What do you think of the ACC?

[NashBuff]

Like everyone here, I was shocked to find out that 'Cuse and Pitt made a fast move to the ACC that left the Big East gasping for air. I strongly believe that UConn will be team #15 and I'm not sure about who will be #16: Rutgers or West Virigina (my pick if I could make it).

I'm sure Dick Vitale will be wearing adult diapers soon because his excitement for the ACC would be through the roof. That would be a lot of good basketball in that conference and not too many basketball powers to kill some traditionally strong basketball programs.

I'm not going to hide my feelings about the ACC...I'm intrigued by that conference and I believe that the Pac-12/14/16 needs to establish a SERIOUS goal of becoming a strong basketball conference because I don't think the necessary commitment to strong football teams is quite as serious as in the Big 12, SEC, and B1G...it's more about the Olympic Sports in that conference and all about the access to the Buff alumni.

The Pac-Whatever should aim to become the second best basketball conference behind the ACC. We would have competition from the Big 12 plus those Big East football leftovers but I believe we could overcome that.

Could basketball end up benefiting from this conference thing that is driven by football more than football itself?

 

[Mick Ronson]

as a big hoops myself, there is a lot about all the reshuffle i don't like since it's all driven by football. i think as far as it goes, Pitt and Cuse to the ACC is a pretty nice unintended consequence of all this hoops-wise. it's been a bit of a bummer of the last years to see the ACC become watered down by FSU and Miami in basketball. not the same as it was in the old ACC days....i spent a little time on the Duke campus but not in anyway a Dukie...they love their hoops in North Carolina and it's pretty cool. point is: strictly as a fan of the game, i loved to watch the ACC back in the Dean, Lefty, Valvano, Crimmins, K, etc. days. the ACC tournament was purdy kewl.

 

[NashBuff]

as a big hoops myself, there is a lot about all the reshuffle i don't like since it's all driven by football. i think as far as it goes, Pitt and Cuse to the ACC is a pretty nice unintended consequence of all this hoops-wise. it's been a bit of a bummer of the last years to see the ACC become watered down by FSU and Miami in basketball. not the same as it was in the old ACC days....i spent a little time on the Duke campus but not in anyway a Dukie...they love their hoops in North Carolina and it's pretty cool. point is: strictly as a fan of the game, i loved to watch the ACC back in the Dean, Lefty, Valvano, Crimmins, K, etc. days. the ACC tournament was purdy kewl.

My father did go to Duke for a month or two as part of his job and brought me back a Duke t-shirt...good memories of that for sure.

I understand your point and I do remember those great ACC coaches before they brought in BC, VT, and Miami.

I'm also keeping an eye on the potential Big East-Big 12 merger...you would have KU, KSU, ISU, MU, and BU paired up with Louisville & Cinncinnati for starters. I'm thinking UT could grow interested in that conference especially if Norte Dame decides to come along...this might end up keeping UT out of the Pac-12 since they can go independent in football along with Norte Dame and park their sports in the new Big 12.

 

[ShockerHoops]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a basketball only conference pop up in a couple years. I think there are going to be some universities floundering around, with no football programs, and might get picked up in a mediocre conference during the initial shuffle, but watch for these schools that have financial stability, but no football program, to join together into their own big conference.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see more differentiating sport conferences. I could even see some schools being one conference for hoops only, and then a more feasible geographically based conference for all other minor sports such as baseball, track, bowling, tennis, etc.

Financially it would be the smartest.

 

[NashBuff]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a basketball only conference pop up in a couple years. I think there are going to be some universities floundering around, with no football programs, and might get picked up in a mediocre conference during the initial shuffle, but watch for these schools that have financial stability, but no football program, to join together into their own big conference.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see more differentiating sport conferences. I could even see some schools being one conference for hoops only, and then a more feasible geographically based conference for all other minor sports such as baseball, track, bowling, tennis, etc.

Financially it would be the smartest.

I wish conferences were more set up for basketball and stuff like that while football conferences were adminstered seperately. Maybe that will be the result that comes out of the superconferences especially if each division is to have its own conference HQ.

Just imagine Wichita State being in the same conference as KU and KSU for starters...I could imagine the same thing for CU, CSU, Air Force, and Wyoming for starters.

 

[MtnBuff]

I wish conferences were more set up for basketball and stuff like that while football conferences were adminstered seperately. Maybe that will be the result that comes out of the superconferences especially if each division is to have its own conference HQ.

Just imagine Wichita State being in the same conference as KU and KSU for starters...I could imagine the same thing for CU, CSU, Air Force, and Wyoming for starters.

We are getting further from this, not closer. College athletics is getting divided by economic level not geography. CSU and Wyoming don't have any business being in the same conference as CU, the athletic budgets just aren't in the same universe, the bottom enders would drag the top ones down.

If you wanted to talk basketball only then the Kansas connection might make some sense. KU is a national elite but KSU has had some pretty high level success and Wichita State has been one of the stronger programs not in a major conference. That said KU and KSU aren't going to compromise their football just for basketball and the media issue doesn't make sense. People around the country will watch KU play OU or another name school much more readily than they will watch them play a solid Wichita State school that most haven't really heard of.

 

[ShockerHoops]

We are getting further from this, not closer. College athletics is getting divided by economic level not geography. CSU and Wyoming don't have any business being in the same conference as CU, the athletic budgets just aren't in the same universe, the bottom enders would drag the top ones down.

If you wanted to talk basketball only then the Kansas connection might make some sense. KU is a national elite but KSU has had some pretty high level success and Wichita State has been one of the stronger programs not in a major conference. That said KU and KSU aren't going to compromise their football just for basketball and the media issue doesn't make sense. People around the country will watch KU play OU or another name school much more readily than they will watch them play a solid Wichita State school that most haven't really heard of.

And that is exactly what is wrong with the system.

 

[Buffnik]

From a CU recruiting angle, I absolutely love this merger of some Big East powers with the ACC. Hopefully the ACC finishes it off by bringing in UConn and Notre Dame.

There are certain programs that are traditional powers and pulled recruits to each conference by virtue of those other schools being within their gravitational pull. Take Syracuse, Pittsburgh, UConn and Notre Dame out of the Big East and this dynamic changes quite a bit. ACC gets stronger, but it's not like they didn't already have that gravitational pull that has allowed programs like Virginia Tech, Clemson, Miami and Florida State to get really good players. Those programs don't get better. In fact, they may do worse on the recruiting trail because it's likely that they'll be losing more.

The remaining Big East programs do get worse. Georgetown, Villanova, Marquette and St. John's will always be able to recruit well and have a chance to have really good teams even if they end up in an Atlantic-10 merger for basketball. Louisville will likely find a home elsewhere since they have a strong commitment to football and their basketball recruiting will go on. Rutgers could also find a big conference home that would keep it from falling off. But I don't see programs like Providence, Seton Hall, DePaul and USF continuing to have the basketball recruiting strength they currently enjoy.

Likewise, a step down for Big 12 programs like Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State hurts their respective recruiting.

At the end of the day, the best of the 2nd tier talent will gravitate away from these programs and to the programs affiliated with the Big 4 conferences. That can only benefit the Buffs.

And to go back to the original topic, the ACC will be the clear leader among conferences for basketball prestige.

 

[Mick Ronson]

And to go back to the original topic, the ACC will be the clear leader among conferences for basketball prestige.

they do get two BE heavies and G'Town and ND seem to get blown way out of proportion every year. However, the ACC needs it's middle to get back on track...they are best when at least two of Wake, G Tech, and NCState are legit teams. all 3 are in the dumper.

 

[CVilleBuff]

I was an ACC hoops fan long before I was a CU fan. Nothing was better than the old ACC with the round-robin schedule - that was the worst part about ACC expansion in '04, BC and VT are mediocre at best in basketball and Miami is downright bad. There's no comparing ACC basketball now to what it was before expansion, it's watered down and something special was lost once teams often found themselves facing Duke and UNC only two times a year instead of four. Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC is hard to get excited about, but at least it should raise the level of play in basketball once again. It'll be very interesting to see how Pitt's physical style of play translates to the ACC. This should be an interesting year in the ACC - if you want a "sleeper" to keep your eyes on, it's UVA. This is now year 3 of the Tony Bennett era and he's got a nice mix of veterans and very talented youngsters. They're going to start taking off this year - should be a tournament team.

 

[CarolinaBuff]

If the ACC lands UConn that would mean that 8 of the last 11 national titles were won by teams that are in the conference, so yea, they would be the clear leader among conferences for basketball prestige. But as Mick pointed out the conference needs to get deeper. What has made the Big East the premier conference in recent years is its depth. Lately the ACC has been all Duke and the tar holes, a couple of paper tigers in FSU and Clemson (no pun intended), and 8 other teams who were mediocre at best.

As for ND joining the ACC, the conference absolutely cannot agree to take them in non-football sports only, even if for the first few years. And no partial conference schedule either. I just have a hard time imagining ND playing in Death Valley or Blacksburg. Yes, ND has played games at UNC and GT in recent years and play at Wake this year, but none of those are true southern college football venues.