Conference Realignment

[JacketOff]

This is exactly why I am of the opinion that GA Tech needs to just let the factories go here. Atlanta already has one pro team. We do not need another. We can really enjoy a good college football team, though, made up of actual S-A's.

This opinion is probably unpopular, but it’s the “right” way to go IMO. I played sports at Tech, I had other options, but the Tech degree is so much better than the other offers I had. It’s a huge reason why I ended up at Tech in the first. I did not grow up a Tech fan, in fact I hated Tech growing up. But when I got on campus I fell in love. I had athletes including football players in nearly all of my classes. They were attentive, and even if they weren’t making perfect scores on assignments they were doing the work. It kind of rubs me the wrong way seeing all of our football players beg and plead online for donations to the Tech Way NIL fund. My former coaches have reached out and asked me to contribute to their NIL fund, but I have refused thus far. I contribute to the program, to the facilities, but I’m not going to hand cash to a player that doesn’t truly appreciate the opportunity they have at Georgia Tech. If they’re willing to leave that opportunity behind because some redneck country club member at an SEC school is willing to give them 6 figures, I have no use for them. I don’t hold any ill will, that much cash to an 18-22 year old who may come from a very unpleasant home-life is hard to turn down. But it’s extremely short sighted, and I think it’s the wrong decision for their future.

If GT athletics gets left behind in the shift to a more professional league, I’m okay with that. There will always be smart, dedicated, and appreciative kids who will love the opportunity to earn a Tech degree while playing a sport they love. I would love to contribute to the scholarship fund of actual scholar athletes. I’m not paying some spoiled kid that’s only after the biggest pay check

 

[tmhunter52]

This is exactly why I am of the opinion that GA Tech needs to just let the factories go here. Atlanta already has one pro team. We do not need another. We can really enjoy a good college football team, though, made up of actual S-A's.

You have to wonder what that would look like. We have already seen what happens when we put a poor product on the field. If we put a lesser product on the field, will fans still support the program?

 

[stinger78]

You have to wonder what that would look like. We have already seen what happens when we put a poor product on the field. If we put a lesser product on the field, will fans still support the program?

I think it would all be relative. The best would go to the semi-pros the rest would be competitive. Just as the best basketball talent jumps straight to the NBA, the college game still goes on.

 

[UgaBlows]

You have to wonder what that would look like. We have already seen what happens when we put a poor product on the field. If we put a lesser product on the field, will fans still support the program?

It would look like when we play UVA, UNC, Duke, WF etc vs. how we look vs. Clemson and uga

 

[billga99]

You have to wonder what that would look like. We have already seen what happens when we put a poor product on the field. If we put a lesser product on the field, will fans still support the program?

I don't think we are going to put a lesser product on the field. The top talent doens't come to GT today with very few exceptions. They are already going to the factories. If you seperate talent into 2 pools, we would fare well on the non-factory grouping. The 2 big questions that remain to me is how many teams go into the first group and what happens in the transfer portal. Today we are getting atheletes from the factories that are leaving because of lack of playing time. If the first group breaks off from the NCAA, how would that work?

 

[billga99]

By the way the other issue is how to unwind the Grant of Rights contracts with the conferences. I guess ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS could payout money to make all of this happen. But my guess is the conferences will fight tooth and nail to get paid out all they are due because once the big schools leave the conferences, the remainder will get far less TV money.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

This opinion is probably unpopular, but it’s the “right” way to go IMO. I played sports at Tech, I had other options, but the Tech degree is so much better than the other offers I had. It’s a huge reason why I ended up at Tech in the first. I did not grow up a Tech fan, in fact I hated Tech growing up. But when I got on campus I fell in love. I had athletes including football players in nearly all of my classes. They were attentive, and even if they weren’t making perfect scores on assignments they were doing the work. It kind of rubs me the wrong way seeing all of our football players beg and plead online for donations to the Tech Way NIL fund. My former coaches have reached out and asked me to contribute to their NIL fund, but I have refused thus far. I contribute to the program, to the facilities, but I’m not going to hand cash to a player that doesn’t truly appreciate the opportunity they have at Georgia Tech. If they’re willing to leave that opportunity behind because some redneck country club member at an SEC school is willing to give them 6 figures, I have no use for them. I don’t hold any ill will, that much cash to an 18-22 year old who may come from a very unpleasant home-life is hard to turn down. But it’s extremely short sighted, and I think it’s the wrong decision for their future.

If GT athletics gets left behind in the shift to a more professional league, I’m okay with that. There will always be smart, dedicated, and appreciative kids who will love the opportunity to earn a Tech degree while playing a sport they love. I would love to contribute to the scholarship fund of actual scholar athletes. I’m not paying some spoiled kid that’s only after the biggest pay check

And this is why I became a Tech fan.

This is a difficult fork in the road and I have conflicting feelings about it. Where I live now every small business, every flag outside of a restaurant, every waitress wearing a sports shirt, and virtually every decal on every car, has the color red and some reference to canines. It’s automatic and it’s assumed everyone supports this state school. What bothers me is they know literally nothing about academic progress, processing players, lowered academic standards, players that don’t go to class or get fake grades, low graduation rates, and a host of other things that make a mockery of higher education.

What’s worse, they wouldn’t care if they did know. To them, Ga Tech is just a punching bag that they can laugh at. Any achievements outside of sports are of no interest.

I don’t mind Tech having some disadvantages due to academic standards. But the direction things are going is more like spotting your opponent 4 touchdowns before you even kick off.

I have no solutions. Just sadness.

 

[CEB]

I don't think we are going to put a lesser product on the field. The top talent doens't come to GT today with very few exceptions. They are already going to the factories. If you seperate talent into 2 pools, we would fare well on the non-factory grouping. The 2 big questions that remain to me is how many teams go into the first group and what happens in the transfer portal. Today we are getting atheletes from the factories that are leaving because of lack of playing time. If the first group breaks off from the NCAA, how would that work?

This is a great point.
Wonder if the split would happen such that some schools would still have amateur athletes… is that possible? Would getting paid by a “factory” program disqualify you from transferring to an “amateur” program?
Crazy times

 

[Root4GT]

This is exactly why I am of the opinion that GA Tech needs to just let the factories go here. Atlanta already has one pro team. We do not need another. We can really enjoy a good college football team, though, made up of actual S-A's.

The “we” is how many people in your mind? I would guys 5-10K would attend at most. Just a wild guess. We get low 30s now playing Big Boy football. Likely not nearly as many games would be televised.

 

[Bogey]

I have no idea how the presidents of STEM schools feel about joining a pro-college league but my guess is there will be quite a few seriously considering going another way, and I would put Cabrera in this group. I think there would be enough interest from academic oriented schools to comeup with a viable alternative but the water is so muddy right now who knows where this is going.

 

[MWBATL]

You have to wonder what that would look like. We have already seen what happens when we put a poor product on the field. If we put a lesser product on the field, will fans still support the program?

It would be very much like fan support at Ivy League schools because that is precisely what they did.

 

[rfjeff9]

This is exactly why I am of the opinion that GA Tech needs to just let the factories go here. Atlanta already has one pro team. We do not need another. We can really enjoy a good college football team, though, made up of actual S-A's.

I'm getting more and more to this same opinion. I do not want to see us following chasing like this just to get the lonely and potentially put ourselves in a losing situation. Tech is not going to water down the academics to win at all costs, nor do I think they should.

 

[orientalnc]

And this is why I became a Tech fan.

This is a difficult fork in the road and I have conflicting feelings about it. Where I live now every small business, every flag outside of a restaurant, every waitress wearing a sports shirt, and virtually every decal on every car, has the color red and some reference to canines. It’s automatic and it’s assumed everyone supports this state school. What bothers me is they know literally nothing about academic progress, processing players, lowered academic standards, players that don’t go to class or get fake grades, low graduation rates, and a host of other things that make a mockery of higher education.

What’s worse, they wouldn’t care if they did know. To them, Ga Tech is just a punching bag that they can laugh at. Any achievements outside of sports are of no interest.

I don’t mind Tech having some disadvantages due to academic standards. But the direction things are going is more like spotting your opponent 4 touchdowns before you even kick off.

I have no solutions. Just sadness.

The disadvantages of academiccs at Ga Tech have been there for a long time. Except for the limited number of academic threads offered by GT, I actually think the disadvantages may be less now than they were 50 years ago. Both uga and Bama have upgraded the entire curriculum at their flagship campus to the point where the difference between a GT student and a uga stuudent is nowhere near as stark as it was. I didn't even apply to uga because of the sclassmates I knew who were accepted there.

My gripe about uga is the atmosphere of football being the identity of the university. Those red and black stickers and flags are not touting the law school or the creative writing program, both of which are among the best in the country. uga is all about football and any prof or dean that tries to stand in the breech is soon in trouble with the administration. My middle son lives in Douglas County. His neighborhood, him included, are an avid uga fandom. Flags and signs in almost every front yard. None of them are uga grads. The only thing about uga they like is that the sign in their front yard associates them with a winner. For some that's the only winning association they have.

I do not think many GT grads want that to happen to the school they love. Personally, I hope GT has the opportunity to continue doing what they are doing now and playing against the teams from schools like the majority of schools in the ACC. To say we will have given up hope of a national championship is just silly. We lost that a while back.

 

[bigrabbit]

Excellent thread.
I’ve posted support for us potentially going to B1G as a practical economic decision.
But I’ve recently found myself really appreciating us being in the ACC with many other like minded schools who (with only a few exceptions) would also not sell their soul to run a professional football team.

 

[RamblinRed]

Excellent thread.
I’ve posted support for us potentially going to B1G as a practical economic decision.
But I’ve recently found myself really appreciating us being in the ACC with many other like minded schools who (with only a few exceptions) would also not sell their soul to run a professional football team.

Bingo. This is why I hope for a continued strong(er) ACC.
ACC is easily the best fit for GT.

B1G would be fine from an academic standpoint for the ACC, but it does not fit from a geographic standpoint and it does not fit from a school alumni perspective - with just a couple of exceptions B1G schools are the huge 'state' school with large enrollments and massive alumni bases. GT would be at a big disadvantage in that league as it would get the media rights contract (though maybe not immediately), but the additional revenue that these larger schools make would dwarf what GT makes.
SEC would be a geographic fit, but would not be an academic fit at all and once again you are talking about mostly large 'state' schools with larger alumni bases.

Fans worry about the media contracts, but that is not the primary driver between the haves and the have nots in college football. The primary driver is the other revenue sources. Ohio St AD mentioned they make over $100M in revenue from their home football games. That is as much as the total revenue GT makes.
If GT got a bid to the B1G and got a full share (remember for now OR and WA are only getting $30M - do you think GT would get more than that?) - it would get an additional $20M yr in revenue (last year ACC payouts were around $40M while B1G's were around $60M, SEC was around $50M), but it would now be competing in a league where the average revenue per school is so much higher - roughly $36M.

GT is currently 9th in ACC revenue ahead of NCST, Pitt, BC, Syracuse and Wake. It is roughly $10M below the league avg. If it moved to the current 14 team B1G and got the extra $20M it would be 11th out of 15 teams (ahead of MD, Rutgers, Northwestern and Purdue and basically equivalent with Minn) and be roughly $26M below the league avg. In the expanded B1G it would also be significantly behind OR. WA and USC in revenue, though it would be in roughly the same spot as UCLA. If GT got the same deal as WA and OR then it would likely be in the MD, Rutgers, UCLA grouping at the very bottom of the conference.

From a revenue standpoint moving from the ACC would put GT in a worse competitive revenue situation than it has in the ACC. You are no longer competing in a conference where the avg revenue is around $118M, you are now competing in a conference where the avg revenue is around $154M.

If you look at who would be in a 12 team CFP this season all 11 (excluding the G5 bid) are among the schools with the 28 largest revenues in the country (Missouri is #28) and the Top 5 in revenue would all be in. 10 of the 11 would be in the Top 25. 6 of the Top 10 would get bids and 2 of the 4 others in the Top 10 would be among the first 3 out.
Even if GT got B1G money it would still be $20M below the Top 25 in revenue.

 

[Bogey]

I am good with the ACC if we can keep most of the STEM AAU schools (UNC; Duke, UVA, Miami, Pitt) from bolting. Long term I would like to see the ACC form an academic conference with like minded schools from the B1G, with the ACC schools belonging to a Southern Division.

 

[orientalnc]

Long term I would like to see the ACC form an academic conference with like minded schools from the B1G, with the ACC schools belonging to a Southern Division.

I don't see why the B1G or ACC would want this. The like minded academic schools already have the AAU. The athletics seem headed in a difference direction altogether. I don't know how many schools will go which way, but we are certainly on the threshold of splitting d1 into two tiers. It may not be in five years, but change is coming.

 

[Bogey]

I don't see why the B1G or ACC would want this. The like minded academic schools already have the AAU. The athletics seem headed in a difference direction altogether. I don't know how many schools will go which way, but we are certainly on the threshold of splitting d1 into two tiers. It may not be in five years, but change is coming.

Maybe I used the wrong word, Academic League would probably have been better choice. The League would have a better negotiation position for media contracts nationally and each school would receive equal shares. And the League would have well defined, strict rules and enforcement and penalties to ensure a level playing field.
I agree a big split is coming.

 

[RamblinRed]

ND's former AD mentioned a few years ago he thought the split that was coming in FBS was an academic vs non-academic one. There would be colleges that basically would want to play the game where kids didn't have to go to school, would be payed, etc. There would be a separate league for colleges that wanted to still have some sort of student-athlete model, not just a pure minor league player model.

In many ways how attractive an academic type model would be would depend upon which schools would be in it. ND would be the #1 decision. If they decided to play in the academic league - already you would be able to get a solid media contract. More importantly, if a ND decided on playing in an academic league there would be others who would make the decision to play in it.

 

[1979jacket]

The ACC is the right spot for us.