Pigskin Prophet |
The dynamic of the college football landscape is ever changing, and it changed again Friday morning when the Pigskin Prophet learned that Wake Forest is leaving the ACC in January and will join the Southern Conference.
I woke up Friday morning, and saw a Tweet from a guy that goes to school with the daughter of The Dude, and as it turns out, The Dude has been talking to Oliver Luck [AD at West Virginia] who knows the bartender at the country club where the school lawyer has a membership in Winston-Salem. Realizing that this is a solid and bona fide source, I made some calls and found out that the Demon Deacons are indeed leaving for greener pastures – the Southern Conference has a television contract with Channel 13 out of Asheville that pays each school $1632 per year, which is more than the ACC’s television contract. Wake Forest hasn’t been competitive in football this season – they were outscored 911-32 in ACC games against schools not named Duke – and my source up there tells me they wanted to compete against schools whose enrollment matches their own: Wake Forest currently has 413 undergrad students enrolled. I called and asked to speak to Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe, and surprisingly reached him. He had the following quote. “We appreciate all of the fine years in the ACC, but we feel like we can no longer compete under the current guidelines of the television contract – not from a competitive standpoint or a monetary standpoint,” Grobe said. “The Southern Conference gives us the best chance to once again win championships.” A straw poll conducted of Southern Conference sportswriters has Wake finishing seventh in the Southern Conference next season. Now, on to some picks. FRIDAY UCLA at STANFORD Clemson fans really need for UCLA to win this game, which means Stanford wins going away. STANFORD 34, UCLA 24 SATURDAY OKLAHOMA AT TCU Clemson fans really need for TCU to win this game………OKLAHOMA 30, TCU 27 OKLAHOMA ST. AT BAYLOR The big question here is…which team will reach 100 points first? Big 12 games often look like the old NBA games of the 1980’s with the amount of scoring that goes on. In this one, Mike Gundy gets mad when he sees a cheap shot taken on his quarterback, storms the field and starts screaming at the Baylor defense to “Hit me!!! I’m a grown man!!!” He is immediately taken to a “holding facility” by the men in white coats, who make him share a room with pirate Mike Leach. He is then hired by Arkansas, which gives him a volleyball assistant as a “Get Well” gift. OKLAHOMA ST. 65, BAYLOR 63 NICHOLLS ST. AT OREGON ST Apparently, someone at Oregon St. thinks they are in the SEC. Nicholls St. Really? OREGON ST. 45, NICHOLLS ST. 24 KANSAS AT WEST VIRGINIA The Mullet had such high hopes this season, but immediately saw a once-promising season turn to ashes because of a torrid defense (see Clemson). West Virginia’s defense adapted quite nicely to the pace of the Big 12 defenses, and gave up somewhere around 700 yards per game and 62 points, which put them right in the middle of the Big 12 rankings. This week, The Mullet gets Kansas, which hasn’t won a conference game since the last time South Carolina won a conference title. Kansas won’t win this week either. MULLET COUCH BURNERS 54, KANSAS 28 CINCINNATI AT CONNECTICUT I am not sure what to call this game – the ACC Consolation Bowl? Whatever it is, these are two football programs that want to put their best foot forward so they can attract the eye of the Big 10, which is offering membership to schools with awful uniforms. CINCINNATI 24, UCONN 15. ALABAMA VS. GEORGIA The good news for Georgia is that they don’t have any players under suspension for this game, even though several players have been caught out past curfew in recent weeks. Head coach Mark Richt has decided that “for the good of the program” the players will serve their suspensions next year when the Bulldogs host Southern Conference foe Wake Forest at home in a “money game.” Alabama, however, has not played the toughest schedule in the land, and got knocked off by Johnny Football in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago, causing Nick Saban to have several mini-strokes. He then went home and shot his dog (The Prophet does NOT condone shooting dogs when your team loses). This time, it isn’t Chadron St. they are facing, it’s Georgia. Is an upset brewing in The Dome? ALABAMA 24, GEORGIA 23 TEXAS AT KANSAS ST.Whichever team Clemson needs to win, won’t win. FLORIDA ST. VS. GEORGIA TECH Thank you, ACC, for this delightful championship game. It will be watched by hundreds on television and there will be tens and tens in the stands. Most ACC officials won’t even be there – some will be in court trying to get the exit fee from Maryland, while others will be in Winston-Salem gladly helping the Demon Deacons take down all of the ACC logos from their sporting venues. Georgia Tech is in this game because they are like the sixth-best in the conference, but UNC and Miami cheated and can’t do anything this post-season. However, wouldn’t it be just like the ACC to have Georgia Tech win this game and represent the conference in the Orange Bowl? But let’s not forget that Florida St. is “back” and there is no way they lose this game to Paul Johnson and his Big 10-bound Yellow Jackets. Right? The good news for Noles fans is that Georgia Tech has a service academy offense, a Big 10 educational profile and a Big 12 defense. FSU 40, GEORGIA TECH 30
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