Oklahoma/Kansas going into the B1G West. Then the remaining Big XII schools joining up with UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Central Florida, Temple, any 1 more in a new conference. If WVU didn't piss off the ACC so much they would have a chance at the 16th ACC, but not anymore.

WVU's fanbase, or, at least part of it, has given the university a great big black eye over the last 12-13 months. The ceaseless rumor-mongering, name-calling, insulting of former BE conference mates, and, outright LIES spread about anyone or anything that they hated have left them in an even deeper, darker pit than even UConn is in, in the eyes of the ACC, and, its fans. They had support last spring/summer, from a large number of ACC fans. Myself included.

But, when college athletics' version of the village idiots began their nonsense, the tide turned against them, and, they've destroyed whatever goodwill they had built up previously.

 

[chakka3421]

Regarding WMU & UConn - I don't think it has anything to do with fanbases and more to do with just plain old business.

1. Why not UConn - New England for ACC footprint is captured by BC and SU. UConn adds nothing just like FSU adds nothing to SEC footprint - UConn would only make sense for B1G to expand into NE so with RU they would be the counter to ACC dominence of NE-NY. UConn is close to getting AAU certified and is already a land grant university. Perfect for B1G expansion and would be bad for SU-BC recruiting.

2. Why not WVA- who gives a rats @$$ about the dude & fanbase? Only thing they have to offer is West Virginia TV market which is smaller than even Syracuse and captured somewhat by UVA & VT anyway. No value in adding WVA to ACC.

3. UC on other hand "expands" ACC market into Ohio - great candidate for expansion imo. They just need to keep winning.

4. Maryland was a big loss to ACC TV market - I do know that deal is not done yet and very unlikely they come back into ACC but stranger things have happened before. With new ACC GOR - things could get interesting come July 1.

Finally with GOR & TV contracts in place until 2027 - I can't see anything changing unless Maryland stays with ACC (they haven't left yet) or ND joins full time or really outside the line if Texas wants a similar deal like ND. Nothing else brings any increased value so in my mind ghe fat lady has sung and its over.

 

[nd1973]

I think we will see no real movement in the major conferences for 10 or so years. We(ND) are exactly were we want to be and will not be joining in full anytime soon. Only way that will happen is if they require Conference Champions or scheduling becomes impossible. Neither one of those is very likely to happen so I think the status quo will rein supreme for the next decade.

 

[omniorange]

I think we will see no real movement in the major conferences for 10 or so years. We(ND) are exactly were we want to be and will not be joining in full anytime soon. Only way that will happen is if they require Conference Champions or scheduling becomes impossible. Neither one of those is very likely to happen so I think the status quo will rein supreme for the next decade.

Agreed. But you're no longer truly independent either. The Irish are betwixt and between. You basically have your own "conference" schedule at this point -USC, Stanford, Navy, MSU, and the 5 ACC games.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[nd1973]

Agreed. But you're no longer truly independent either. The Irish are betwixt and between. You basically have your own "conference" schedule at this point -USC, Stanford, Navy, MSU, and the 5 ACC games.

Cheers,
Neil

Lol, yep but don't mention that to other Notre Dame fans.. I tried to tell them that for the first time in our 125 year history a conference or outside entity is dictating our schedule. So I view us a quasi- independent.

 

[omniorange]

Lol, yep but don't mention that to other Notre Dame fans.. I tried to tell them that for the first time in our 125 year history a conference or outside entity is dictating our schedule. So I view us a quasi- independent.

Yep, and ironically enough, it is that "outside" entity that is providing the variety of scheduling giving the illusion of still being indy.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Alsacs]

I think we will see no real movement in the major conferences for 10 or so years. We(ND) are exactly were we want to be and will not be joining in full anytime soon. Only way that will happen is if they require Conference Champions or scheduling becomes impossible. Neither one of those is very likely to happen so I think the status quo will rein supreme for the next decade.

ND is 5/8s a member of the ACC, which is a huge step for the ND football program. When you were in the Big East because the leadership of that conference was horrible and cared more about protecting Providence College's little relevancy in basketball rather than forming a real conference of strength Notre Dame never helped the Big East football schools by even playing 3 of them in home/home arrangements. With the ACC you are playing 5 of 12 games a year against ACC competition which is 42% of your schedule. Whether it means ND is going to wait 10 years or more to join fully is another thing.

ND has given the ACC its "verbal" and don't think you have signed the LOI to become a full-member but eventually I think ND will join fulltime(after the 2026 season) and will have significant say as to whom the 16th team will be. ND has 3 games they must play each year Navy, USC, Stanford(Navy for helping keep ND afloat during WWII and Stanford/USC for CA recruiting purposes) you guys enjoy long time rivalries with Purdue and Michigan State as well, but when the B1G goes to 9 or 10 conference games do you think that Purdue and Michigan State will automatically have room to schedule ND? I think ND has time to remain independence, but this deal with ACC was to eventually set the table for when they want to join a conference. The B1G blackballed ND in the 1930s/40s and ND doesn't want to join that rustbelt, but the ACC is located in a good recruiting grounds and won't be that difficult for ND to win a NC out of like the SEC.

 

[nd1973]

ND is 5/8s a member of the ACC, which is a huge step for the ND football program. When you were in the Big East because the leadership of that conference was horrible and cared more about protecting Providence College's little relevancy in basketball rather than forming a real conference of strength Notre Dame never helped the Big East football schools by even playing 3 of them in home/home arrangements. With the ACC you are playing 5 of 12 games a year against ACC competition which is 42% of your schedule. Whether it means ND is going to wait 10 years or more to join fully is another thing.

ND has given the ACC its "verbal" and don't think you have signed the LOI to become a full-member but eventually I think ND will join fulltime(after the 2026 season) and will have significant say as to whom the 16th team will be. ND has 3 games they must play each year Navy, USC, Stanford(Navy for helping keep ND afloat during WWII and Stanford/USC for CA recruiting purposes) you guys enjoy long time rivalries with Purdue and Michigan State as well, but when the B1G goes to 9 or 10 conference games do you think that Purdue and Michigan State will automatically have room to schedule ND? I think ND has time to remain independence, but this deal with ACC was to eventually set the table for when they want to join a conference. The B1G blackballed ND in the 1930s/40s and ND doesn't want to join that rustbelt, but the ACC is located in a good recruiting grounds and won't be that difficult for ND to win a NC out of like the SEC.

You think we have already committed to join at a specific time/date? After the 2026 what changes are going to occur to make us join in full? Is this your guess or do you have some information that I don't know about? One thing that is for sure is ND is great at managing leaks and only let out what they want out.

 

[orange79]

Regarding WMU & UConn - I don't think it has anything to do with fanbases and more to do with just plain old business.

1. Why not UConn - New England for ACC footprint is captured by BC and SU. UConn adds nothing just like FSU adds nothing to SEC footprint - UConn would only make sense for B1G to expand into NE so with RU they would be the counter to ACC dominence of NE-NY. UConn is close to getting AAU certified and is already a land grant university. Perfect for B1G expansion and would be bad for SU-BC recruiting.

2. Why not WMU - who gives a rats @$$ about the dude & fanbase? Only thing they have to offer is West Virginia TV market which is smaller than even Syracuse and captured somewhat by UVA & VT anyway. No value in adding WMU to ACC.

3. UC on other hand "expands" ACC market into Ohio - great candidate for expansion imo. They just need to keep winning.

4. Maryland was a big loss to ACC TV market - I do know that deal is not done yet and very unlikely they come back into ACC but stranger things have happened before. With new ACC GOR - things could get interesting come July 1.

Finally with GOR & TV contracts in place until 2027 - I can't see anything changing unless Maryland stays with ACC (they haven't left yet) or ND joins full time or really outside the line if Texas wants a similar deal like ND. Nothing else brings any increased value so in my mind ghe fat lady has sung and its over.

Western Michigan wants to join the ACC?

 

[orange79]

I think the end result of the ACC will be one of two things:

1) ND joins as a full member and Penn State follows along

or

2) ND tells ACC they are fine where they are at, but we need more quality games, so ACC offers same deal to Texas

I just do not see UConn, Cincy, etc ever being part of the ACC.

Besides Penn State, the school who is the most ACC school not in the ACC is Kentucky and would be a great addition, but if we took Kentucky, Slive would have FSU and Clemson on the hook in 5 seconds

Why would Penn St, with 2 new Eastern teams joining, want to take less $$$ to join the ACC?