Conference Re-Alignment: It's Different this Time

Jul 24, 2021, 9:05 AM

We're seeing the CFB world evolve in real time. The SEC is going for the TV money jugular (with help from ESecPN)and they look like they will pull it off. I am not inclined to react just because things somewhere else are changing, but in this new era of NIL (Name, Image Likeness) we probably HAVE to do something big as a conference.

ESecPN interns and producers are already going through old Texas and OU game footage in order to start creating more video content in order grab more eyeballs. The Texas/OU rivalry will be inescapable this fall for college football fans. If you thought the pro-SEC media bias was bad before, just wait.

And with even more non-stop continuous exposure TV exposure for the SEC, recruits who care even more than a little about money (and most do) will all feel a VERY strong pull to play for an SEC team. It will soon be woven into every recruiting pitch (and it has already started) that even a middle-tier SEC player will have more media exposure opps than the a top-tier B10 or ACC player. And with this new SEC TV juggernaut looming (I think of it is more like the CFB Death Star), the statement is largely correct.

The end result for those programs NOT in the SEC will be fighting for the few kids who don't care that much about money and who also happen to be a legit 4 or 5 star recruit. Can it work? Can Clemson succeed? Yeah, with a dynamic coach like Dabo - we still can. BUT (and it is a big but) it is going to become MUCH harder to recreate the success we have had in our recent past. MUCH HARDER.

So what do we do? We better be thinking both long-term and strategically right now. Unfortunately, we have a 1st-year ACC commissioner right now who is unproven (but at least he ain't Swoffy the UNC Scandal Swiffer).

My suggestion? Go get 2 or 4 more teams. My top 2 are Texas A&M and Notre Dame (fully onboard). As some of you know, ATM does NOT want Texas in the SEC with them. They will vote AGAINST adding Texas and OU to the SEC. But they ain't taking a pay cut to come join the ACC. Hence, the importance of getting ND fully aboard. I believe ND and their TV money could likely match the current SEC TV money ATM gets now.(ATM wasn't looking for a pay raise. THey are well-funded already). But without ND (and their TV money and tradition), ATM ain't coming to the ACC. Bonus: If ATM joins the ACC it will really screw up some scheduling for the SEC too.

Other ideas:

West Virginia coming to the ACC? - sure, make some sense, but whatever. WV ain't going to move the needle in this new NIL era.

UCF - same as WV, but I like the idea of the ACC having a foothold in the growing Florida market.

Anyway, I hope the ACC is up to something strategic and splashey, because the SEC Death Star is getting more real every minute.

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Conference Re-Alignment: It's Different this Time

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Re: Conference Re-Alignment: It's Different this Time

This is a very interesting idea.***

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