The ACC's expansion curse
posted by LW, Wednesday, December 09, 2009
At this point the ACC brass has to be feeling slightly cursed.
After three years of boring afternoon ACC title games played before rows of aluminum (or plastic?), the conference finally moved into primetime this year.
And Clemson's matchup with Georgia Tech was actually kind of compelling. The Tigers had won six straight games to seal their first division title, and C.J. Spiller had Heisman momentum. Georgia Tech was a Top 10 team.
Then the last week of the regular season happened. Clemson was mauled by South Carolina in Columbia. Georgia Tech was pushed around by Georgia in Atlanta.
Two middle-of-the-road SEC teams beating up on the ACC's luminaries. Didn't look good.
Then came last Saturday, when the ACC's game had the misfortune of being played at the same time as the Big 12 game.
Going in, it didn't seem like that big a deal. The folks in Greensboro probably figured Texas would made quick work of Nebraska, giving the ACC's game center stage for a substantial amount of time.
Lo and behold, Texas came within a second of getting bounced from the Rose Bowl. And the ACC, whose game was riveting in its own right, was left in a familiar spot: obscurity.
Stewart Mandel said he didn't watch a second of Georgia Tech's 39-34 victory.
And apparently he wasn't alone. Overnight ratings for the ACC's game dropped 35 percent from last year.
Ouch.
Come to think of it, where would this conference be without Thursday-night ESPN games?
I counted a grand total of four Saturday ACC games this season that were televised in primetime by either ESPN or ABC.
ESPN2 televised a mere three Saturday ACC primetime games.
A total of 13 ACC games were on ESPNU, and 24 were on ESPN360.
The SEC has to love the smell of ACC irrelevance in the morning.
Mr. Swofford better step up to the plate in the upcoming TV contract negotiations.
Twelve years and counting without an at-large BCS bid, by the way. And nine years and counting without a BCS title game representative.
Bobby Bowden said he thought about hanging it up and not coaching the bowl game.
If only this would've occurred to him five years ago ...
Bowden says he doesn't plan on remaining in Tallahassee after the Gator Bowl. He and wife Ann will head to Panama City and spend mot of their time in their condominium that overlooks the ocean.
He and son Tommy will have plenty of time to catch up, unless Tommy gets one of these vacant coaching jobs.
I don't like his chances at this point, unless he goes for a lower-level opportunity. He spent last summer telling folks he was going to go after the Virginia job if Al Groh didn't make it, but it doesn't look like he was even a candidate there.
David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press has a hunch that Mike London was the right choice for the Cavaliers.
Jeff Schultz of the AJC says Georgia fans might be delusional if they think Kirby Smart will leave Alabama for his alma mater.
I don't have any idea whether Smart will leave Tuscaloosa, but it's not a vast stretch to me. Nick Saban is not a fun guy to work for, and one year ago Kevin Steele chose to depart for Clemson.
Darkhorse pick for the UGA job:
J.P. Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer likes the ACC's bowl matchups.
Good stuff by Rivals.com's Tom Dienhart, who was given access to Cincinnati's game-week preparations for Pittsburgh.
Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer says ACC basketball is starting to resemble ACC football. And no, that's not a good thing.
Bart Wright says Clemson and South Carolina have reason to feel good about this season.
Greg Wallace writes about the Tigers' search for answers on defense.
Talk about a painful Tampa experience for the Man of Steele. Wonder if he'll let his linebackers sign his cast?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
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At this point the ACC brass has to be feeling slightly cursed.
After three years of boring afternoon ACC title games played before rows of aluminum (or plastic?), the conference finally moved into primetime this year.
And Clemson's matchup with Georgia Tech was actually kind of compelling. The Tigers had won six straight games to seal their first division title, and C.J. Spiller had Heisman momentum. Georgia Tech was a Top 10 team.
Then the last week of the regular season happened. Clemson was mauled by South Carolina in Columbia. Georgia Tech was pushed around by Georgia in Atlanta.
Two middle-of-the-road SEC teams beating up on the ACC's luminaries. Didn't look good.
Then came last Saturday, when the ACC's game had the misfortune of being played at the same time as the Big 12 game.
Going in, it didn't seem like that big a deal. The folks in Greensboro probably figured Texas would made quick work of Nebraska, giving the ACC's game center stage for a substantial amount of time.
Lo and behold, Texas came within a second of getting bounced from the Rose Bowl. And the ACC, whose game was riveting in its own right, was left in a familiar spot: obscurity.
Stewart Mandel said he didn't watch a second of Georgia Tech's 39-34 victory.
And apparently he wasn't alone. Overnight ratings for the ACC's game dropped 35 percent from last year.
Ouch.
Come to think of it, where would this conference be without Thursday-night ESPN games?
I counted a grand total of four Saturday ACC games this season that were televised in primetime by either ESPN or ABC.
ESPN2 televised a mere three Saturday ACC primetime games.
A total of 13 ACC games were on ESPNU, and 24 were on ESPN360.
The SEC has to love the smell of ACC irrelevance in the morning.
Mr. Swofford better step up to the plate in the upcoming TV contract negotiations.
Twelve years and counting without an at-large BCS bid, by the way. And nine years and counting without a BCS title game representative.
Bobby Bowden said he thought about hanging it up and not coaching the bowl game.
If only this would've occurred to him five years ago ...
Bowden says he doesn't plan on remaining in Tallahassee after the Gator Bowl. He and wife Ann will head to Panama City and spend mot of their time in their condominium that overlooks the ocean.
He and son Tommy will have plenty of time to catch up, unless Tommy gets one of these vacant coaching jobs.
I don't like his chances at this point, unless he goes for a lower-level opportunity. He spent last summer telling folks he was going to go after the Virginia job if Al Groh didn't make it, but it doesn't look like he was even a candidate there.
David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press has a hunch that Mike London was the right choice for the Cavaliers.
Jeff Schultz of the AJC says Georgia fans might be delusional if they think Kirby Smart will leave Alabama for his alma mater.
I don't have any idea whether Smart will leave Tuscaloosa, but it's not a vast stretch to me. Nick Saban is not a fun guy to work for, and one year ago Kevin Steele chose to depart for Clemson.
Darkhorse pick for the UGA job:
J.P. Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer likes the ACC's bowl matchups.
Good stuff by Rivals.com's Tom Dienhart, who was given access to Cincinnati's game-week preparations for Pittsburgh.
Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer says ACC basketball is starting to resemble ACC football. And no, that's not a good thing.
Bart Wright says Clemson and South Carolina have reason to feel good about this season.
Greg Wallace writes about the Tigers' search for answers on defense.
Talk about a painful Tampa experience for the Man of Steele. Wonder if he'll let his linebackers sign his cast?
LW
Click here for the "Eye On The Tigers" blog archive.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
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 @.