Conference Realignment

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Doesn’t matter to me whether we go or not.
But I’m not thrilled about seeing Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, or present day Nebraska.
Just as soon see Louisville and Wake Forest.

 

[IronJacket7]

I had rather see us either stay in the ACC or go to the SEC. B1G is the beginning of our end. Just my gut feeling.

 

[billga99]

UGA owns the state. What is the incentive for the SEC to take GT unless they think GT will get a B10 bid. Highly doubtful in the immediate future if ever.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Doesn’t matter to me whether we go or not.
But I’m not thrilled about seeing Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, or present day Nebraska.
Just as soon see Louisville and Wake Forest.

The order of teams to see based on interest level:

Wisconsin
Iowa
Nebraska
Louisville
Northwestern
Purdue
Rutgers
Wake Forest
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland

 

[RonJohn]

UGA owns the state. What is the incentive for the SEC to take GT unless they think GT will get a B10 bid. Highly doubtful in the immediate future if ever.

I don't see any possible way that an SEC offer to GT would happen. GT does not add a new media market to the SEC. GT does not add a large number of eyeballs to the SEC. I don't even think they could offer to try to keep GT out of the Big10. They would have to match or be close to the same money as the Big10. The SEC would have to pay GT $70-100 million per year with no additional conference revenue to "keep the Big10 out of Atlanta". I know people think the SEC has unlimited money, but they aren't going to pay close to $1billion over 10 years to keep the Big10 out of the Southeast.

 

[RonJohn]

Doesn’t matter to me whether we go or not.
But I’m not thrilled about seeing Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, or present day Nebraska.
Just as soon see Louisville and Wake Forest.

If GT had been in the Big10 in the late 90s and played Wisconsin, Joe Hamilton would have won the Heisman.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

In the cellar of the ACC?

Speaking personally, I thought adding teams like Miami, FSU and Notre Dame would make the conference less Carolina-centric but I was wrong. The NC mafia continues to control things to their advantage and to the disadvantage of everyone else.

 

[Richard7125]

That's the other thing people keep leaving out. You can't have a conference of 20 teams, and 20 teams thinking they're all the captain. USC and UCLA will not want to travel 2000 miles to get beat up by Ohio State/Michigan/Mich State/Penn State/Minnesotta then head back that same day...only to cross the country again the following week to get another pummeling. That's why it makes no sense that they're on an island on the West Coast. Other West Coast teams will be added eventually, and I think the data suggests we know who those teams will be.

The SEC will be fascinating to watch with the additions of Texas and OU. Especially Texas who has had almost no recent success, but walks into a room thinking they own it. You can credit them for single handedly bullying everyone in the Big 12 (which caused TX A&M to go to the SEC), then basically destroying the Big 12 last week. What's going to happen when they try that same schtick with 'Bama/UGA/LSU/Florida/Tenn/Ole Miss in the same room? Fireworks.

I agree 100% with your second paragraph, but I don’t understand the logic of your first paragraph. First, conferences are only going to add “captains.” They aren’t going to add mediocre schools just to be subservient to the others. A pecking order will eventually materialize even among the Type A schools.

Secondly, USC/UCLA chose to leave the Pac12 (ie Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Cal, etc) to join the Big10. They did this knowing the logistical challenges because the Pac12 was such an inferior product to the Big10. Why would the Big10 want to add schools that even USC/UCLA recognize as being inferior? I also don’t see the other 14 schools in the Big10 voting to add mediocre west coast schools just to ease the travel burdens of 2 brand new members.

I’m not trying to demean Oregon because I agree they have value, but sometimes attractive people don’t get invited to the party. The Big10 and SEC don’t care if Oregon gets left out. They only care about what’s in their best interest. Apparently, it doesn’t make sense for the Big10 to add Oregon now when it’s essentially free to do so. Perhaps it will change, but I don’t see Oregon becoming more attractive when it will be more expensive with the Pac12’s new media rights.

 

[Sheboygan]

The order of teams to see based on interest level:

Wisconsin
Iowa
Nebraska
Louisville
Northwestern
Purdue
Rutgers
Wake Forest
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland

Of course I would love to see the Badgers.......Mrs. Wisconsin's alma mater.......then PSU, Iowa, Minnesota.....rest are ho-hum for me.

 

[RamblinRed]

I don't think GT will ever get an invite to the SEC. There is absolutely no reason for the SEC to ever make an offer to GT and GT does not fit the profile of what they are looking for.
SEC cares about one thing above all else, large fanbases through the SunBelt. That is it. If that is not your program I don't think you will get an invite.

FWIW, if the SEC did make an offer to the SEC i'm not convinced that GT would accept it. It sort of runs counter to everything the admin is doing. The admin spends probably 98% of its time on academic issues. GT really has nothing in common with SEC schools except geography. It's academic mission is different, it's student population and who it is trying to attract is different. I think if GT was offered a spot in the Ivy league today the admin would jump at it. If it got an offer to the B10 and the admin is concerned about the ACC they would likely accept that. But I still think that is less than a 50/50 proposition that an invite is extended.

I believe the most likely outcome for GT football is that it remains in the ACC. I don't think the ACC is going to implode. It might lose a few members but I don't think it ultimately disappears. I don't see the B10 and SEC combined having over 40 schools. What's the point if you take the 69 current P5 schools and create 2 super conferences with 50ish schools. That makes no sense. If that was the case then you largely just leave things how they are now. All the actions (and non actions) that the big 2 have taken in the last 12 months suggest they aren't looking to grow to 24-25 team leagues. They just want to cherry pick the most valuable properties when it makes the most sense to do so.

I don't think any of the PAC, B12 or ACC is just going to stop existing. They will change, but they won't disappear. They will not be on the same level as the big 2, but they will deal and find a way to survive.

The reason the SEC and the B10 have been able to grow beyond the other 3 is due to college football viewership. College football over indexes in the deep south (TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, TN, SC) and the Midwest. It under indexes in the NE and is sort of avg in the Mid-Atlantic and West Coast. Those 2 conferences have separated because they are based in the areas with the greatest concentration of viewers.

It's also somewhat ironic that at this point GT has been in the ACC for a decade longer than it was in the SEC.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I had rather see us either stay in the ACC or go to the SEC. B1G is the beginning of our end. Just my gut feeling.

We are way past the beginning of our end. In case you haven’t noticed we’ve finished ranked 3 times in the past 20 years. Once in the past 12 years. We are an afterthought in college football. We have done less with more than any school I can think of. We are in one of, if not the top, hot bed of high school football and we are Purdue. At least their excuse is they are in the middle of nowhere with little high school football. The BIG is our life boat to at least have a chance in the future. The ACC is dying because of lack of leadership like GT athletics. The BIG is our only hope otherwise we continue the descent to bottom tier status.

 

[stech81]

I say F*** it , we start over and go back where we stated and join the Southern Conferece again.

 

[Sheboygan]

We are way past the beginning of our end. In case you haven’t noticed we’ve finished ranked 3 times in the past 20 years. Once in the past 12 years. We are an afterthought in college football. We have done less with more than any school I can think of. We are in one of, if not the top, hot bed of high school football and we are Purdue. At least their excuse is they are in the middle of nowhere with little high school football. The BIG is our life boat to at least have a chance in the future. The ACC is dying because of lack of leadership like GT athletics. The BIG is our only hope otherwise we continue the descent to bottom tier status.

Could not agree more.........the Hill and our AD seem to have no clue as what is happening around them and how to stay relevant. Like it or not, college athletics is fast becoming a totally different animal than it was only a few years ago, are we are flatfooted in response.

 

[Sheboygan]

Could not agree more.........the Hill and our AD seem to have no clue as what is happening around them and how to stay relevant. Like it or not, college athletics is fast becoming a totally different animal than it was only a few years ago, are we are flatfooted in response.

"AND we are flatfooted in response"

 

[LongforDodd]

I think you undersell Washington a good bit. A few years ago Forbes had them ranked as the 19th most valuable program in college football. One behind USC and 6 ahead of Clemson. They would be a major addition to any conference.

And as an academic institution they seem to be fairly well regarded

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

And as an academic institution they seem to be fairly well regarded

They are an AAU member school.

 

[UgaBlows]

In the cellar of the ACC?

We’ve been there before and drug ourselves back out, keep the faith.

 

[GT_05]

In the cellar of the ACC?

To me, it looks like if you aren’t in the B1G or the SEC then your future is uncertain. The Pac12 and Big12 appear to be on their way to second tier through attrition and the ACC may be headed to second tier due to GoR. I think I’d be even more concerned about being in the ACC if I was a Clemson fan. They’ve been playing good ball, built a large fan base, and a national brand and they may be stuck in the ACC because of the GoR. I think not being in the first tier will hurt with NIL and recruiting.

 

[Techster]

We’ve been there before and drug ourselves back out, keep the faith.

Frustrates the he!! out of me that GT fans think our programs are so destitute that we'd be doormats in any conference not named the ACC. Gonna hurt some feelings here, but the first 3 CGC years are an aberration for modern GT football, not the norm. Since 1990, when has GT EVER had 3 straight losing seasons? NEVER. We definitely have not had 3 straight seasons of 3 wins.

The norm for GT football, until the past 3 years, has been consistent bowl games, winning 6-8 games with a special 9-11 win season every 4-5 years. ACC championship appearances at least once every 4-5 years.

As bad as we've been the last 3 seasons, our composite talent rankings were top 5 in the ACC according to 247. Our coaches have squandered that.

People who keep pointing out that Ohio State has a 150 million budget or 'Bama and Georgia have donations that dwarf ours. SO WHAT? Those are NOT the teams we would compete against anyways...and even then, we have beaten teams like that. We beat Clemson in 2014 in the midst of their dynasty run. We beat UGA enough times under CPJ and George O'Leary. We beat a national championship caliber Auburn under Gailey. 'Bama didn't even want to play us and pulled out of a home and home. There are plenty of wins since our national championship year that we shouldn't have won but we did. We did all of it while always have a modest athletic budget...a budget made worse by stupid contracts and business decisions.

GT can, and should, be able to compete and win against the Illinois/Purdue/Mich State/Northwestern/Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers/Indiana/Minnesota/Nebraska/Wisconsin type teams. GT should even be able to beat Michigan every now and again. Ohio State may be the toughest challenge due to their outsized athletic resources, but GT in a special year has every right to be hopeful (anyone want to see CPJ's 2014 team take on OSU?!). This isn't about beating Ohio State/Clemson/Bama/UGA every year...that hasn't been our tier of competition since Dodd took us out of the SEC. This is about getting 6-8 wins, going to bowls, and having a special season every 4-5 years....things that were regularly done until this coaching staff came here.

Most of the time GT fans blame our revenue for our problems. I'm starting to believe we need to blame ourselves and our attitudes. Maybe our donations and attendance would be better if our fans had a glass half full attitude instead of all this negativity and self doubt. Too many of us ignore that GT has been a heck of a good to pretty good program until recently.

 

[MWBATL]

I don't think GT will ever get an invite to the SEC. There is absolutely no reason for the SEC to ever make an offer to GT and GT does not fit the profile of what they are looking for.
SEC cares about one thing above all else, large fanbases through the SunBelt. That is it. If that is not your program I don't think you will get an invite.

FWIW, if the SEC did make an offer to the SEC i'm not convinced that GT would accept it. It sort of runs counter to everything the admin is doing. The admin spends probably 98% of its time on academic issues. GT really has nothing in common with SEC schools except geography. It's academic mission is different, it's student population and who it is trying to attract is different. I think if GT was offered a spot in the Ivy league today the admin would jump at it. If it got an offer to the B10 and the admin is concerned about the ACC they would likely accept that. But I still think that is less than a 50/50 proposition that an invite is extended.

I believe the most likely outcome for GT football is that it remains in the ACC. I don't think the ACC is going to implode. It might lose a few members but I don't think it ultimately disappears. I don't see the B10 and SEC combined having over 40 schools. What's the point if you take the 69 current P5 schools and create 2 super conferences with 50ish schools. That makes no sense. If that was the case then you largely just leave things how they are now. All the actions (and non actions) that the big 2 have taken in the last 12 months suggest they aren't looking to grow to 24-25 team leagues. They just want to cherry pick the most valuable properties when it makes the most sense to do so.

I don't think any of the PAC, B12 or ACC is just going to stop existing. They will change, but they won't disappear. They will not be on the same level as the big 2, but they will deal and find a way to survive.

The reason the SEC and the B10 have been able to grow beyond the other 3 is due to college football viewership. College football over indexes in the deep south (TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, TN, SC) and the Midwest. It under indexes in the NE and is sort of avg in the Mid-Atlantic and West Coast. Those 2 conferences have separated because they are based in the areas with the greatest concentration of viewers.

It's also somewhat ironic that at this point GT has been in the ACC for a decade longer than it was in the SEC.

I cannot disagree with anything in this post. However, it has just about convinced me to abandon GT entirely, as they seem frankly to be perfectly willing to abandon us sports fans. If your representation of the administration is accurate, then GT be da&&ed...let them join the Ivy league and to hades with them. The academic side chose to honor Fauci which imho was an egregious thing to do (we're all entitled to our opinions, and I know there are many ones on this message board) but that indicated to me how far apart I am from the academic powers-that-be at GT. So if they don't give a hoot about me why should I give a hoot (or any money) to them?