Envisioning an Idealized ACC After Realignment and Expansion
Realignment and expansion news have dominated the internet after Texas and Oklahoma announced they were abandoning the Big 12 for the SEC. Every conference now needs to consider how to counter strike this aggressive move by the SEC. One conference that can I’ll afford to stay pat during this time of turmoil and change is the ACC. With revenues near the bottom of all P5 conferences, and even the slight possibility that Clemson/FSU could head to greener pastures, commissioner Jim Phillips needs to be aggressive.
What could he do to not only push the conference forward, but also close the gap with the SEC and Big Ten? Let's look at the end product of an ideal ACC conference at the end of this cycle of realignment and expansion.
1. Get Notre Dame to become a full member.
Whether that’s by using the carrot (more money, flexibility in scheduling) or the stick (work behind the scenes to make it impossible for ND to get in playoffs as an independent),the fact remains the ACC needs Notre Dame badly. The Fighting Irish are a marquee program, that would immediately raise the profile of the conference. This has to be priority number one, and Jim Phillips realizes that as he has brought up ND multiple times already in his brief tenure.
2. Add either one or three more teams, that are not WVU, Cincinnati or UCF.
This is where Commissioner Phillips needs to be creative. Adding Notre Dame would be big, but still it leaves the conference behind the SEC and most likely the Big Ten in terms of prestige. The conference needs to look bigger than UCF, WVU, and Cincinnati. No offense to those three programs, but if they were added do they really change the national landscape at all? The answer is very clearly no, and more importantly they wont impact the media contract with ESPN. The conference needs to look bigger….much B1Gger.
The first option, and it’s been bantered about on various sites is Penn State. Right now the Nittany Lions are in a deal with the Big Ten that would be foolish to leave given the ACC contract with ESPN. But we will get to how to fix that next. What do the Nittany Lions get out of this? Hopefully more money (with a changed contract), new matchups against exciting teams like Notre Dame, Clemson and Virginia Tech, and they get to get out of the shadow of Ohio State.
If that doesn’t work, the commissioner really needs to think outside the box. If the conference wants to get some attention, they could attempt to poach the PAC-12. Specifically target the California schools and bring in some combination of UCLA, Stanford, Cal and USC. Those programs immediately make the conference more attractive, and wouldn’t Notre Dame be happy knowing they can schedule USC and Stanford every year? In addition, the PAC-12 of any other
3. Force ESPN to the table and get the conference's contract adjusted.
If step one and two go through, then ESPN will basically be forced to abandon their current contract with the conference. Phillips will able to lobby for and can fight for more money for the conference. A new deal will increase the payout per team and make sure member schools are getting paid competitively compared to the other Power Five conferences. This should eliminate any talks of defection as well.
4. Get rid of divisions in the ACC
It may just be going to the pod system like the SEC is proposing, or the conference could go to the 2020 system where top two teams make the championship game. Whatever they choose the ACC divisions have to end, especially with the expansion ideas we are proposing.
With divisions, teams will have to wait extraordinarily long times to play teams in the other division, an archaic practice that has to end. Phillips should look to see that there are three consistent teams in each teams schedule (for instance BC would have Syracuse, Pitt and either VT or Miami), and then all other teams cycle through. This will keep rivalries and matchups fresh in the conference. This may be an issue given the current configuration of the college playoffs, but with the SEC ready to change the system, the ACC may have have a better leg to stand on
5. Make the conference schedule nine games each.
Whether this means getting rid of the FCS or G5 matchup on the schedule, it just makes sense that one of these games has to either go or not happen yearly. Make it so one year is a G5 team, and the other is an FCS team. This idea would be ito drive more interest in the conference product. What will get more eyeballs Miami vs Clemson or Clemson vs South Carolina State? The answer is easy. More ticket sales, higher TV ratings and a tougher schedule for the playoffs will all drive the value of the conference up. And the ACC wouldn't be the only conference doing this, the Big Ten already has a nine game conference schedule.
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