At least everyone has heard the term "YINZERS"
As a Hoo, I endorse this.
I’d love to see a fairly academically elite, basketball-focused conference with a not-too-crazy-large geographic footprint. Ideally, just drop football, as it’s far too damaging to the brain and body, because eventually colleges will have to drop it for that reason, and because of the Title IX headaches it creates. If you must keep it, perhaps make it FCS and optional for member schools.
I suggest this: Duke, Vandy, U.Va., UNC (sorry - omit that if you wish), Wake, GT, W&M, Georgetown, Villanova, and Davidson.
You could have such a conference replicate the Big Ten by creating a parallel academic consortium, to commonly pursue research and offer cross-institutional opportunities to faculty, students, and alumni of member schools.
Having said that, I wonder why such a highly selective school such as Duke wants to participate in the whorehouse of big-time revenue college sports. I love having elite basketball at Virginia, but is a comprehensive high-major college sports program worth all the distortion and negative externalities to the school? No.
Admissions wise, ya’ll are your own tier in the ACC. You should consider forming a UAA-style conference and academic consortium with true peers who currently aren’t in the Ivy League. Perhaps Duke, Vandy, Emory, Rice, WashU, Chicago, Northwestern, and Hopkins. MIT too? You have no business getting down in the mud with Louisville and its ilk. Your better than that.
everybody be tuning in and the donors giving the big bucks to see that hot Duke-on-MIT bball action!
For better or worse, the basketball team drives a huge amount of international awareness for the school and donor dollars.
At least one alumnus on this board chose duke over another similarly ranked school due to appreciating the sports culture there.
1200. DDMF.
So let's try that. The ACC/Big Ten keeps Notre Dame and adds Kansas, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia.
Miami, FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech
UNC, Duke, NCSU, Wake Forest
Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Syracuse
Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame, West Virginia
Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State
Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma State
The SEC/Pac 12 adds Texas, Oklahoma, 3 more Big XII teams, and BYU.
Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M
Arkansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State, LSU
Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida
South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State
Stanford, California, UCLA, USC
Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
BYU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Baylor
If that looks like a cut-and-paste job, it's because it was. Originally I made four blocks of 16 teams (ACC plus West Virginia, Big Ten plus Kansas and Oklahoma State, SEC plus Texas and Oklahoma, Pac-12 plus BYU, Kansas State, Texas Tech, and Baylor), and just rearranged them this time.
I don't see Iowa State getting picked either way. I may have underestimated TCU's chances before for the Big Ten/Pac-12 league -- it's the only power conference school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area -- but it's unlikely to make the cut in a SEC/Pac-12 league that would already have Texas.
Worth considering that destabilizing the Big 12 would also happen to deal a serious blow to an ESPN competitor, maybe (that may have already been mentioned here...I'm losing track of what I read where).
Edit: Had to laugh a little at reading that article ON ESPN! Felt a little like watching Roy talk in the third person.
Thank you, Leading Edge! We will see what Duke's academic/athletic identity and character turn out to be. Values in abstract don't mean much. As Mark Twain once said, "There is nothing so weak as a value that's not been tested in the fire." Our institutional values are being tested.
I like your values and your vision. Would be fun, and gratifying, to compete with schools that preserve a serious meaning to the student/athlete concept. Hope that UVA ends up being a competitive partner.
As a later poster said, the Hoos posters on this board are classy, respectful and insightful. Even, especially, when you tell it like it is. My main complaint against you guys is that my dear wife, who I think likes me a lot, is downright smitten by your men's basketball coach. Not to blame you or anything.
“I love it. Coach, when we came here, we had a three-hour meeting about the core values. If you really represent the core values, it means diving on the floor, sacrificing your body for your teammates, no matter how much you’re up by or how much you’re down by, always playing hard.” -- Zion
You jest, and sure Duke would have a dramatic talent advantage over the other schools in this proposed non-Ivy academically elite conference.
But have you seen how well MIT plays as a team? They ALWAYS have a core group of guys who have been playing together for four years — no OADs at this basketball program, no sir! And when your team mascot is Tim the Beaver, well, let’s just say our Blue Devil had better watch his back.
I think MIT just might give Duke one heckuva run for their money. 😉
Last edited by Steven43; 07-29-2021 at 01:40 AM.
Yes, but MIT's coach just invented flubber, so they'll still have a distinct advantage over us.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013