Do academics mean anything anymore at college

[yeti92]

Wait… the ACC is real football? I thought only the SECheat and B1G played real football?

Tying back to the conference realignment thread - you clearly understand the narrative that been pushed and the ACC has allowed for a while now. Obviously to us it's not true, but Jim Phillips isn't doing anything to contest it either.

The ACC went 4-4 against the Big 10 and 7-5 against the SEC last season (including bowls) in football. The ACC has more CFB national championships than any conference except the SEC in the past 15 years. The ACC had 4 teams make the sweet 16 and 3 made the elite 8 during March Madness, more than the Big 10, SEC, or Big 12. The ACC also has won 9 basketball championships since 2000, while the Big 10 has 2, the SEC has 3, the Big 12 has 3, and the Big East has 7.

None of that is being promoted by the conference though, the ACC is silent and allows everyone else to control the narrative.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Tying back to the conference realignment thread - you clearly understand the narrative that been pushed and the ACC has allowed for a while now. Obviously to us it's not true, but Jim Phillips isn't doing anything to contest it either.

The ACC went 4-4 against the Big 10 and 7-5 against the SEC last season (including bowls) in football. The ACC has more CFB national championships than any conference except the SEC in the past 15 years. The ACC had 4 teams make the sweet 16 and 3 made the elite 8 during March Madness, more than the Big 10, SEC, or Big 12. The ACC also has won 9 basketball championships since 2000, while the Big 10 has 2, the SEC has 3, the Big 12 has 3, and the Big East has 7.

None of that is being promoted by the conference though, the ACC is silent and allows everyone else to control the narrative.

This exactly. The ACC has no one advocating for them whcih is why we get dumped on, ala FSU. And when a team calls it out, ala FSU and Clemson, instead of applauding them the other ACC teams fight them. It’s a joke and the ACC deserves this slow death.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I think you have nailed the slippery slope.

Some of us are finding our interest in college football is inversely related to the degree it becomes professionalized.

My understanding is that colleges bringing in “ringers” to bolster their teams was a thing early in the game. Rules were established and the advent of pro ball provided an outlet for the impulse to simply focus on the best athletes.

I like your scenario because it resonates with similar thoughts I have had. If Tech hires a group of professionals to perform any function or form of entertainment I don’t see myself liking it just because it was Tech that paid for it.

So you didn’t cheer for Jhamyr Gibbs? You didn’t enjoy what he brought to our team and stopped being a fan because we brought in a pro ringer who got a better contract from Bama? You won’t root for Singleton who had multiple offers to leave but we ponied up enough to keep him. Some of you can’t see what is clearly in front of you. None of these guys are at GT to be regular students. They are all ringers and they’ll leave the minute their playing time dries up or they get offered a better contract.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Tying back to the conference realignment thread - you clearly understand the narrative that been pushed and the ACC has allowed for a while now. Obviously to us it's not true, but Jim Phillips isn't doing anything to contest it either.

The ACC went 4-4 against the Big 10 and 7-5 against the SEC last season (including bowls) in football. The ACC has more CFB national championships than any conference except the SEC in the past 15 years. The ACC had 4 teams make the sweet 16 and 3 made the elite 8 during March Madness, more than the Big 10, SEC, or Big 12. The ACC also has won 9 basketball championships since 2000, while the Big 10 has 2, the SEC has 3, the Big 12 has 3, and the Big East has 7.

None of that is being promoted by the conference though, the ACC is silent and allows everyone else to control the narrative.

You might as well drop the mic after this truth bomb.

Continually amazes me that fans can construct a more cogent argument than ACC leadership. Meanwhile, over in the SEC, the fans, ESPN talking heads, and game day production crews, all perfectly reflect the talking points laid out by Stankey.

So you didn’t cheer for Jhamyr Gibbs? You didn’t enjoy what he brought to our team and stopped being a fan because we brought in a pro ringer who got a better contract from Bama? You won’t root for Singleton who had multiple offers to leave but we ponied up enough to keep him. Some of you can’t see what is clearly in front of you. None of these guys are at GT to be regular students. They are all ringers and they’ll leave the minute their playing time dries up or they get offered a better contract.

You’ve asked more than one question for which I would have more than one answer. But, simply put, I’ll repeat what I said before. The degree to which it becomes a pro team is the degree to which I enjoy it less. It’s a continuum. It’s a slippery slope.

And, no, I didn’t particularly enjoy Gibbs’s time at Tech. It never felt like he was fully part of the team but was being showcased. Toward the end of his time he pretty much quit on the team. I’m not ragging on him. I’m not ragging on those who loved his every moment here. Just saying, for me, there was no value added to my being a Tech fan. If “the system” starts to produce more and more teams comprised entirely of mercenaries I really won’t see the point of “college” football.

 

[gte447f]

So you didn’t cheer for Jhamyr Gibbs? You didn’t enjoy what he brought to our team and stopped being a fan because we brought in a pro ringer who got a better contract from Bama? You won’t root for Singleton who had multiple offers to leave but we ponied up enough to keep him. Some of you can’t see what is clearly in front of you. None of these guys are at GT to be regular students. They are all ringers and they’ll leave the minute their playing time dries up or they get offered a better contract.

I can see what is clearly in front of me just fine, and I am simply saying that it is all becoming less and less interesting to me the more egregiously mercenary it becomes.

 

[MWBATL]

If “the system” starts to produce more and more teams comprised entirely of mercenaries I really won’t see the point of “college” football.

I do find myself drifting in this direction.

Even as I also find myself tending towards the argument that if we want to remain relevant we need to play like the big boys play. Yeah, mercenary.

Yeah, I know...contradictory. I guess I don't know what I really want. Or rather, I don't know the right solution for true college football. I know I never bothered attending Harvard games when I was there....there simply wasn't enough excitement or energy to attract me. A game against a strong opponent on national TV with a full stadium is exciting (if we are competitive). I dunno...

 

[FlatsLander]

All of the Tech FB players are taking real majors and are in classes with kids that were 1450/33 on the SAT/ACT, with tons of AP courses. The athletes get all the help they need, but they're still sitting shoulder to shoulder with the best and brightest brought in from around the World.

The only one I have my doubts about is the Literature, Media, etc major, but I'm sure it's nowhere near being as fake of a major as other schools.

 

[g0lftime]

The only one I have my doubts about is the Literature, Media, etc major, but I'm sure it's nowhere near being as fake of a major as other schools.

I hate the name of that major. Most schools changed PARKS and RECS to Sport Management for that reason. Can't we come up with something better to call that major. Sounds as lame as Hotel & Hospitalty Management. That takes 4 years of course work ????

 

[UgaBlows]

This is not rocket science as to why we don’t compete with the SEC or BIG for tv contracts- ACC fb is hot garbage, that’s why nobody except alums watch it or cares about it. Sure we have a good team or two every year Clemson, FSU, but Miami, VT, and GT have all fallen off a cliff and the rest of the league has always been mediocre at best to bad.

 

[stinger78]

Tying back to the conference realignment thread - you clearly understand the narrative that been pushed and the ACC has allowed for a while now. Obviously to us it's not true, but Jim Phillips isn't doing anything to contest it either.

The ACC went 4-4 against the Big 10 and 7-5 against the SEC last season (including bowls) in football. The ACC has more CFB national championships than any conference except the SEC in the past 15 years. The ACC had 4 teams make the sweet 16 and 3 made the elite 8 during March Madness, more than the Big 10, SEC, or Big 12. The ACC also has won 9 basketball championships since 2000, while the Big 10 has 2, the SEC has 3, the Big 12 has 3, and the Big East has 7.

None of that is being promoted by the conference though, the ACC is silent and allows everyone else to control the narrative.

Yes. I have been saying this for years. I used basketball as an example. The ACC, though watered down by conference expansion, still plays basketball at a very high level. sEcSPN doesn’t drive the basket narrative nearly as much as the football narrative. Phillips should be pounding the table over MBB.
He also should have been in front of the F$u issue last fall. I just don’t know how effective that would have been with sEcSPN’s big blitz. But he could have been there more, for sure.

 

[BurdellJacket]

This is not rocket science as to why we don’t compete with the SEC or BIG for tv contracts- ACC fb is hot garbage, that’s why nobody except alums watch it or cares about it. Sure we have a good team or two every year Clemson, FSU, but Miami, VT, and GT have all fallen off a cliff and the rest of the league has always been mediocre at best to bad.

IGNORED

 

[Vespidae]

This is not rocket science as to why we don’t compete with the SEC or BIG for tv contracts- ACC fb is hot garbage, that’s why nobody except alums watch it or cares about it. Sure we have a good team or two every year Clemson, FSU, but Miami, VT, and GT have all fallen off a cliff and the rest of the league has always been mediocre at best to bad.

Mostly true. Small fanbases lead to niche viewership.

 

[ThatGuy]

Mostly true. Small fanbases lead to niche viewership.

View attachment 16135

That chart is indeed sobering.

Still, I note that it chart was provided by FSU, and I'm also looking closely at the specifics. It would be interesting to see this chart a) including the ACC Network, and b) for the years 2017-2021.

Obviously FSU has historically benefitted from the narrative that they're a great team/"blue blood" (and in many cases that has been true), leading to more games played in network primetime than other teams in the ACC. Playing in network primetime = more viewership on the game by game basis overall = more likely to be invited for another network primetime game. When speaking of viewership, the slot a team plays in is a self-licking ice cream cone.

So I do wonder what this chart would look like under the above conditions (for the years when FSU was down, and including the network where a number of other teams were experiencing more viewership). Although FSU would likely still come out on or near the top, I think the ACCN inclusion would lessen the viewership gap significantly.

 

[gte447f]

Mostly true. Small fanbases lead to niche viewership.

View attachment 16135

Some interesting and surprising stats in that chart. Namely that unc viewership is near the bottom of the conference. Unc gets a lot of credit on this board for being near the top of the conference, which I’ve never understood. For all my 45 years they have been pretty much mediocre, but I’m still surprised to see them near the bottom of the conference.

 

[UgaBlows]

Some interesting and surprising stats in that chart. Namely that unc viewership is near the bottom of the conference. Unc gets a lot of credit on this board for being near the top of the conference, which I’ve never understood. For all my 45 years they have been pretty much mediocre, but I’m still surprised to see them near the bottom of the conference.

They are all waiting for BBall season

 

[UgaBlows]

Smaller fanbases leads to less money for recruiting, facilities, nil. The ACC (excluding fsu/clemson) is bringing a knife to a gunfight when we play top tier sec/big schools. Thats why the conf usually shiits the bed in those big matchups and it kills any chance of improving our standing year after year. There’s nothing Phillips or anyone else can do about that.

 

[forensicbuzz]

The only one I have my doubts about is the Literature, Media, etc major, but I'm sure it's nowhere near being as fake of a major as other schools.

My sister-in-law got her undergraduate in that and Ph.D. in Public Policy. It's no slouch degree.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I do find myself drifting in this direction.

Even as I also find myself tending towards the argument that if we want to remain relevant we need to play like the big boys play. Yeah, mercenary.

Yeah, I know...contradictory. I guess I don't know what I really want. Or rather, I don't know the right solution for true college football. I know I never bothered attending Harvard games when I was there....there simply wasn't enough excitement or energy to attract me. A game against a strong opponent on national TV with a full stadium is exciting (if we are competitive). I dunno...

Gee, I kind of enjoyed it when Yale came to Harvard. It had flavor. Kind of like when you stumble onto one of those European folk festivals that’s been in the same village for 500 years.

I don’t know what I want either but I can picture a dystopian future that I will have no interest in.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Some interesting and surprising stats in that chart. Namely that unc viewership is near the bottom of the conference. Unc gets a lot of credit on this board for being near the top of the conference, which I’ve never understood. For all my 45 years they have been pretty much mediocre, but I’m still surprised to see them near the bottom of the conference.

They get credit for being the “flag ship” of North Carolina. They’ve been getting invitations to bowl games since before I was born for that reason alone.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

You might as well drop the mic after this truth bomb.

Continually amazes me that fans can construct a more cogent argument than ACC leadership. Meanwhile, over in the SEC, the fans, ESPN talking heads, and game day production crews, all perfectly reflect the talking points laid out by Stankey.

You’ve asked more than one question for which I would have more than one answer. But, simply put, I’ll repeat what I said before. The degree to which it becomes a pro team is the degree to which I enjoy it less. It’s a continuum. It’s a slippery slope.

And, no, I didn’t particularly enjoy Gibbs’s time at Tech. It never felt like he was fully part of the team but was being showcased. Toward the end of his time he pretty much quit on the team. I’m not ragging on him. I’m not ragging on those who loved his every moment here. Just saying, for me, there was no value added to my being a Tech fan. If “the system” starts to produce more and more teams comprised entirely of mercenaries I really won’t see the point of “college” football.

I hear you. I just don’t understand why your slippery slope just started. It started for me when illiterates like Bo Jackson, Marcus Dupree, and Herschel were allowed to play when they were clearly not student athletes. Schools have been admitting morons and paying them for decades yet now that it’s legal to do it you have a slippery slope. I don’t get it. If you were willing to put up with all the nonsense over the past 50 years (which was way worse than what is going on today) why can’t you put up with paid one and dones? Pretty much every one of our offensive players are taking NIL money. Are you now gonna disown your team because they are doing what Auburn, Georgia, Clemson, Bama, FSU, Tenn, etc have been doing for decades?