The "Dude" says

May 30, 2012, 10:57 PM

Wednesday, May 30, 2012To Be (Big Time) or Not to Be (Big Time)

Recruiting has a dead period and so does conference expansion.

News is hard to come by and rumors are plenty.

Chuck Neinas tells the Dallas Morning News the conference is more concerned with welcoming West Virginia and TCU than it is expanding and all over the south Clemson and Florida State fans panic.

The ACC blogger for ESPN pens a story based on opinion and the party-line spoon feed by Swofford and Big 12 fans despair.

In the absence of real news the media (and bloggers) feel compelled to address every rumor and re-cycle tired arguments based on their outdated stereotype of the Big 12.

Relax Clemson. Relax FSU.

Bloggers like Heather Dinich make every argument in the book as to why FSU and Clemson will stay in the ACC but they miss the obvious reasons why both will leave: money and prestige.

Maybe writers like Dinich and David Teel just dismiss money as a motivator for change? It isn’t hard for to understand why if you believe the revenue gap between the Big 12 and ACC is only $3 million dollars.

No one of sound mind would expect FSU to leave the ACC over a measly $3 million dollars and we know Clemson, as a founding member of the ACC, would never leave over such a paltry amount.

The gap is much larger – at the minimum the gap will be $6 million and could reach as much as $9 million per year.

We don’t have the final numbers on the Big 12 TV contract and we don’t know much about the ACC’s TV deal either. All we know is the ACC is claiming an average payout of $17 million per team but there is great debate over the revenue schedule and when ACC schools will begin to see that $17 million.

All we know for certain about the ACC TV contract is that neither Florida State nor Clemson are happy with it.

The ACC could solve this issue and clear up any misunderstanding by releasing the TV contract but no one expects that to happen -- least of all writers like Dinich.

The other issue that ACC apologists can’t explain away is prestige. The ACC just doesn’t have the reputation as a football conference.

No one, not even the many ACC apologists like Teel, Dinich or Chadd Scott, can make the argument that the ACC isn't behind the SEC, Big 12, Pac 12 and Big 10 in football.

Writers like Teel can claim the ACC values football until the Hokies come home to roost, but just glance at the ACC’s BCS record (2-14) and its clear the conference has earned its reputation as a basketball league.

What’s also clear is the ACC is about to be marginalized down to the level of the new Big East or Conference USA.

Once again the ACC apologists take issue with the idea that the mighty ACC will soon be on the level of the Big East. They argue that an undefeated ACC team would qualify for whatever playoff system the BCS implements.

Yea right. I know they don’t want to hear it but the ACC hasn’t exactly been a popular selection in the BCS. If not for the Orange Bowl the ACC would have been in stiff competition with the Big East champion for who gets picked last.

ACC apologists like to ignore the fact that the only way an ACC could even hope to sniff the playoffs is by going undefeated and playing a tough out-of-conference schedule.

Dinich and her ACC fan base just can’t seem to wrap their minds around the fact that FSU and Clemson can’t stay in the ACC and remain relevant college football powers.

It’s that simple--stay in the ACC and reap the benefits of a bad TV contract and fall further and further behind their SEC neighbors or leave for Big 12 and reap the rewards of big time college football.

Nothing represents FSU’s dilemma better than a statement made by FSU booster Jim Smith directed to the Board of Trustees concerning FSU's budget problems:

"Florida State needs to decide if we're going to be in big-time athletics or not," Smith said after the meeting. "I think we've got the support to be in big-time athletics. I think we're structured wrong.

"Frankly, I hope this is a wake-up call," Smith added. "We have some very, very good coaches here. When they wake up and realize that they have less resources than these schools that are raising (their budgets) 15-20 percent a year, then they will be gone. You can't blame them for that."

Smith nailed the issue without bluster or spin. Florida State needs to decide if they are going to be in big-time athletics or not.

Smith knows that money is needed to pay competitive salaries and keep facilities on par with your neighbors (especially if those neighbors are in the SEC) and you can bet that Smith understands the ACC TV contract puts FSU at a disadvantage.

Its that disadvantage that makes it almost impossible for FSU and Clemson to play college football at the highest level while remaining in the ACC.

Writers like Heather Dinich, David Teel and others can’t seem to see that. Maybe they just can’t accept the Big 12 is in a position to expand at the ACC’s expense or maybe a thick cloud of tobacco smoke is clouding their vision.

Whatever the reason for their blindness I challenge them with this… Given the statements FSU and Clemson have made about the ACC and being open to offers from other conferences… has any school made similar statements and remained in the conference?

Miscellany

Chuck Neinas has a private “coach hunting” business that depends on goodwill. He will not be at the helm of the Big 12 when news of expansion starts to break because he doesn’t want to damage his reputation.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Don’t hold your breath for ND and the Big 12 does not move to 14 unless ND, VPI or NC State are involved.

No news is good news. If leaks come they’ll come from the sources close to FSU and Clemson. I may regret saying this but its safe to resume your normal life until Bob Bowlsby takes office.

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

The "Dude" says

Re: The "Dude" says

No longer a believer in the DUDE

Cant believe he refers to Dinich as a "writer"

TigerBoard POTD