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Message: [QUOTE="WoadBlue, post: 3919252, member: 1145"] I've said it seemingly a billion times - to Big East fans, Big Ten fans, SEC fans, Big XII fans, WVU fans, ND fans - about a half dozen times since the ACC was founded in 1953, pundits and other so-called experts have suggested, and often asserted rather directly, the demise of the ACC was fast approaching. That oft repeated tale of the ACC about to destroyed seems to be something that all kinds of fans of other leagues and teams need, as if it isa security sleeping blanket for them. The ACC has always come through because the ACC leadership never panics and because the ACC is lead by schools (UNC, Dook, UVA) that are more than willing to remain in a league of 'likeminded' schools than leave to take more, even much more. The SWC would still be alive if Texas had not been so damn greedy. The original Big 8 offer to Texas was to merge the two then 8 team leagues to form the first 16 team super conference. Super Greedy, filthy rich Texas said No Way, and instead offered to jettison 4 SWC schools. The Big XII would still alive and well today if Texas, the richest athletics department in the country, were not as insatiably greedy as the Big Ten and, now, the SEC. If the Movers and Shakers of your league are focused first and foremost on keeping the league stable, then that is how they will lead: they will sacrifice what they could get to help the whole. The key this time is that if both FSU and Clemson - the only two ACC full football members who have large football attendance - both decide to chase the much bigger SEC money, then the ACC could be primed for a slow death. Today, football doesn't just drive the bus; football pays for all the gas and maintenance, all the upgrades and repairs. And a Major conference requires a couple of members, preferably more, who have large average attendance. It did not require yet another brilliant UNC grad to do for the BT, with all those humongous schools and stadiums, what Jim Delaney did. Mike Tranghese could have pulled off much of that. But what John Swofford did, with a bunch of private and smaller state schools as handicap, was amazing. I doubt Mike Slive could have done as well. Jim Phillips was selected to replace Swoffird because his long and very successful AD career at Northwestern means he beat the odds big time. He knows how to navigate those waters run by huge state schools with 80K - 100K stadiums. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?