Dick_in_MI
Emeritus Legend
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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In a perfect world, we would have been in a truly Eastern (not southeastern, but Eastern) conference forever. But that world never came to pass and the fork in the road happened long ago.
The ACC is the best fit, especially with Pitt joining us. We are moving to a conference which will now have more longterm football rivals than the one we are leaving (BC, Pitt, Miami, VT vs RU and WVU). UConn, of course, is not a longterm football rival.
As for hoops, I hear lots of sorrow over the loss of our rivalries with G'town, Nova, and UConn...but not so much about the loss of our games with the 80 or so other BE hoops teams, and that says a lot. I'll miss those few rivalry games but when looking at the big picture, Duke, UNC et al aren't bad substitutes. Not bad at all.
The loss of the BET for NY area fans is significant, but for guys like me it's a non-issue. Also, there is a certain amount of satisfaction in sticking it to the BE hoops-only's via this move.
The new ACC is still not a selector conference ala the SEC and the B10 in the sense that if one of those two conferences came calling, most ACC schools would be scanning the fine print in the $20M buyout clause with the biggest magnifying glass they could find. But it's the next best thing, stability-wise. Stability plus the security of knowing that we can finally invest longterm in a home where we can unpack our possessions and settle in for the long haul.
I've been a skeptic, Gross-wise, but the man deserves a lot of credit for this. He has solidified SU's place at the table for the longer term and that is huge.
The ACC is the best fit, especially with Pitt joining us. We are moving to a conference which will now have more longterm football rivals than the one we are leaving (BC, Pitt, Miami, VT vs RU and WVU). UConn, of course, is not a longterm football rival.
As for hoops, I hear lots of sorrow over the loss of our rivalries with G'town, Nova, and UConn...but not so much about the loss of our games with the 80 or so other BE hoops teams, and that says a lot. I'll miss those few rivalry games but when looking at the big picture, Duke, UNC et al aren't bad substitutes. Not bad at all.
The loss of the BET for NY area fans is significant, but for guys like me it's a non-issue. Also, there is a certain amount of satisfaction in sticking it to the BE hoops-only's via this move.
The new ACC is still not a selector conference ala the SEC and the B10 in the sense that if one of those two conferences came calling, most ACC schools would be scanning the fine print in the $20M buyout clause with the biggest magnifying glass they could find. But it's the next best thing, stability-wise. Stability plus the security of knowing that we can finally invest longterm in a home where we can unpack our possessions and settle in for the long haul.
I've been a skeptic, Gross-wise, but the man deserves a lot of credit for this. He has solidified SU's place at the table for the longer term and that is huge.