CLEMSON FOOTBALL

ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions

ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions


by - Senior Writer -

Atlantic Coast Commissioner John Swofford took a huge step in making his conference stable and viable for years to come with last week’s announcement of the media grant of rights, and now the conference needs to take the next logical step and realign the divisions.

The grant of rights means each ACC school has pledged that money for its TV rights through the conclusion of the conference's contract with ESPN, which runs through 2027, will remain with the ACC no matter where that school happens to reside. That makes the teams within the conference less attractive to poachers, and with a $50 million exit fee in place, the chances of teams leaving the conference are slim and none, and slim is headed out the door.

However, with the addition of Pittsburgh, Louisville and Syracuse for the upcoming athletic year and with the addition of Notre Dame looming on the football horizon, the conference needs to take a long hard look at the divisions and think about realignment within the conference.

Louisville will take the place of Maryland in the ACC Atlantic – the same division as Clemson and Florida St. – and for the foreseeable future it appears the three strongest programs in the conference will reside in the Atlantic. What the ACC doesn’t need is a repeat of the joke of a championship game that was played last year when North Carolina and Miami were ineligible for the ACC Championship and a .500 Georgia Tech team had to step in and play.

However, neither North Carolina nor Miami set the world on fire last season, and it was obvious the conference’s two best teams were Clemson and Florida St. I get it – that happens, and it changes from year to year. In the SEC. the East has been the whipping boy for the West and the SEC won’t dare move an LSU, Alabama, Arkansas or Texas A&M to the East.

Two years from now, the best teams from the ACC might indeed be from the current Coastal Division. But it does look like Clemson, Florida St. and Louisville are all built to make sustained runs, while former Coastal heavyweight Virginia Tech deals with talent issues. Georgia Tech has been barely a .500 team for the past few seasons. North Carolina and Miami have battled the NCAA and scandals. Duke will always be…well…Duke. Virginia doesn’t seem suited to make any kind of a run.

Many people would like to see Clemson and Florida St. split up, with Seminoles and Hurricanes in the same division. However, my source at the ACC says the two schools need to remain in separate divisions so that each ACC school will visit the state of Florida at least once every two years for recruiting purposes.

With that in mind, it would make it easy to keep Clemson and Florida St. in the same division and let Louisville move to the Coastal. Former N.C. State head coach Tom O’Brien said last season that he would like to see the two divisions made up of original ACC members and new ACC members, but that would mess up several of the natural rivalries.

However, you could realign to where the divisions would actually resemble the old Big East and the original ACC.

It would look like this, and you could name them North and South:

ACC North Division

Boston College Eagles

Louisville Cardinals

Miami Hurricanes

Pittsburgh Panthers

Syracuse Orange

Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia Tech Hokies

ACC South Division

Clemson Tigers

Duke Blue Devils

Florida St. Seminoles

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

N.C. State Wolfpack

North Carolina Tar Heels

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Clemson would need to find a new cross-division rival, but how much fun would it be to play Virginia Tech each season? The two schools are a lot alike, and a yearly series between the programs would always be a big ticket.

It would also make sense from a travel standpoint – Clemson wouldn’t need to travel to Syracuse or Syracuse to Clemson, while adding short trips to North Carolina or Duke. And, having the four North Carolina teams – UNC, N.C. State, Duke and Wake – in the same division would create some excitement.

A team like Boston College would also benefit by having teams like Pitt and Syracuse and Virginia closer than FSU, Clemson and N.C. State.

The bad news is that I’ve been told – rather pointedly I might add – that realignment won’t happen and isn’t even being discussed. Which is too bad, because if you want to prove that you are a big-time football conference, it’s time to make some big boy moves to make the product better across the board.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a realignment you think would make sense? We would love to hear them all.

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Subject (Replies: 76) Author
spacer Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
TigerNet News®
spacer I like that plan...that's a good idea
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Re: I like that plan...that's a good idea
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer VT went to the Sugar Bowl 2 years ago.
TigerStyle13
spacer Re: VT went to the Sugar Bowl 2 years ago.
Litefoot
spacer But Miami would
GrayBengal®
spacer David: Why do they not want to realign? They tell you it
AThomas®
spacer Lots of reasons.
Kaplony
spacer Re: David: Why do they not want to realign? They tell you it
Litefoot
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
#1TIGER
spacer success will fluctuate but support for the programs over the
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Re: success will fluctuate but support for the programs over the
Litefoot
spacer I don't understand the need for a cross div rival game. With
Caddie
spacer Very Good point
ALL IN Tiger 888
spacer Re: Exactly.
SouthernSun96
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
clemsonkat
spacer It puts them with their former Big East rivals
PenthouseTiger
spacer divisions aren't strictly adhered to in non-revenue sports
clemsongt
spacer They'd almost have to split it differently in baseball
PenthouseTiger
spacer Of the incoming schools
Kaplony
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
whatweeatin
spacer Using that same logic
PenthouseTiger
spacer we only speak with emotion here....no logic***
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Re: we only speak with emotion here....no logic***
whatweeatin
spacer it was a joke...nothing more***
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Re: Using that same logic
whatweeatin
spacer Re: Using that same logic
PenthouseTiger
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
jerseytiger1980
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer The key question is whether Louisville will have a better
josephg®
spacer I'll take that bet anyday of the week***
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer I'm down. UNC, Miami, and VT have more football
josephg®
spacer we've got a night at the Esso on this one
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer 2023 FSU game?***
josephg®
spacer I'm there.....you're calling me a cab :-)***
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Thank you for saying that...
ClemfanWV
spacer they are still WAY better than who we replaced them with
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer Oh I agree...definitely an upgrade...
ClemfanWV
spacer Re: The key question is whether Louisville will have a better
allorangeallthetime52®
spacer My two Divisions:
acevans
spacer Re: My two Divisions:
rkantor
spacer GOOD news?!?
TigerNotAtGT
spacer you've got to follow the company line...it's a good thing***
Tigerfansince1972®
spacer I hope you have a great mind...
RainyDayHillSitter
spacer Interesting Archive!
ALL IN Tiger 888
spacer No more "permanent rivals". They suck.
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer UNC is not going to go for that
Kaplony
spacer Think UVA would mind being in the Big East division despite
clemsongt
spacer If you think about it, cross border rival wars and other
AThomas®
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
deleted
spacer Nah
jvtiger77
spacer Brutal travel for Miami. All opponents are VA to New England***
Razzmatazz
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
TunnelTiger
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
rickford13
spacer Switch Miami and Wake and I agree.***
Completely Solid Orange
spacer Re: Switch Miami and Wake and I agree.***
pdeloach
spacer How about this...
tigerdent
spacer Not sure I would characterize our signing away any chance of
surroundedtiger
spacer The alternative was what?
TigerStyle13
spacer Clemson's rivalry with UNC, UVA, and VA Tech is dead!
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer When did we
Kaplony
spacer The only thing we share with Scar is that we are in the same
Buffalo Creek Tiger
spacer It violates the Blue Rule.
thrasherfan
spacer There aren't and haven't ever been Basketball Divisions
TigerStyle13
spacer Eject Duke, Wake, UVA & Cuse. Round-robin a REAL conference!
Razzmatazz
spacer Why would Miami want to be right back on an island within
Clemson81to85
spacer Make it easy North / South!!!!!!
atlcu1234
spacer Easy to remember. Easy for VT to win North, but South brutal***
Razzmatazz
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
Clemmer®
spacer Re: Please explain how locking us in the ACC
deleted
spacer Re: PS and thank God, Barker is gone!!***
deleted
spacer Re: Please explain how locking us in the ACC
deroberts
spacer Where do want to go, that we had any chance of
Country Gentleman
spacer Maybe this is a dumb question, but why do we need divisions?
Judge Keller®
spacer If ACC wants to be "Big Boy" football, it should have a ....
Rizzito
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
66grad
spacer Re: Front Page Story: ACC needs to add to the good news and realign the divisions
rkantor