The ACC sucks.

[syrabillslican]

Here we are 12 games into our first ACC basketball schedule, and apart from my excitement over the potential for an undefeated season, I am feeling very blithe towards our new conference. I am obviously not the first person to wax poetically about the old Big East on here, I know, but by the end of the NC State game, even with the perfect season on the line, I realized I did not care about beating the wolfpack. Maybe that's just me, but beating NC State turned out to be wholly less thrilling than beating Providence (though, admittedly, still above DePaul). Maybe, with familiarity, the passion will grow, but the taste in my mouth is not of excitement, but disgust and boredom with the new conference.

I think we all thought the Duke game was a thriller, and a joy to watch. I think it's telling, not just of the status of Duke, but our notion of the rest of the ACC, that we all circled the two Duke games, over and above the rest on the schedule. Unfortunately, Duke fans tend to be 14 year olds who can't handle licking our boots this year, and make UConn fans looks amiable, good-natured fellows, and if there were any Georgetown fans, I am sure it would make them look good by comparison too.

All-in-all, it looks to be as we all feared: the ACC is a poor, sad replacement for the greatest basketball conference ever to be assembled, and it will be thrown into even more relief come conference tournament time in Greensboro (GREENSBORO!). I don't mean to sound arrogant to our new conference mates; only mournful. And our only reward will be some great games with Duke, only to be only tainted by their preteen, can't-handle-losing, whiny fans.

Hopefully all this changes with Louisville joining, but I relished the rivalries with Georgetown, Villanova, and UConn. And I really don't like Duke fans.

 

[LennX6]

How soon we forget North Carolina.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Sounds like you need some firing up. Go read the boards for the other ACC schools, check out the ACC Facebook page...There's some great passion for basketball in the conference and Syracuse is already a hated team. NC State, Duke, UNC, Virginia, Pitt are all fired up and want Syracuse to lose. Georgetown stinks...the two best teams in the new Big East from the old are Nova and St. Johns. We beat both.

 

[cuserulesall]

Deal with it . Enjoy the past . It's all about the Money , money , money , money , Ohh yea !

 

[44PRIDE]

First off, Bite Your Tongue. The ACC threw us a golden lifeline. We could very easily be UConn right now.

Maybe its because the league completely dissolved, or maybe its because we are doing so well in the ACC...but I really (honestly) don't miss the Big East.

That'll probably change around conference tournament time, but its something I can easily live with.

 

[thebigeast44]

After reading some of those ridiculous comments on the NC State board, I can't wait to pound those guys in the future

 

[Bayside44]

All the old Big East teams we played weren't enough so far?

Gimme a big game over UVa over Marquette any day.

 

[syrabillslican]

Conference politics and football money aside, I can't see how anyone could possibly say anything other than we took a huge step backwards in basketball conference competition. We forsook our northeast rivals. We all know it had to be done, but that does not take away the fact that basketball suffered, and suffered mightily.

I hope the drubbings against Florida State are worth it.

 

[creatorsgam]

 

[orange79]

First off, Bite Your Tongue. The ACC threw us a golden lifeline. We could very easily be UConn right now.

Yep - do not bite the hand that feeds you. Our future is now secure. We haven't been able to say that in...well...maybe ever. People thought the BE saved us, but it was inherently unstable. It was destined to implode, and it did. Playing Wake > playing DePaul.

 

[Orangeyes]

There are five old Big East teams in the top 25, four of them in the top 11. Without SU the ACC has 2 in the top 25. There is no question the Big East was better than the ACC for the past few years but that wasn't paying the bills.

 

[orange79]

Conference politics and football money aside, I can't see how anyone could possibly say anything other than we took a huge step backwards in basketball conference competition. We forsook our northeast rivals. We all know it had to be done, but that does not take away the fact that basketball suffered, and suffered mightily.

I hope the drubbings against Florida State are worth it.

For security's sake? You betcha they are.

 

[Briancuse]

Its not a banner year for the conference, but that will change next year. Duke and Unc have loaded recruiting classes coming in, and Lville will be joining the conference.

 

[Bayside44]

Conference politics and football money aside, I can't see how anyone could possibly say anything other than we took a huge step backwards in basketball conference competition. We forsook our northeast rivals. We all know it had to be done, but that does not take away the fact that basketball suffered, and suffered mightily.

I hope the drubbings against Florida State are worth it.

Because we didn't. Pitt and BC are northeast, Duke might as we ll be. UNC is a national program. So is UL.

Look at those other BE schools fall apart without us. We were a lifeline, not a rival.

 

[syrabillslican]

It's funny to mock UConn's demise because it was such a fierce rivalry. But it's important to remember that Marsh's motto came about because Syracuse fans here on this board lamented and were hesitant to lose a true rival that gave us innumerable great games. Maybe it's easier for some to move on from the rivals we grew up with, but I don't think I am one of them.

 

[orange79]

But it's important to remember that Marsh's motto came about because Syracuse fans here on this board lamented and were hesitant to lose a true rival that gave us innumerable great games.

This is just not true.

 

[LPOrange]

3 of the top 5 winningest programs of all time are in the ACC. Even if you are a basketball-only fan, you have to like that. Class vs. form. In the long run the class of the ACC will be better than AAC or the NNBE. If you like football as well then thank God we're in the ACC instead of the AAC.

 

[NKR1978]

Conference politics and football money aside, I can't see how anyone could possibly say anything other than we took a huge step backwards in basketball conference competition. We forsook our northeast rivals. We all know it had to be done, but that does not take away the fact that basketball suffered, and suffered mightily.

I hope the drubbings against Florida State are worth it.

If we and UVA somehow both win out that March 1 game will be as meaningful as any game we played in the Big East. Our fan base was electrified even before we knew how good this team was with season ticket sales at an all time high. I don't see how anyone can think that basketball is suffering or will suffer with a yearly dose of Duke, UNC, Louisville, Pitt, Notre Dame and whatever team like Virginia this year or Miami and FSU the last two years rises to challenge the blue bloods.

 

[LennX6]

It's funny to mock UConn's demise because it was such a fierce rivalry. But it's important to remember that Marsh's motto came about because Syracuse fans here on this board lamented and were hesitant to lose a true rival that gave us innumerable great games. Maybe it's easier for some to move on from the rivals we grew up with, but I don't think I am one of them.

See , you have a different context than say, me. I entered the SU Hoop Universe when our rivals were St. Bona, Lehigh, Bucknell, Colgate, Niagara, Fordham , LaSalle, Rutgers,and St. John's. At that time even Holy Cross may have been a notch above us. There was nothing bigger than SU-St Bona in the late 70's, but we moved on.
Also going on at that time, with us playing a regional schedule and having 6'5" centers, was the ACC had some historically good teams. 72-74 NC St, Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer rolling thru Chapel Hill, Lefty and Maryland, just saying in my context the ACC had a little more luster on it.
Now I will agree that now we are here, the luster ain't quite what I figured, but , hey it'll work.

 

[LAOrange]

First off, Bite Your Tongue. The ACC threw us a golden lifeline. We could very easily be UConn right now.

Maybe its because the league completely dissolved, or maybe its because we are doing so well in the ACC...but I really (honestly) don't miss the Big East.

That'll probably change around conference tournament time, but its something I can easily live with.

You get it. Joining the ACC will be the best thing that happened to this school. Big East and the AAC will both be mid-level especially when Louisville joins the ACC. And it's not basketball. It's everything: Lacrosse comes to the forefront. Softball, Football, track but most importantly: academics. We are in the same league as Duke, Virginia, UNC, Boston College, Ga. Tech, Wake Forest and ND. In a survey first taken in late 2012. ACC's 14 schools placed first in academics among the top 6 power conferences. The average placement: 51. To compare the Big Ten was 57, the Pac 12 was 82 and the Big East ... wait for it... 130.

We were 58 in 2012 and I'll betcha we're better now. Affiliation is everything.

BYW I don't miss anything about the Big East except Georgetown but I will miss playing the tournament in the Garden. Ah, well.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Here we are 12 games into our first ACC basketball schedule, and apart from my excitement over the potential for an undefeated season, I am feeling very blithe towards our new conference. I am obviously not the first person to wax poetically about the old Big East on here, I know, but by the end of the NC State game, even with the perfect season on the line, I realized I did not care about beating the wolfpack. Maybe that's just me, but beating NC State turned out to be wholly less thrilling than beating Providence (though, admittedly, still above DePaul). Maybe, with familiarity, the passion will grow, but the taste in my mouth is not of excitement, but disgust and boredom with the new conference.

I think we all thought the Duke game was a thriller, and a joy to watch. I think it's telling, not just of the status of Duke, but our notion of the rest of the ACC, that we all circled the two Duke games, over and above the rest on the schedule. Unfortunately, Duke fans tend to be 14 year olds who can't handle licking our boots this year, and make UConn fans looks amiable, good-natured fellows, and if there were any Georgetown fans, I am sure it would make them look good by comparison too.

All-in-all, it looks to be as we all feared: the ACC is a poor, sad replacement for the greatest basketball conference ever to be assembled, and it will be thrown into even more relief come conference tournament time in Greensboro (GREENSBORO!). I don't mean to sound arrogant to our new conference mates; only mournful. And our only reward will be some great games with Duke, only to be only tainted by their preteen, can't-handle-losing, whiny fans.

Hopefully all this changes with Louisville joining, but I relished the rivalries with Georgetown, Villanova, and UConn. And I really don't like Duke fans.

Sorry.

Give me Duke and Carolina over anything in the old Big East other than the mid-eighties Hoyas.

We keep Pitt and Louisville and we get 'nova and the Johnnies in the OOC.

If we could just figure out a way to play the Hoyas each year...that is all that is missing.

And in NIT State we get Rutgers fans who are still living in 1983 rather than 1976.

 

[LAOrange]

There are five old Big East teams in the top 25, four of them in the top 11. Without SU the ACC has 2 in the top 25. There is no question the Big East was better than the ACC for the past few years but that wasn't paying the bills.

Dan, Did you ever consider that maybe it was us that made the conference great? Our coaches and Jake C brought a mid-level ECAC team into the big time and positioned it through basketball to the top of the conference. The great rivalries all were coaching rivalries and outside of Dixon and Calhoun, I think they all were better when Boeheim was involved. Boeheim v Calhoun, Carnesecca, Massemino. that large coach with the towel on his shoulder, George Clooney. When Miami left they took VaTech and BC with them. Football suffered but basketball was better than ever when Louisville and Cincinnati took their place. But I'm convinced Louisville joined because of us.

 

[Orangeyes]

Dan, Did you ever consider that maybe it was us that made the conference great? Our coaches and Jake C brought a mid-level ECAC team into the big time and positioned it through basketball to the top of the conference. The great rivalries all were coaching rivalries and outside of Dixon and Calhoun, I think they all were better when Boeheim was involved. Boeheim v Calhoun, Carnesecca, Massemino. that large coach with the towel on his shoulder, George Clooney. When Miami left they took VaTech and BC with them. Football suffered but basketball was better than ever when Louisville and Cincinnati took their place. But I'm convinced Louisville joined because of us.

Yes and that has become ever so more apparent since we left. Whether or not any of our new rivals want to admit, they have never seen fandom on this scale. There is no doubt behind some of the gripping there is also a bit of envy but also some pride that we are now one of them.

 

[senorpalmer]

All the old Big East teams we played weren't enough so far?

Gimme a big game over UVa over Marquette any day.

This year notwithstanding, Marquette has been a superior program to UVA for quite some time, and SU actually did play a number of big games against Marquette in the last ~decade. UVA is having a strong season, but they've still got a lot to prove as far as sustaining a strong level of play for multiple seasons.

 

[orange79]

This year notwithstanding, Marquette has been a superior program to UVA for quite some time, and SU actually did play a number of big games against Marquette in the last ~decade. UVA is having a strong season, but they've still got a lot to prove as far as sustaining a strong level of play for multiple seasons.

Regardless, and this is NOT a knock on Milwaukee, give me a trip to Charlottesville over Milwaukee any day. Both for hoops, and just in general.