We need to jump ship

[orientalnc]

Agree! Jay Bilas made the comment a few months ago. ACC and SEC should merge.
How about if we radically blow up the present conferences.
Have 4 D1 conferences:
Southern
Northern
Midwest
Far west
25 teams in each
New Southern conference becomes the SEC plus the old ACC southern schools .
Do pods of 5 for scheduling.
Then promote Greg Sankey as the overall commissioner of the new D1.
He then works up the other conferences.
He then goes to the networks / streaming services and works out a new revenue deal. ( equal for All institutions )
He resolves the playoff . 12 or 16
He solves the NIL issues .
Old commissioners can be retained as new commissioners.
Succeed from NCAA and create new rules.
100 schools 4 conferences. ND must join the northern conference.
Would this ever happen?

This is a good first post. Welcome to the Swarm!

Point of order. The Google spell checker doesn't flag misspellings (at least it doesn't for me) so you need to proof your post yourself. Or someone will tell you secede is misspelled.

 

[Jetdrive3]

Maybe I missed it . Could you consider the SEC ??
We used to be there.
South carolina, uga, UF Tenn, Auburn Ala, would fill BDS.

Maybe uga would help us?

SEC is not an option. GT would be a huge drag on average revenue sharing. They will never invite Vandy Lite. The ACC is too damaged and stadium sizes do not warrant it from a football perspective.

 

[RamblinRed]

FWIW, here are the in-state, in-state + surrounding state % as well as that percentage when taking into account international enrollment in parentheses at various public schools around GT.

GT - 58.9 (52.5), 69.2 (61.7)
UGA - 88.7 (87.2), 93.4 (91.8)
Clem - 62.3 (61.7), 73.8 (73.1)
TN - 83.3 (82.2), 90.0 (88.8)
Aub - 60.7 (56.6), 83.8 (78.1)
FL - 88.5 (85.8), 88.8 (86.2)
FSU - 87.8 (86.3), 90.0 (88.5)
UNC - 84.7 (81.3), 88.3 (86.2)
NCST - 88.4 (84.9), 91.3 (87.6)
UVA - 70.2 (66.7), 77.1 (73.3)
VT - 78.1 (72.8), 86.91 (81.0)

The one outlier is AL which has used its football success to turn itself into a university where the vast majority of its students come from out of state - only 52% of its student population comes from AL or surrounding states (50.6% when you take into account intl students).

Most public schools are 80%+ with in-state or in-state + surrounding state students. Aub has a lower in-state population but makes up for that with a large population from GA.

GT is definitely a Southern school in terms of geography, not sure how strong of a Southern school it is in its culture and makeup anymore. Only about 3 out of 5 students at GT comes from GA or a surrounding state (NC, SC, TN, AL, FL)

 

[CEB]

SEC is not an option. GT would be a huge drag on average revenue sharing. They will never invite Vandy Lite. The ACC is too damaged and stadium sizes do not warrant it from a football perspective.

Or an actual reason...
We’re all wallowing in self pity around here but you’re taking it to another level. Admire your commitment though!

 

[forensicbuzz]

FWIW, here are the in-state, in-state + surrounding state % as well as that percentage when taking into account international enrollment in parentheses at various public schools around GT.

GT - 58.9 (52.5), 69.2 (61.7)
UGA - 88.7 (87.2), 93.4 (91.8)
Clem - 62.3 (61.7), 73.8 (73.1)
TN - 83.3 (82.2), 90.0 (88.8)
Aub - 60.7 (56.6), 83.8 (78.1)
FL - 88.5 (85.8), 88.8 (86.2)
FSU - 87.8 (86.3), 90.0 (88.5)
UNC - 84.7 (81.3), 88.3 (86.2)
NCST - 88.4 (84.9), 91.3 (87.6)
UVA - 70.2 (66.7), 77.1 (73.3)
VT - 78.1 (72.8), 86.91 (81.0)

The one outlier is AL which has used its football success to turn itself into a university where the vast majority of its students come from out of state - only 52% of its student population comes from AL or surrounding states (50.6% when you take into account intl students).

Most public schools are 80%+ with in-state or in-state + surrounding state students. Aub has a lower in-state population but makes up for that with a large population from GA.

GT is definitely a Southern school in terms of geography, not sure how strong of a Southern school it is in its culture and makeup anymore. Only about 3 out of 5 students at GT comes from GA or a surrounding state (NC, SC, TN, AL, FL)

Alabama has accomplished the out-of-stat numbers by giving out-of-state students in-state tuition. They've been doing that with kids from North Chicago suburbs for a decade now. Almost all the kids from this are that go to Alabama have in-state tuition.

 

[Jetdrive3]

Or an actual reason...
We’re all wallowing in self pity around here but you’re taking it to another level. Admire your commitment though!

The issue has been raised in the last 10 years.

 

[CEB]

The issue has been raised in the last 10 years.

I don’t follow your response. What “issue” has been raised in the last ten years? Our entry into the SEC? To be fair, some circles have been discussing getting us back into the SEC about as soon as the discussions about leaving the SEC ended.
My point is that the issues you raised are not the issue keeping us out of the SEC now. Honestly, up until the last 10 years all the things you mention may have been relevant to some extent. Now, quite simply, we don’t deliver a market they need. It doesnt matter what conference we’re coming from or how big our stadium is... if we have a market they want. We could add 40,000 seats (and sell them), leave the “damaged” ACC and start winning10 games a year and the SEC still wouldn’t want to talk if we weren’t a threat to take the Atlanta market away.
Even when the rumor mill was swirling about us actually leaving the ACC, we were destined for other conferences. The only people who had us going to the SEC were wishful thinkers or people peddling speculation about an SEC desire of “blocking” the Big Ten out of Atlanta / Southeast.

 

[slugboy]

I don’t follow your response. What “issue” has been raised in the last ten years? Our entry into the SEC? To be fair, some circles have been discussing getting us back into the SEC about as soon as the discussions about leaving the SEC ended.
My point is that the issues you raised are not the issue keeping us out of the SEC now. Honestly, up until the last 10 years all the things you mention may have been relevant to some extent. Now, quite simply, we don’t deliver a market they need. It doesnt matter what conference we’re coming from or how big our stadium is... if we have a market they want. We could add 40,000 seats (and sell them), leave the “damaged” ACC and start winning10 games a year and the SEC still wouldn’t want to talk if we weren’t a threat to take the Atlanta market away.
Even when the rumor mill was swirling about us actually leaving the ACC, we were destined for other conferences. The only people who had us going to the SEC were wishful thinkers or people peddling speculation about an SEC desire of “blocking” the Big Ten out of Atlanta / Southeast.

If we were selling out a 100k stadium and had the associated merchandise and other sales, the SEC would want us in just the way they want Texas and OK. We’d bring network subscribers and buy tickets in their stadiums.

 

[CEB]

If we were selling out a 100k stadium and had the associated merchandise and other sales, the SEC would want us in just the way they want Texas and OK. We’d bring network subscribers and buy tickets in their stadiums.

Ok... I’m guilty of the same hyperbole as the poster I challenged. But in my defense, isn’t that how we do message boards?!?

Still have to ask... subscriptions to what? Maybe I’m misunderstanding how this works. The driver of all of this conference shuffling is revenues mainly driven by media contracts. The SEC already has Atl and the SE locked up. We would have to be big enough to steal (or split) that market enough to devalue their pitch to media companies in order to really be attractive. Obviously if we were that big, the stadium size and gate revenues would follow, but I don’t see how we’re attractive until we are a threat to media deals. Right?

Texas and Oklahoma are delivering a lot of TV sets in markets the SEC doesn’t have.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

If we were selling out a 100k stadium and had the associated merchandise and other sales, the SEC would want us in just the way they want Texas and OK. We’d bring network subscribers and buy tickets in their stadiums.

Is it possible to be nostalgic for a time in which one has never lived? If so I want to live even if only for a moment in the sports world that Grantland Rice described. Where a huge crowd was 55,000, Sunday newspapers carried multiple grainy photos of sports events in dramatic black and white, and good sports writing was akin to poetry. I want players who are described as “our lads” and in which over-emphasizing pro nomenclature and aspirations was considered almost vulgar. I want all the color and pageantry of an autumn afternoon that Al Ciraldo described in my youth.

I hate that so much of the romance of sports has been turned into something tawdry. Poetry has been replaced with prose-flattened analytics and the commercial bottom line.

We have lost so much at Tech as a result.

 

[slugboy]

Ok... I’m guilty of the same hyperbole as the poster I challenged. But in my defense, isn’t that how we do message boards?!?

Still have to ask... subscriptions to what? Maybe I’m misunderstanding how this works. The driver of all of this conference shuffling is revenues mainly driven by media contracts. The SEC already has Atl and the SE locked up. We would have to be big enough to steal (or split) that market enough to devalue their pitch to media companies in order to really be attractive. Obviously if we were that big, the stadium size and gate revenues would follow, but I don’t see how we’re attractive until we are a threat to media deals. Right?

Texas and Oklahoma are delivering a lot of TV sets in markets the SEC doesn’t have.

ESPN+, SEC Network, whatever package you add on to see a game.

Think of how many people either leave a cable provider when they don’t have the network they want or switch to another provider to get to it. Comcast went live with the ACC Network just in December, after how long?

I'm not even sure that AT&T tries all that hard to sell the ad space they have. They seem more concerned about who will buy what tier of service, and they know which channels get how many viewers.

 

[CEB]

ESPN+, SEC Network, whatever package you add on to see a game.

Think of how many people either leave a cable provider when they don’t have the network they want or switch to another provider to get to it. Comcast went live with the ACC Network just in December, after how long?

I'm not even sure that AT&T tries all that hard to sell the ad space they have. They seem more concerned about who will buy what tier of service, and they know which channels get how many viewers.

So I don’t think I am disagreeing or misunderstanding...
we would have to deliver a market large enough to threaten the loss of subscribers if we weren’t included. As it stands now, pretty much all Atlanta media providers are carrying the SEC network in a standard package. How does adding another ATL / SE school deliver more sets / subscribers?
And I’ll also admit I’m part of the problem... in my apathy, I didn’t ditch Comcast when they didn’t have the ACCN. But I did call and complain.

 

[g0lftime]

Alabama has accomplished the out-of-stat numbers by giving out-of-state students in-state tuition. They've been doing that with kids from North Chicago suburbs for a decade now. Almost all the kids from this are that go to Alabama have in-state tuition.

USCe will do same for out of state with high enough SAT. My youngest applied there and they refunded the application fee. I thought it was a mistake and contacted them. It was not a mistake.

 

[slugboy]

So I don’t think I am disagreeing or misunderstanding...
we would have to deliver a market large enough to threaten the loss of subscribers if we weren’t included. As it stands now, pretty much all Atlanta media providers are carrying the SEC network in a standard package. How does adding another ATL / SE school deliver more sets / subscribers?
And I’ll also admit I’m part of the problem... in my apathy, I didn’t ditch Comcast when they didn’t have the ACCN. But I did call and complain.

Others on the board have said the same thing to me, but it’s not so much the “market”, since no one cares which local broadcast station you have. Pre-streaming-and-cable-everywhere the “market” meant you got channel 6 in Miami and all the people with an antenna in range. Now Comcast/ATT/YouTubeTV/Hulu{color}/Fubo/etc are everywhere, and the questions are:
1. (media rights--the big one) for cable/internet are you paying for the package with the conference network, and how much are you willing to pay for that package? (Longhorn Network was the example of people being willing to pay extra just to add tier 3 sports from one school).
A company like Comcast has a pretty good idea how much of your bill will stretch to fit an SEC network vs an ACC network. I'm not saying they have great insights, but they can read the numbers from their subscribers. If they'd lost a quarter of PA subscribers when they didn't add the ACC network, they'd have caved pretty quick. They would have lost a huge share of subscribers if they didn't carry the B1G network with Penn State.
2. (in person) are you going to put 15k fans in seats on the road when you're playing at Auburn/MissState/etc so that they make more ticket revenue?
3. (in person 2) Will you sell out at least half the stadium on a big $$$ bowl so that the bowl contracts don't suck?

One thing that hurts us is that we say "The Quick Lane Bowl sucks! I'm not going!". Our bowl attendance numbers are better than are commonly believed, but the reputation you want to have is "they have a bunch of fans that watch and show up and spend money".
"Bunch of fans that tune in and show up and spend money" = big deal
"School in a major city" = not important

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Alabama has accomplished the out-of-stat numbers by giving out-of-state students in-state tuition. They've been doing that with kids from North Chicago suburbs for a decade now. Almost all the kids from this are that go to Alabama have in-state tuition.

My son would have gone to Bama if he didn’t get into GT last year. Why? Bama is throwing money at high end kids from out of state. My son would have gone to Bama for roughly the same cost that it’s costing me now and that’s with the full Zell. Bama’s campus is undergoing a golden age of construction. Everything is new and the engineering program is building up big time. As you mentioned, they have pipelines of high end kids from certain areas. A co-worker who lives in New Haven, CT has a son at Bama from a private all boys Catholic school in New Haven. They have dozens every year go to Bama with out of state waived and additional scholarships. And while we can all laugh at academic rankings they also have huge networks for job placements.

Bama is doing the exact opposite of GT. Using athletics to raise all boats. Bama will move up the academics rankings methodically just like UGA has. GT will become more and more boxed in as a niche school even more than now. It probably won’t happen any time soon, but the day is coming where the BOR could try and roll GT into UGA for the cost savings. GT’s response would obviously be to go private and that brings back images of when GT went independent. If GT had anyone doing any long term planning they should consider going private now like Duke and already should have. The BOR will continue to give UGA more and then use it against us.

 

[orientalnc]

FYI: The SEC did not invite Texas to get more SECN subscribers in Texas. Because of Texas A&M it's already in the standard cable package with ESPN.

I am pretty sure the reasons are complicated, but creating a super conference is certainly part of their plan that included an expanded playoff with no limit on the number of teams from each conference. More money for the SEC. It's always about the money.

I would not be surprised to learn there are several ACC presidents that don't prioritize football that same as most SEC presidents.

 

[takethepoints]

Looking around I think Tech is stuck in the ACC for awhile. Looking at present P5 conferences, I don't see any gaps coming open soon. When three members left the Big 12, it gave a real opportunity to switch to a conference where - imho - Tech could have had better luck competing. However, they filled their list pretty quickly. Personally, I'd be open to considering the AAC, but I doubt that would find much support in our fanbase. Besides, they just added 4 new members. Also, I agree that the SEC would have little incentive to let Tech in and we'd be less competitive there anyway. Well, there's always Conference USA; they shed members every year.

But, as others have pointed out, the present situation is, shall we say, in flux. We'll just have to see what happens in the next few years.

 

[slugboy]

FYI: The SEC did not invite Texas to get more SECN subscribers in Texas. Because of Texas A&M it's already in the standard cable package with ESPN.

I am pretty sure the reasons are complicated, but creating a super conference is certainly part of their plan that included an expanded playoff with no limit on the number of teams from each conference. More money for the SEC. It's always about the money.

I would not be surprised to learn there are several ACC presidents that don't prioritize football that same as most SEC presidents.

But the SEC can and will go to ABC/ESPN and get more money for the SECN and the other SEC media rights because it has OK and TX.

 

[orientalnc]

But, as others have pointed out, the present situation is, shall we say, in flux. We'll just have to see what happens in the next few years.

What about the ACC is in flux?

What the ACC wants is a bit flux -> Notre Dame fluxing into the ACC. At some point we will see ND join the conference or the the relationship with them will end. Cincinnati and West Virginia would love to be in the ACC. So would UCF. But, none of that is happening right now because the ACC is willing to wait for ND.

 

[UgaBlows]

Nobody wants to watch GT play, (not even the majority of our own alumni) in what universe would the SEC or BIG want us? We bring zero to the table, zero. We are screwed and doomed. We have no money, we have no fans and the ones we have are Dying off. We screwed ourselves and then blew our chances to upgrade, thanks a lot Dodd and Drad. Might as well get with Tulane, Suwanee, Cumberland College Etc and form a new league just for the outcasts, ghosts and has-beens of cfb.