Conference Realignment 2022-23

[sagegrouse]

Agreed. We're talking about the death of the NCAA tournament as a realistic possibility, who cares about this? If the challenge dies we can just take matters into our own hands and schedule home and homes with Michigan or Purdue or Ohio State or whoever.

Nonsense! March Madness is a national institution -- a bigger deal, arguably, than today's World Series or even the NBA playoffs. A society would have to be totally daft to get rid of it.

[rasputin]

Nonsense! March Madness is a national institution -- a bigger deal, arguably, than today's World Series or even the NBA playoffs. A society would have to be totally daft to get rid of it.

I seem to recall something about killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Am I missing anything here?

[camion]

I seem to recall something about killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Am I missing anything here?

It would be a shame to kill the golden goose, but there is a golden ostrich* in the barnyard that lays bigger eggs.



*Football of course. Okay, the analogy isn't perfect. And ostriches are ugly, but they're really big.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Nonsense! March Madness is a national institution -- a bigger deal, arguably, than today's World Series or even the NBA playoffs. A society would have to be totally daft to get rid of it.

Have you MET society lately?

[Daddylawman]

So, let's talk about other candidates...

Big East - only 11 teams. Gotta get closer to the ACC's 15 to make the challenge really work.
Big 12 - only 12 current teams. They will be going to 16 from 2023 until 2025 and then drop down to 14. This could maybe work though the flux in that conference seems somewhat unwieldy.
SEC - Currently 14. Going to 16 when Ok and Tx join in 2025. Seems like a good candidate and the similar regionality would seem to create some fun matchups.
Pac 12 - Currently 12 members. USC and UCLA leave in 2024. In its current makeup, this isn't a good fit.

If the Challenge is going to continue, it has to be with the SEC.

The SEC and Big 12 already have their own 'challenge". I'm not sure of the current status, but if that is still contracted I assume those 2 are out. I don't think the number of teams is a major factor - there have been teams left out in the current format. Anything over 10 teams is viable.

[budwom]

I'm not sure why we need any sort of inter-conference challenge...just schedule a game vs. a name opponent in place of it. The Big Ten challenge was interesting for a while, but I"m not sure it served much of a purpose as time went on...

[AGDukesky]

I'm not sure why we need any sort of inter-conference challenge...just schedule a game vs. a name opponent in place of it. The Big Ten challenge was interesting for a while, but I"m not sure it served much of a purpose as time went on...

Agreed. For schools not named Duke or UNC the Challenge was an opportunity for a prime time game, but we usually get plenty of those. It was also hard to get too excited about conference superiority with all the transplant schools.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Agreed. For schools not named Duke or UNC the Challenge was an opportunity for a prime time game, but we usually get plenty of those. It was also hard to get too excited about conference superiority with all the transplant schools.

It's hard to get excited about superiority when we are no longer the superior conference.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

It's hard to get excited about superiority when we are no longer the superior conference.

The truth hurts.

[AGDukesky]

The truth hurts.

Well, my point was that it does not hurt because who cares when the conferences are changing so often and have little identity.

If anything, I take more pride in NCAA results than cherry-picked match-ups between teams that may or may not be relatively equal within their conferences. Not to mention being early in the season and not at neutral sites (although I do prefer the home environments).

But yes, the ACC ain’t what it used to be

[Wander]

Nonsense! March Madness is a national institution -- a bigger deal, arguably, than today's World Series or even the NBA playoffs. A society would have to be totally daft to get rid of it.

Bad writing on my part – "who cares about this" referred to the ACC-Big 10 challenge, not March Madness. March Madness of course needs to be kept at all costs!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Well, my point was that it does not hurt because who cares when the conferences are changing so often and have little identity.

If anything, I take more pride in NCAA results than cherry-picked match-ups between teams that may or may not be relatively equal within their conferences. Not to mention being early in the season and not at neutral sites (although I do prefer the home environments).

But yes, the ACC ain’t what it used to be

Yes. I do enjoy the games, but as far as a tally of which conference is better, it really depends largely on matchups. Although the ACC has performed more poorly that can be blamed on just matchups as of late.

I honestly started losing a sense of pride in conference around the VaTech/BC expansion era - not to denigrate those schools that joined, it just wasn't the ACC that I grew up recognizing and being excited about.

I'll still pull for ACC schools to do well in the NCAA tournament to enhance our profile as a conference, but other than that...

meh.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I honestly started losing a sense of pride in conference around the VaTech/BC expansion era - not to denigrate those schools that joined, it just wasn't the ACC that I grew up recognizing and being excited about.

I get what you're saying, and you're not alone by any stretch. In fact, most here likely agree with you, I know I do.
That being said, thankfully the ACC has grown, because if we are still that same conference today that we were 30 years ago, we'd be third tier, and the Duke basketball program would look very, very different.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I get what you're saying, and you're not alone by any stretch. In fact, most here likely agree with you, I know I do.
That being said, thankfully the ACC has grown, because if we are still that same conference today that we were 30 years ago, we'd be third tier, and the Duke basketball program would look very, very different.

Oh, the conference growth is why it still exists, I have no doubt. But I have one sister - she and I are very close. My wife is one of six children, she frequently goes years without talking to some of them.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Quotes without comment.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says the coming Big Ten television contract with NBC is a “perfect” way for the network to complement its deal with the Fighting Irish.

Swarbrick held a live online chat for Notre Dame's alumni association Wednesday, during which he addressed recent developments with the Big Ten and how they could impact the school's ability to remain a football independent.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/notre-dam...195840753.html

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Yes. I do enjoy the games, but as far as a tally of which conference is better, it really depends largely on matchups. Although the ACC has performed more poorly that can be blamed on just matchups as of late.

I honestly started losing a sense of pride in conference around the VaTech/BC expansion era - not to denigrate those schools that joined, it just wasn't the ACC that I grew up recognizing and being excited about.

I'll still pull for ACC schools to do well in the NCAA tournament to enhance our profile as a conference, but other than that...

meh.

Even UNC?

[Lunchab1es]

Even UNC?

There’s an exception to every rule…

[Billy Dat]

There was an ACC/Big East Challenge before the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs...116-story.html

[CameronBornAndBred]

There was an ACC/Big East Challenge before the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs...116-story.html

Fun quote in hindsight.

The ACC is looking into a similar series with the Big Ten, but it doesn't look promising.

Of course it did take another 8 years before the two would start playing.

[Kdogg]

Quotes without comment.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/notre-dam...195840753.html

Thanks for the article. I didn’t know about this.

“ Plus, a clause in Notre Dame's deal with the ACC would require it to join that league if it decides to give up football independence. That deal runs through 2036.”