Originally Posted by dmaul1114 ACC teams already have a hard time making the title game or future playoff due to weak conference SoS--see FSU being behind all the other 1 loss teams and 3 or 4 two losses teams a few weeks ago before they lost to UF.

Things go in cycles. In 1998, the Big 12 was the strongest conference according to Sagarin. In 2007, they were 6th just ahead of the Mountain West. Fast forward to 2011, they're right back on top. We're 8 years removed from the ACC being Sagarin's highest ranked conference. While the ACC is definitely in a decline, there's no reason to believe that it is impossible for the league to restore its image assuming it can stay together.

The "look at FSU, behind 2-loss teams, ACC schedule will never get enough credit to get into the title game" argument completely ignores the fact that Florida State played two of the shittiest FCS out of conference opponents which demolished their schedule strength and that they lost to a 7-5 team. K-State lost to a 7-5 team and could have very well fallen behind 2-loss LSU if their computer rankings weren't so heavily padded.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 The ACC is likely going to be come pretty much the Big East as they just don't have the programs to get the $20+ million TV deals the other power leagues have and thus just can't keep their top programs from leaving. They'll end up left with just the lesser Big East teams they stole in recent years and teams no one wants like Wake, and have to add more Big East/CUSA leftovers to survive as a 2nd tier football league and strong basketball league.

If the ACC leadership had made the right moves, they could have got the $20+ million deals. Unfortunately, the league officials screwed it all up with their terrible ESPN deal.

With the number of major media markets that the ACC footprint covers, there's no reason why they shouldn't have followed the Big 10's example and made their network so they could also print money.

The real problem is the mismanagement on the business side of things because more money equals better coaches, assistants, and facilities which equals better teams.

Yep. But it's too late to fix it now. I just don't see anything they can do to keep more teams from leaving, and likely in the near futures with all the FSU rumbling on sports radio etc. lately. Along with all the rumblings of the B1G wanting at least two more teams.

But it's not just mismanagement, they also just lack historically elite football programs. They have FSU and Miami, and the latter will likely be down for a while with sanctions from the Shapiro schedule. Then really only two solid second tier programs in Clemson and VT.

Beyond that, all other schools other than many GT are basketball first schools. Thus they just don't have much football product that national audiences give a shit about watching, and thus can't get the big TV dollars as they lack big name, "made for TV" marquee matchups.

They really messed up by riding their academic high horse and adding Pitt and Syracuse last year--two more basketball first schools that don't have the strongest fan support for football (especially Pitt who's attendance is terrible). They could have moved to sure up football then with teams like WVU and Louisville which have solid programs in both sports, rabid fan followings and would have helped up the TV dollars more due to the ratings both get on ESPN.

Anything they do now is too little too late. They're stuck with their TV deal while the other leagues keep upping there's. The info the B1G gave UMD estimated the per school pay out to be $43 million per school at the end of the range (think that was like 2018 or something)--up from $24 million per school currently.

But the ACC started all this mess back in 2004 by raiding the Big East, so they deserve all that they're getting now. I'm happy with WVU in the Big 12, but I'd prefer to go back to the original Big East, have it break away from the basketball only schools and expand as it was great being in a league with VT, Pitt and Miami. Awesome matchups in the Big 12--especially compared to the post 2004 Big Least--but not quite the same with no rivals in conference. I doubt future realignment fix that as I figure VT ends up in the SEC, and Pitt is probably stuck in the ACC/Big Least left over league. Maybe the B1G takes them if they go beyond 16 teams. They don't fit the SEC at all, and don't offer much to the Big 12 since WVU is considered in the Pittsburgh media market and probably has as many or more fans living in the Pittsburgh area as Pitt does (since there are no jobs in WV).

Looks like Gundy is staying at Ok State, so Strong is probably on the clock for Tennessee.

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN

Mike Gundy remaining at Oklahoma State, sources told @espn. This was earlier reported by OSU sideline reporter @RAllenGoPokes

Virginia Tech fan site, citing an unnamed but "credible" source who is "close to the program", states that offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring is out, quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain is out, offensive line coach Curt Newsome is out, and Shane Beamer will take over as coach of special teams. New offensive coordinator will supposedly be Tony Franklin, offensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech, who is a former teammate of Bud Foster, Tech's defensive coordinator. Announcements to be made following bowl game.

Sounds too good to be true, especially the Tony Franklin bit, but I can hope.

Butch Jones (Cincy) is the new coach at Colorado. Mildly surprising as he turned down Purdue first--I'd think that was a better job than Colorado.

http://www.denverpost.com/cu/ci_2212...ference-avoids

Edit: Looks like the Denver post may have been premature.

-Pete Thamel @SIPeteThamel: Just reached out to Butch Jones, who said any report of him taking the Colorado job is "absolutely false." -Pat Forde ‏@YahooForde: I know of no resolution w Charlie Strong or Butch Jones yet. UT plane has come and gone from Louisville. Jones in Charlotte all day.

Word is that Jones is waiting to see if Strong leave's Louisville as he's rumored to be their top choice to replace him.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ion/index.html

Looks like Strong is staying at Louisville. Pretty shocked, they must be throwing a ton of money at him.

Rumored elsewhere that Fedora of UNC will be UT's next target.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Looks like Strong is staying at Louisville. Pretty shocked, they must be throwing a ton of money at him.

Really not that shocking:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...charlie-strong I'd heard Strong is one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in the country. I asked Jurich if that was true. "It is," Jurich said. "And we'll make him No. 1 if we have to." This is where I did something I never do. I asked Jurich to repeat what he just said, knowing full well he could change his answer. But the answer I heard -- We'll make him No. 1 if we have to -- didn't make sense. So, um, what did you say, Tom? "I said we'll make him [number] one if we have to."

Just shocking that he'd turn down an SEC team to stay in the ACC, even if it was for money. ACC champ will never get in the four team playoff unless unbeaten even I they don't lose more teams. If they do end up losing more then they'll probably never get in period and would struggle to even make an right team one unless they change from a selection committee to auto kids for conference champs.

You can talk about things being cyclical, but the ACC has always sucked. FSU was elite and dominated it in the 90s. Since they hit a rough patch the league has been awful, especially in BCS games. Hard to argue for it being cyclical when the league has one what, two BCS games since it started in 1998?

Great job by Louisville. Charlie Strong is one of the best young coaches in college football. Glad to see Louisville realizes this as well. If he keeps winning, the big time offers will keep coming.

Originally Posted by kill3r7 Great job by Louisville. I truly believe Charlie Strong is one of the best young coaches in college football. He'll keep getting offers at big time programs.

Young? He's 52.

Originally Posted by pitfallharry219 Young? He's 52.

Not age wise. I meant to say as a head coach. Only his 3rd year coaching.

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Originally Posted by dmaul1114 You can talk about things being cyclical, but the ACC has always sucked. FSU was elite and dominated it in the 90s. Since they hit a rough patch the league has been awful, especially in BCS games. Hard to argue for it being cyclical when the league has one what, two BCS games since it started in 1998?

Well I guess to look at the fair side of things, the ACC is a pretty strong conference when it comes to College Basketball.

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Just shocking that he'd turn down an SEC team to stay in the ACC, even if it was for money. ACC champ will never get in the four team playoff unless unbeaten even I they don't lose more teams. If they do end up losing more then they'll probably never get in period and would struggle to even make an right team one unless they change from a selection committee to auto kids for conference champs. You can talk about things being cyclical, but the ACC has always sucked. FSU was elite and dominated it in the 90s. Since they hit a rough patch the league has been awful, especially in BCS games. Hard to argue for it being cyclical when the league has one what, two BCS games since it started in 1998?

You know there is more to college football than BCS bowls... the same bowls that have Wisconsin (unranked) and NIU (you guys know my thoughts) in them this year.

Fun Fact: 2001 Final AP Poll
1. Miami (FL) - National Champions (yes I know as a Big East team)
11. Maryland
14. Syracuse
15. FSU
17. Louisville
18. VT
21. Boston College
24. GT

All teams that are either in the ACC or coming into the ACC. Ebb and flows exist. I know it hard for people to remember since the SEC has been dominant for this BCS era (once Bush left USC). Big Ten just started a down period.

The way FSU is recruiting/gaining, it won't be long. Once sanctions lift on Miami and UNC, both programs will be on the upswing. Clemson will still be strong. GT and VT won't be down for very long. Louisville is a nice addition based on past successes and a coach that has them moving forward. And then Notre Dame... The ACC is two years away from being all over the Top 25 (if the conference stays the way it is projected).

Originally Posted by Nate Nanjo Well I guess to look at the fair side of things, the ACC is a pretty strong conference when it comes to College Basketball.

Of course. And even when they get raided more that will remain the case as they can add teams like UCONN and Cincy. Maybe truly become the new Big East and add basketball/olympic sport only members too if they lose enough programs.

Cal has hired Sonny Dykes from Louisiana Tech as their next coach.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-so...ykes-new-coach

Butch Jones turned down Colorado. No announcement of him staying at Cincy though. Probably in the mix at Tennessee or Wisconsin.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...rado-buffaloes

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 Butch Jones turned down Colorado. No announcement of him staying at Cincy though. Probably in the mix at Tennessee or Wisconsin. http://espn.go.com/college-football/...rado-buffaloes

That would be a huge jump from him. Going from the MAC to the Big East is a pretty easy transition but making the jump to B1G or SEC is huge. Especially the TN job.

EDIT: I meant to post this last night regarding why Charlie Strong turned down the TN job. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that black coaches don't get rehired at big time programs if they fail. The former CU coach mentioned this recently when he said that white coaches fail all the time and get rehired. I would have to agree with him. I can't remember a black coach who was rehired after being fired from a big time program (besides Ty Willingham). Can you guys think of a black coach who was fired from a big time program and rehired at another power conference team?

No different than Brian Kelly going from Cincy to ND. A good coach will win anywhere.

Hard to say how good a coach he is though. He's won at Western Michigan and Cincy, but he followed Brian Kelly at both places and didn't really stay long enough to be winning mainly with his players vs. Kelly's recruits.

Petrino had no problem going from Louisville to Arkansas and winning--though he had the one partial season in the NFL in between--as well. Rich Rod struggled at Michigan, but I don't think they gave him enough time to get his system in place and all the type of players he needed to run it--took him 4 or 5 years to really get things rolling at WVU.

Decent read on the possibilities of a new division and/or break from the NCAA.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...g-iaf/1749365/

Originally Posted by dmaul1114 No different than Brian Kelly going from Cincy to ND. A good coach will win anywhere. Hard to say how good a coach he is though. He's won at Western Michigan and Cincy, but he followed Brian Kelly at both places and didn't really stay long enough to be winning mainly with his players vs. Kelly's recruits. Petrino had no problem going from Louisville to Arkansas and winning--though he had the one partial season in the NFL in between--as well. Rich Rod struggled at Michigan, but I don't think they gave him enough time to get his system in place and all the type of players he needed to run it--took him 4 or 5 years to really get things rolling at WVU.

I think Rich Rod was doomed from the start due to the radical changes he was trying to implement at Michigan. Pretty much his fate was sealed when he failed to land Terrelle Pryor. IMO he was the perfect Rich Rod QB.

The rest I can't say much about besides the fact that both, Brian Kelly and Petrino, took over "small" time football programs and turned them into offensive juggernauts. They both won the Big East and did so to with lesser talent (Petrino less so). I'm not saying that Butch Jones is not capable of accomplishing the same thing but based on what I've seen of Cincy he has yet to do it.