The Confidential

Conference Realignment–Always Murky

On Friday, the Confidential discussed the different ways to decipher the words trickling out of Big XII headquarters regarding expansion.  Unfortunately, we get to play the game again.  ESPN interviewed the new athletic director from Georgia Tech, Mike Bobinski.  His comments regarding realignment were encouraging or discouraging, depending on how you read them.

First, let’s start with the money quote:

Bobinski smiled when asked if Georgia Tech might be joining the realignment frenzy.

“That’s the ultimate loaded question,” he said, before quickly stressing he thinks the ACC is an “unbelievable home for Georgia Tech. It’s the right fit in today’s world for us.”

The Yellow Jackets’ goals — both athletically and academically — are aligned with conference rivals such as North Carolina, Duke and Virginia, he added.

“That’s the company Georgia Tech belongs in,” Bobinski said. “It’s the right alignment in a lot of ways. I don’t have any inclination at this point in time that there’s any different home in our future. Our goal right now — us and the rest of the members of the ACC — is be as good as we can be in football and strengthen the revenue base in and around the conference, so there’s no temptation for folks to start to be picked off. We’re all-in for the ACC.”

ESPN chooses to see these comments as a positive, treating the comments as a “commitment to the ACC.”  One can kind of see the point there.

But not the folks over at Frank the Tank’s expansion-heavy blog.  The commentariat over there reads heavily between the lines–in a way that is not at all encouraging for ACC fans.  Indeed, why not just say–“NO, as my predecessor noted, Georgia Tech is not going anywhere!”  Also, the latest fetish among the commentariat is an 18-team Big 10 with 4 more ACC teams added to the mix.  So, the comment regarding UNC, Duke, and UVa is perceived as stating Georgia Tech’s preference for brethren if it joins the Big 10.  The Confidential further notes that Mr. Bobiniski has a lot of conditional language in his statements too.  So, as usual, the Frank the Tank folks have a good point too.

But before ordering the ACC tombstone, there is one final positive thought.  At least Mr. Bobinski concluded with a statement that Georgia Tech is “all-in for the ACC.”  If all the schools really could go “all-in” for the ACC, the future would be bright…