Funny that you're 6-2 and get obliterated by an 8-0 team in a conference title game and you claim that you won the conference.
So what happened with all those "FSU and Clemson to B12... imminent... this weekend..." rumor mongering a couple of pages back? Not saying it won't happen in the future, but it looks pretty silly reading it now. Kinda like that nutjob predicting the end of the world and then constantly revising the date.
Yeah...I asked my buddy about that and he told me that the guys he talked to...who he trusted before for good info..were adamant that all that was going to happen. Obviously it didn't. I made it pretty clear, I believe, that I did not have first hand information on it, though.
The next shoe drops. This pretty much takes FSU, Clemson, and ND out of the running to join the Big12 down the line. Well done by the ACC. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8369070/notre-dame-sports-football-hockey-acc Notre Dame joining ACC Notre Dame will join the Atlantic Coast Conference as a full member with the exception of football, but will play five football games annually against ACC teams. "We have monitored the changing conference landscape for many months and have concluded that moving to the ACC is the best course of action for us," said Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics, in a statement released by the conference. "We are able to maintain our historic independence in football, join in the ACC's non-BCS bowl package, and provide a new and extremely competitive home for our other sports." The ACC does not offer hockey, so it is presumed that Notre Dame will go through with its planned move to Hockey East in that sport. The Irish will join the ACC as soon as it can exit the Big East. The Big East currently requires members to provide 27 months notice to exit although West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse were able to leave earlier by paying a higher exit fee. Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey texted ESPN.com's Andy Katz, saying "we're going," and adding that while no timetable has been established for the move, he is excited for the challenge. Notre Dame joins Syracuse and Pittsburgh in bolting the Big East for the ACC. In February, the conference announced divisions for a 14-team basketball league, but it will now have to accomodate a 15th team. "The ACC was founded on the cornerstones of balancing academics, athletics and integrity," said ACC commissioner John Swofford in the statement. " Our partnership with Notre Dame only strengthens this long-standing commitment." The commitment to five ACC games in football will likely mean some changes for the Irish's football schedule. They already play ACC team's Boston College and Wake Forest and have renewed their rivalry with Miami this season. Pittsburgh is on the schedule this season as a Big East team but is moving to the ACC. USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Stanford have been schedule mainstays recently. Navy, Notre Dame's opponent in Dublin, Ireland, this year, is a traditional game. Saying he was "thrilled" with Notre Dame joining the ACC, Miami AD Shawn Eichorst said: "Notre Dame is internationally recognized for its academics and athletics and its core beliefs and mission are in line with ACC member institutions. The news today further solidifies the ACC as one of the nation's premier conferences and Miami looks forward to welcoming the Irish to the league." Along with inviting Notre Dame, the ACC also says it has increased its exit fees for the conference's schools to three times the annual operation budget -- which would currently come to more than $50 million.
Smart move by the ACC, but a swift kick to the jimmies for the Big East. The pressure is really on them to add BYU now.
Why would it take FSU and Clemson out of the running to leave the conference? My understanding was their concern was that they were the ones making all the money in the major revenue producing sport of football..and that they were treated as 2nd class citizens in a basketball conference. They were also concerned about the ACC being left out of the championship game given the way the playoff teams are decided. Had they added ND football to the mix, I'd understand...but how does ND playing hoops in the ACC address FSU's and Clemson's alleged issues with the ACC? Does the 5 games against ACC opponents mean something important for FSU/Clemson? EDIT: seems to me the bigger issue for FSU/Clemson is that the ACC increased its exit fees to $50 million. EDIT AGAIN: reading on other websites that ND ALREADY had 2-3 games scheduled against ACC opponents every year but one...this is an addition of 1-2 more football games against ACC opponents...and if one of those games is in South Bend, that's NBC/Notre Dame money.
ND just pissed on the Big East's face. They could've given the BE instant stability if they joined full time. All those years together meant nothing. I guess they couldn't stomach being in CUSA 2.0. The ACC plays 8 conference games. That's only 3 more than what ND has agreed to with this move. This may be a transition to full membership in a few years. The BE Catholic basketball schools are probably freaking out. No ND and they have to play SMU, UH, UCF...
The only hope the Big East had as a football conference was an increase in partnership with Notre Dame, basically the deal they just gave the ACC.
Umm, no. That was never even an option. Unless by "increase in partnership" you mean "give more concessions to ND". Which wouldn't help the Big East in football, at all. The only way this hurts BE FB is via bowl tie-ins. ND helped them land quite a few of those.
It's a $50 million exit fee. Which FSU and Maryland voted against: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...912_1_exit-fee-new-fsu-fsu-athletics-director TALLAHASSEE — Florida State was one of two the current 12 Atlantic Coast Conference schools to vote against a measure that called for an increased conference exit fee, according to FSU board of trustees chairman Allan Bense. "I think it's punitive," the new trustee chair told the Orlando Sentinel. In a phone call with the Sentinel late Wednesday afternoon, Bense was confirming statements he made earlier in the day to Warchant.com, a Rivals.com affiliate covering FSU. Bense told Warchant that presidents representing FSU and Maryland at a meeting in North Carolina this week rejected a measure to raise the conference buyout fee to a figure approximately three times larger than the current conference distribution deal.
