Rumor Mill: The Texas Longhorns Interested In The Atlantic Coast Conference. Is The ACC Being Proactive?
by Winfield Featherston on Sep 14, 2011 12:01 PM EDT
in Georgia Tech Football
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Since Texas A&M left the Big12, the conference's life has quickly been shortened. Suddenly another rumor has come about and it's all about the Texas Longhorns talking to the Atlantic Cost Conference! Wait, what?
From Team Speed Kills
The real shocker here is not that Texas is considering the ACC, which was floated around last week, but that the two have already started talking. "A high-ranking Texas source" essentially called the talks informal and not yet serious, but the fact that there even have been discussions is a remarkable development. The ACC would allow Texas to keep the Longhorn Network as-is, and it apparently has floated the option for a four-team pod system rather than divisions to help with scheduling. Another plus is that Texas is closer to most ACC schools than most Pac-12 schools, and the ACC is only one time zone away instead of two.
I've been talking to Bird about realignment extensively, and we've tossed around ideas about what to talk about. It's mainly been about the ACC needing to be proactive and going after the football schools of the Big East like Louisville, Cincinnati, UCONN, Syracuse, West Virginia...some kind of combination like that. But Texas? That's a surprising move put on by the ACC.
But is it the ACC being proactive? Or Texas guarding their own assets?
Texas (and ESPN) are the proud owners of the Longhorn Network. ESPN also has contractual rights to the ACC's TV contract. If Texas went to the B1G , then the Longhorn Network would probably have to fold into the BigTen Network. The Pac-12 TV contract is tied to both ESPN and Fox Sports where the games are split. I don't have enough knowledge to research why the Pac-12 would make Texas fold its TV contract into the ESPN/Fox split, but my favorite radio show, Barnhart and Durham, see that happening so we'll run with that and believe them for now.
Suddenly, it's John Swofford and the ACC in the spotlight, whether by chance or by action.
Pros to Texas coming to the ACC
- Academics align with the current schools in conference
-Good basketball, baseball, and football programs
-National exposure
-Additional recruiting pipelines
-Potential additional revenue sharing
- ACC protects itself from implosion and Florida State has more reasons to stay
Cons To Texas Coming To The ACC
-Travel costs (in addition to Boston College)
-Slobbering all over Texas
-13 teams (right now)
What do you think about this idea? I am sure I left off some pros and cons off this list. Add some of your own in the comments.
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No, Texas and the Longhorn Network is the reason the Big 12 is splitting up. Any money that Texas brings into the fold is going to go straight back to them and the Longhorn Network. Texas is looking to move from one conference were they’ve played dominated the money angle to another. I see no reason to let them join the ACC.
Adding Texas isn’t going to make us a good football conference. It won’t give us more money. There’s no reason to add them.
by Ratwar on Sep 14, 2011 12:19 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
The Big10 and Pac12 use the same model for TV rights
A contract with ESPN (adding Fox to the mix for the Pac) for a portion of the games, and then an owned network for the balance. Any problem Texas has with the Big10 is pretty much the same with the Pac12. The problem is Texas wants to continue to own their own network, it’s not compatible with the Big10 or Pac12 model. You can’t have all the members but one as part of a conference wide network. Texas believes the ACC will allow them to do just that. Keep in mind Texas doesn’t like to share. They will want to come to the ACC, keep their network and a certain number of it’s home games. Right now it’s just one, but ESPN has already said that isn’t enough, and why they bought a conference game from Fox to add to the LHN this year. Think about that, it means if your team’s game against Texas happens to be one of those on the LHN, you have to buy the LHN package to watch your own team play. The question is how many games will Texas demand to keep from the ACC? Two, three, four, more?
There are more cons than pros.
Cons (in addition to those listed):
Texas has the largest endowment of any public university in the country. They have so much money that competing with them in Texas will be almost impossible. I cannot see this deal opening Texas for current ACC schools’ recruiters.
92% of UT students are Texas natives. Most of them don’t know which states have ACC teams. Even if we could work out the financials, very few Texans are going to watch the ACC games without the Longhorns.
I still doubt Texas is serious about this. It helps their conversations with the PAC-xx and the SEC to have the ACC as a theoretical fallback.
Pros:
The bars in Austin have great country music and the Texas idea of barbeque isn’t all bad. If you like real Tex Mex food, the options in Austin are a lot better than Taco Bell.
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
Texas is probably just using these negotiations to make the SEC take it seriously.
by Portmanteur on Sep 14, 2011 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This
Texas does not want to go out west, and I doubt it wants to be in conference located along the east coast where it could possibly have to travel up to Boston for games. No, this whole deal is going to be pushed around until they become a member of the SEC.
Don't give up, don't ever give up ~ Jim Valvano
And then TAMU runs away again! Ha!
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Sep 14, 2011 3:26 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Ugh...
This whole Conference Realignment business deeply worries me. Maybe I’m being naive or old-fashioned or what-have-you, but I’ve been reluctant to bring in other schools to the ACC because they would harm our conference identity. Adding VPI, BC, and Miami to complete our conference as a twelve-team league was great. These were quality academic institutions (although VPI’s academic quality is questionable), they had strong football and basketball programs, and they were on the Atlantic Coast. This last point has been the biggest roadblock for me accepting other teams into the conference. When people talk about adding schools like West Virginia, Louisville, and Cincinnati to our league, I get uncomfortable.
Adding Texas would be absolutely phenomenal for our league (as would adding West Virginia, although the academics there are questionable; the other Big East schools I don’t care for), but it takes away part of our conference identity, and that’s what bothers me. At that point, what good is a conference other than just it’s name?
Again, maybe I’m placing conference identity on too high a pedestal, but I think it’s worth something.
Colorado joined the Pac-12.
They’re not even close to the Pacific Coast. Utah isn’t particularly close either. Can’t really consider geography too much any more. Like, that factor matters, but not enough to keep Louisville, West Virginia, or Cincinnati out by itself.
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
Texas may not be near the Atlantic Coast, but the Big X and Big Y have shown that it is possible to run a conference whose make up isn’t what is implied by the conference name.
I would be a bit concerned about the increase in travel cost if Texas was to join. Being geographically distant was one of my complaints about the talk of GT leaving the ACC for Big X/Y. This case is different since Texas, not GT, would be the remote shool, though not as remote at BC who would continue to stick out like a sore thumb.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Sep 14, 2011 3:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Pure Kool-Aid
All syrup, no water. I have to call malarky on this rumor. if it does happen, ok – but for now, this seems too extreme of a move for both ACC and Longhorns
by twojackets on Sep 14, 2011 1:17 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Only, only, only, only . . .
only would I accept Texas if it becomes a sure thing that not doing so means the end of the ACC as we know it.
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 14, 2011 2:43 PM EDT reply actions
As a Texan and not a UT fan nor an tamu fan I hate these two schools right now. Tamu fans are acting like they are gods gift to earth over this sec move. I keep pointing out that they have NO top 10 finishes since joining the big 12 in 1996. They feel they are relevant finally because they finally beat Texas but they are finally a contender in the big 12 and they leave the conference to go get hammered in the sec where they lose being relevant again.
On the Texas issue. I watch every acc game I can in Texas. If Texas came and the big 12 collapses I would love for Baylor to go with Texas. Baylor aligns academically with the acc. Mediocre but improving football. Strong baseball basketball and women’s basketball.
My girlfriend has the lhn at her house and watching it it’s just like espn with the setup and presentation with an anchor and on the field reporting. If your concerned about not being able to watch games on the lhn let me ask you how many times would your team play Texas in a year. And if the lhn has some type of Internet viewing option it would guarantee a viewable game whether you’re duke vpi gt or fsu.
Plus how about film from spring and every game every year for one of the toughest opponents on the schedule. Texas brings an enormous fan base with it and opens texas to more acc recruiting. With Texas and Georgia/florida commits coming into the acc that allows for two of the three recruiting hotbeds thenother being Cali to send a majority of athletes to the acc.
Personally living in Texas with Texas in the acc would give me more games and better coverage because as it is I can’t get the acc network or raycom to view games as it is now even with my providers sports package.
Traditionally
college football conferences were divided by region (East Coast, West Coast, Central US). With this whole idea of super-conferences and whatnot, the conferences in the middle of the US (Big 12, Big 10…whichever those two are now) are deciding whether or not to associate with the East Coast or West Coast. Out west, there’s really just the Pac-12 (or do they still call it -10?). In the east, the SEC and ACC are going to duke it out.
If this thing is going to happen, the ACC has to go after better teams than UConn, Louisville, and the like. They need national championship contenders. That’s what UT is, and that’s probably why they’re going after them.
And I would suspect . . .
we are going after them to entice teams like Florida State not to bolt the ACC.
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 14, 2011 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Funny thing though, and I keep forgetting to mention this, everywhere on the various blogs that Florida State comes up people act like they have arrived as a national power. It is like we keep forgetting that they have yet to win an important game and they have yet to prove that they are of national importance. Nothing against them. Just saying.
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 14, 2011 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Charleston Souther and Louisiana-Monroe
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Sep 14, 2011 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions
It's on the way!
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
by LilBroey700 on Sep 15, 2011 12:04 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Wait wait . . .
Let me get this straight. Texas is single-handidly the cause behind everyone in the Big-12 wanting to leave the Big-12 . . . and we want to invite THAT team into the ACC? That’s stupid. All I see is a lot of ways for the teams in the ACC to get screwed and not a lot of ways that Texas adds any real value to anybody but Texas . . . The only thing worse than the ACC being reactive to conference realignment is aggresively pursuing being Texas’s new bitch. Brilliant. Only Swofford.
by wreckrod on Sep 15, 2011 8:02 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
While I don't think adding Texas would be a bad thing
My opinion is based all on Texas conforming to the other members of the ACC, specifically as it relates to the TV deals and the revenue sharing aspects. We can’t allow Texas to come in and dictate the revenue splits and we can’t allow Texas to maintain a separate TV deal that doesn’t benefit the rest of the ACC teams. If those two major things can be resolved, then I don’t see the problem in having Texas in the ACC. Sure, each team would have to go to Austin at some point, but it wouldn’t be every team, every year. In fact, Texas would end up with the worst travel arrangements because most of their entire road schedule would be to ACC teams.
Texas would bring a huge fan base that by all accounts travels well. That’s a positive for all ACC schools because very few of them sell out every home game. From there, adding Texas increases the ACC’s overall strength within the BCS conferences and gives us the potential to have an additional team selected each year, which just leads to even more revenue sharing.
Overall, I think this would be a good move to help strengthen the ACC. However, it’s still Swofford we are dealing with here and that scares me. So long as Texas doesn’t hold Swofford and the ACC hostage with their existing TV deal and they act like a normal member of the ACC taking their even split of reevnue, then it’s a fair deal. Any special concessions made for Texas is total BS and shouldn’t happen.
From The Rumble Seat -Drinkin' whiskey clear since 2008.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
If Texas is going to give up the LHN and share money equally why would they pick the ACC over the Pac-12? The only reason they’re talking to the ACC is because Swofford is stupid enough to let them keep it. Texas only looks out for Texas and their greed has destroyed two conferences already…. do we want the ACC to be another? Do we want to be Texas peon? Screw Texas.
Yeah.
If Texas joins the ACC, I want GT to leave ASAP.
by a5ehren on Sep 15, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
How about a GT-Maryland to Big Ten combo?
Let the Carolina schools deal with the burnt orange behemoth while the Yellow Jackets and Terrapins are reeling in the Big Ten Network and CIC revenues, not to mention sold out (and eventually expanded( Dodd and Byrd stadiums.
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