ACC realignment talk is ... talk
posted by LW, Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Looks like it's more speculation than anything else. And at the most, it's something that won't happen for a long time if it does happen.
According to this report from Andrew Carter in the Orlando Sentinel, says realignment isn't being discussed at this week's ACC meetings in Amelia Island, Fla.
The genesis of this appears to be a letter from Florida State's booster-club president to Seminoles' athletics director Randy Spetman:
In an e-mail he wrote in February to Florida State Athletic Director Randy Spetman, Andy Miller, the president of Seminole Boosters, Inc., urged Spetman to lobby the Atlantic Coast Conference to realign its divisions in football.
"Please do what you can to realign the conference," Miller wrote in the e-mail, obtained recently by the Sentinel through a public records request. "Put Georgia Tech in [the Atlantic] Division. Give them Maryland."
Mike Kelly, the ACC's associate commissioner, says realignment couldn't occur until after the 2015 football season. That happens to be the last season for which schedules have been devised.
Until then, though, Kelly said talk of realignment is just that.
"I don't think there's a lot to it," he said. "It could happen any time but we have not [discussed it]. I wasn't in the [athletic directors'] meeting today, I was in the coaches' meetings. But it wasn't on the agenda.
"We've never discussed it."
Here's a recent Q&A with John Swofford in the News & Observer of Raleigh.
If you thought the attendance at the past two ACC title games was bad -- less than 60,000, total -- imagine how much conference officials are cringing at the thought of turnout at the 2009 game in Tampa, assuming the economy doesn't make a dramatic turn for the better.
This piece in the Florida Times-Union says league folks are merely taking their medicine and counting the days until the game moves to Charlotte for 2010 and 2011.
"Charlotte is more in the middle of our footprint," North Carolina State athletic director Lee Fowler said Monday following meetings involving ACC athletic directors, football coaches, basketball coaches and faculty representatives, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Amelia Island. "We've tried Jacksonville, and we're trying in Tampa. I'd like to see how the game performs in North Carolina."
Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver, whose football team has played in three of the four ACC title games, was even more direct.
"We've got to get to Charlotte," he said. "That doesn't mean Jacksonville and Tampa haven't done good jobs. It's simply too hard for people to get to Florida for a weekend game, then plan on going to a bowl game - especially now, in this economic downturn."
Caulton Tudor says expansion of the ACC basketball schedule from 16 to 18 games is going to happen whether the coaches like it or not.
An increase from the current 16-game slate to 18 may not be voted in by athletic directors and faculty reps during this week's spring meetings in Florida.
But as much as the 12 coaches prefer the status quo, television officials want additional inventory. In a stronger economy, the coaches probably could prevail indefinitely. But with school budgets tight and current TV contracts expiring after the 2010-11 season, the coaches eventually will be told schedule expansion is no longer a point of debate.
Tony Barnhart takes a look at the ACC's Atlantic Division.
On Clemson:
What we still don’t know: Is Kyle Parker really going to be the guy at quarterback? The redshirt freshman from Jacksonville impressed a lot of people with his arm this spring and appears to have the edge over highly-regarded sophomore Willy Korn. Parker split his time between spring football and baseball, so it will be interesting to see how he responds when two-a-days arrive in August. Who will be the placekicker? Mark Buchholz made 88 consecutive extra points as Clemson’s placekicker and connected on 15 of 21 field goals last season. Redshirt freshman Spencer Benton seemed to have the edge over redshirt junior Richard Jackson but Swinney has not named a starter. Will new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele give that unit a little more toughness? The early returns say yes. If DE Ricky Sapp, who had ACL surgery in December, is ready to go in August, this could be a pretty salty bunch. We also think DE Da’Quan Bowers will be a star.
In the New York Times, a story on the various ways college athletics departments are trimming their budgets ... including getting rid of all those media guides that are littering my office.
My wife says she enthusiastically approves this measure.
Wilson Boyd could have a tough decision to make if his bat stays this hot.
He and the Tigers held on for an 8-5 win over Furman in Greenville yesterday.
And here's a piece on the Tigers' golf team, which begins NCAA Regional play Thursdsay.
LW
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For a while now, there have been rumblings on TI and elsewhere that the ACC is taking a serious look at division realignment.
Looks like it's more speculation than anything else. And at the most, it's something that won't happen for a long time if it does happen.
According to this report from Andrew Carter in the Orlando Sentinel, says realignment isn't being discussed at this week's ACC meetings in Amelia Island, Fla.
The genesis of this appears to be a letter from Florida State's booster-club president to Seminoles' athletics director Randy Spetman:
In an e-mail he wrote in February to Florida State Athletic Director Randy Spetman, Andy Miller, the president of Seminole Boosters, Inc., urged Spetman to lobby the Atlantic Coast Conference to realign its divisions in football.
"Please do what you can to realign the conference," Miller wrote in the e-mail, obtained recently by the Sentinel through a public records request. "Put Georgia Tech in [the Atlantic] Division. Give them Maryland."
Mike Kelly, the ACC's associate commissioner, says realignment couldn't occur until after the 2015 football season. That happens to be the last season for which schedules have been devised.
Until then, though, Kelly said talk of realignment is just that.
"I don't think there's a lot to it," he said. "It could happen any time but we have not [discussed it]. I wasn't in the [athletic directors'] meeting today, I was in the coaches' meetings. But it wasn't on the agenda.
"We've never discussed it."
Here's a recent Q&A with John Swofford in the News & Observer of Raleigh.
If you thought the attendance at the past two ACC title games was bad -- less than 60,000, total -- imagine how much conference officials are cringing at the thought of turnout at the 2009 game in Tampa, assuming the economy doesn't make a dramatic turn for the better.
This piece in the Florida Times-Union says league folks are merely taking their medicine and counting the days until the game moves to Charlotte for 2010 and 2011.
"Charlotte is more in the middle of our footprint," North Carolina State athletic director Lee Fowler said Monday following meetings involving ACC athletic directors, football coaches, basketball coaches and faculty representatives, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Amelia Island. "We've tried Jacksonville, and we're trying in Tampa. I'd like to see how the game performs in North Carolina."
Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver, whose football team has played in three of the four ACC title games, was even more direct.
"We've got to get to Charlotte," he said. "That doesn't mean Jacksonville and Tampa haven't done good jobs. It's simply too hard for people to get to Florida for a weekend game, then plan on going to a bowl game - especially now, in this economic downturn."
Caulton Tudor says expansion of the ACC basketball schedule from 16 to 18 games is going to happen whether the coaches like it or not.
An increase from the current 16-game slate to 18 may not be voted in by athletic directors and faculty reps during this week's spring meetings in Florida.
But as much as the 12 coaches prefer the status quo, television officials want additional inventory. In a stronger economy, the coaches probably could prevail indefinitely. But with school budgets tight and current TV contracts expiring after the 2010-11 season, the coaches eventually will be told schedule expansion is no longer a point of debate.
Tony Barnhart takes a look at the ACC's Atlantic Division.
On Clemson:
What we still don’t know: Is Kyle Parker really going to be the guy at quarterback? The redshirt freshman from Jacksonville impressed a lot of people with his arm this spring and appears to have the edge over highly-regarded sophomore Willy Korn. Parker split his time between spring football and baseball, so it will be interesting to see how he responds when two-a-days arrive in August. Who will be the placekicker? Mark Buchholz made 88 consecutive extra points as Clemson’s placekicker and connected on 15 of 21 field goals last season. Redshirt freshman Spencer Benton seemed to have the edge over redshirt junior Richard Jackson but Swinney has not named a starter. Will new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele give that unit a little more toughness? The early returns say yes. If DE Ricky Sapp, who had ACL surgery in December, is ready to go in August, this could be a pretty salty bunch. We also think DE Da’Quan Bowers will be a star.
In the New York Times, a story on the various ways college athletics departments are trimming their budgets ... including getting rid of all those media guides that are littering my office.
My wife says she enthusiastically approves this measure.
Wilson Boyd could have a tough decision to make if his bat stays this hot.
He and the Tigers held on for an 8-5 win over Furman in Greenville yesterday.
And here's a piece on the Tigers' golf team, which begins NCAA Regional play Thursdsay.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.