Category Archives: Football

Detroit Lions adding a new bowl; ACC in the mix

Posted on by M. Caffrey

It looks like the Big Ten Conference may finally get North Carolina and Virginia after all… but not as conference mates.

A few weeks back, The Confidential reviewed the future ACC bowl lineup. With four more teams entering the league, it was believed that the league might increase its bowl affiliations to nine or 10.

Brett McMurphy of ESPN is reporting that the Detroit Lions are looking to replace the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl after this season and operate a new bowl game at Ford Field starting in 2014.

The bowl will still feature a team from the Big Ten, but is expected to have an opponent from the ACC.

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Revenue Sports Decade in Review

Posted on by acaffrey

Last week, we analyzed the last decade of ACC performances in football and basketball.  There were some surprises.  For example, Boston College in football and Florida State in basketball.  But what does it mean overall?  How about a ranking of the performances of all schools in both sports?  Here you go.

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ESPN’s Most-Talented Football Teams for 2013

Posted on by acaffrey

The other day, the Confidential ran through the most successful ACC football teams for the past decade.  Today, ESPN’s Travis Haney has a list of the 10 most talented football teams for 2013.  Three of the top 10 teams in talent are in our very own ACC.  Moreover, Clemson is in the next five.

The top 10 is, itself, a whos-who of college football elite.  Obviously, one can find Alabama, Texas, and Ohio State on the list.  But where does the ACC stack up?

Well, Florida State is #4 on the list.  Here is some of the blurb on the Seminoles from the article:

Schlabach’s ranking: 14
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 3
Kiper’s positional prospects: 14
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 4.5

Considering the above numbers/rankings, there is no reason for Florida State to lose games the way it did to NC State in 2012 or Virginia in 2011. Injuries and inexperience played a part in those losses and others, but the Seminoles are better on paper than any team in the ACC. At least FSU managed a BCS berth — and win — last season, but it should have been a bigger year.

Pretty fair, actually.  FSU has to stop losing to inferior opponents.

In a bit of a surprise, Miami is #8.  Here is some of Haney’s explanation:

Schlabach’s ranking: NR
Kiper’s top 50 prospects: 0
Kiper’s positional prospects: 11
Four-year recruiting class average rank: 16.5

Am I reaching here? Maybe, but there isn’t a whole lot to differentiate among programs such as Miami, Michigan, Clemson or the ones listed below. I just find the Hurricanes interesting because of how many players return, including the entire offense. They’re kind of easy to forget about, because of the self-imposed bowl ban, but they did win five of their seven games in the ACC — and no team has a hold on the league, not even the Seminoles.

And Notre Dame finished #10.  Haney listed Clemson at #12, meaning 25% of the top 12 is in the ACC, while 33% of the top 12 is ACC or ACC-affiliated.  Niot bad!

Here is the full list:

  1. Alabama
  2. Texas
  3. LSU
  4. Florida State
  5. Georgia
  6. Oregon
  7. Ohio State
  8. Miami
  9. Stanford
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Michigan
  12. Clemson
  13. Florida
  14. Auburn
  15. Texas A&M

So… that’s 6 SEC schools, 3/4 ACC schools, 2 SEC schools, 2 Pac-12 schools, and 1 Big XII school.

An argument could be made for Nebraska, Wisconsin, USC, Virginia Tech, and Louisville to be on this list.  But, alas, such is not the case.

What do you think… is ESPN stretching for the ACC now that they have a long-term partnership or is this a legit ranking?

ACC Football: Decade in Review

Posted on by acaffrey

Most sports fans are willing to make fun of a school based on its perceived on-field or on-court performance.  Sometimes it is accurate; other times it is not.  So, what we set out to do was look at the records of ACC schools in football over the past decade.  Who do YOU think had the best record in conference games between 2003 and 2012?   Worst?  Courtesy of stassen.com, we were able to easily make the calculations.

  1. Virginia Tech had the best record in ACC conference games this past decade, going 64-20.
  2. Florida State was #2, albeit significantly behind the Hokies in win total, going 54-29.
  3. Clemson narrowly edged Georgia Tech for the #3 spot, with a 51-31 record.
  4. Georgia Tech misses out because of that ACC-CG appearance last year to finish #4 at 51-32.
  5. Miami comes in at #5 with a 44-35 overall record.
  6. Boston College has to be a surprise at #6, making it 3 out of the top 6 as former Big East schools, with a 41-38 record.
  7. North Carolina & Virginia tie at 35-45.
  8. see above.
  9. Wake Forest went 35-46.
  10. North Carolina State went 34-46.
  11. Maryland went 33-47.
  12. Duke was 12-68.

So, Big 10 fans, you are getting a Maryland team that was 11th in conference wins the past decade.  While Maryland has had financial troubles, they were operating under the same system as the rest of its ACC peers.  So, good luck with that.

What do you think the rankings would be for hoops?  Would it be Duke, North Carolina, or someone else at the top?  Who would be at the bottom?

 

 

Seminole Territory: ACC Meetings and Andrew Wiggins

Posted on by wtnoleacc

The ACC ‘s annual meetings began in earnest yesterday and there are several topics of interest for Florida State fans:

1.  Bowl tie-ins for football:  We should learn the bowl lineup for the post BCS era this week.  Here’s hoping the addition of Notre Dame results in an appealing slate.  After the first day of meetings ESPN’s Brett Murphy has mentioned the potential for the Russell Athletic Bowl to host the #2 ACC team.  Most FSU fans would be disappointed with this result.

2. ACC Network:  Can the ACC really generate enough interest at ESPN to support another college oriented network?  If the answer is yes, then how much money will it bring to the conference?  FSU fans are anxious to fill the conference money gap as soon as possible.

3. Basketball Tournament Sites:  Will the ACC  consider a geographic rotation of sites for the ACC basketball tournament to better represent the geographic foot print of the conference?  Can the new ACC programs influence the other non Carolina schools to become less Carolina centric?  The selection of future sites for the ACC tournament could shed some light on the future direction of the conference.

Other potential topics of interest:

4. Geographic Division Alignment:  it’s time to make North and South divisions to create meaningful geographic rivalries.  Surely, FSU was able to work a deal “under the table” to enhance their ACC slate by adding Georgia Tech to their division in exchange for the Grant of Rights.  I can’t imagine the Seminoles signing themselves over for a 15 year commitment to the conference without some assurance of immediate benefit for the football program.

FSU fans are mostly tired of hearing about Swofford’s endless amount of promises for an improved revenue and an enhanced league.  It would be nice if the ACC could start to flex it’s muscle regarding the topics above so we can all sleep better at night.

Andrew Wiggins

The most disappointing part of Andrew Wiggins’ recruitment is also the most endearing.  He does not like the spotlight.  Unfortunately, there is no “inside information” available for fans to debate and dispute.  FSU fans are hoping for the best.  This could become the biggest day in the modern era of Florida State basketball.

B1G TV Revenue, Popsicles, and Trophies

Posted on by acaffrey

Big 10 fans were scrambling around yesterday applauding the announcement that the conference would be distributing $25.7 this year.  It is unclear why the St. Louis Dispatch was issuing the report.  After all, the Big 10 did not want Missouri.  But it is what it is.

However, before Big 10 fans start looking for a popsicle to suck, it should be noted that the TV revenue contribution to each school decreased.  ESPN reported this regarding the Big 10 distributions:

The league’s fiscal year doesn’t end until June 30, but according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Stu Durando, conference payouts to member schools should reach another record high this year. Figures provided by Illinois show that Big Ten distributions are expected to be $25.7 million per school, including $7.6 million from the Big Ten Network.

Last year, schools got $24.6 million from the league, including $8.1 million from BTN. In 2011, the number was $22.6 million per school and $7.9 million from BTN. The Big Ten continues to distribute more revenue to its member schools than any other conference, which explains why Maryland was eager to dump decades of tradition in the ACC to jump on board.

People scoffed at the Big Ten Network when it first began, but Durando writes that the venture will have resulted in $42.5 million per full league member over the past six years. The figure has decreased this year for the first time, but that’s likely due to an increased slice of the pie given to Nebraska, which does not receive a full share of league revenue until 2017.

So there you go.  Stu Durando calls it a “record” distribution, even though the to-school distribution is expected to be lower than either 2012 or 2011.  Oh wait, there is an excuse.  The lower distribution is because Nebraska is being given a larger slice of the pie.  And Nebraska will not even get a full share until 2017!  So apparently Nebraska’s mere increase in share caused a decrease in payouts per school.

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ACC 2013 Bowl Schedule (Dates and Times)

Posted on by acaffrey

The Atlantic Coast Conference, our beloved ACC, has issued a release sharing the 2013 bowl schedule, including dates and times.  As previously noted, it will be interesting to see if there are changes to this lineup in the future.   But here is the key data you need for 2013:

Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman
Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 2:30 p.m. ESPN
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (conditional)
Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 9:30 p.m. ESPN
Russell Athletic Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 6:45 p.m. ESPN
Belk Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 3:20 p.m. ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Monday, Dec. 30, 2013 3:15 p.m. ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 12:30 p.m. ESPN
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 2 p.m. CBS
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013 8 p.m. ESPN
Discover Orange Bowl
Friday, Jan. 3, 2014 8 p.m. ESPN

Note that all games are on ESPN, except the Sun Bowl.  Also, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is conditional.

You will also note that there are 8-9 bowl games for the 14 teams in the conference.  That may or may not pose a problem for 2013.

 

Weekend Topic: ACC Football Divisions

Posted on by acaffrey

The folks over at Tomahawk Nation have a nice debate, albeit FSU-centric, as to how the ACC divisions should be reconfigured.  So let’s delve in and discuss.

Given that the current divisions are just a random collection of whatever that nobody could possibly remember, here are they are as of right now:

Atlantic: Florida State, Clemson, NC State, Wake Forest, Maryland (Louisville in 2014), Boston College, Syracuse

Coastal: Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh

The Confidential has previously advocated for a quasi-geographic breakdown of the teams.  John Cassillo over at atlanticcoastconvos proposed the same thing on the Tomahawk Nation blog (midway down):

Atlantic: Miami, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College, Pitt, Maryland (Louisville)

Coastal: Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech

The teams are listed above/below a permanent crossover.

This is essentially the “Old ACC less Virginia.”  Or N/S, plus Miami and Louisville.  Miami works with the North.  Virginia?  Maybe, maybe not.  But they would play UNC every year.

But the FSU folks have an interesting suggestion or two, including a straight–let’s get a strong strength of schedule method proposed by SirChancelot:

Atlantic: Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Miami, Louisville, Pitt, Virginia

Coastal: Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, BC, Syracuse, and Georgia Tech

The logic being that the football schools can beat up on each other and establish a strength of schedule that matches up with the SEC.  And if the ACC-Championship Game is garbage, so what?  It always is anyway.  Better to have the 11-1 team get to 12-1 without hassle.  Frankly, the Confidential sees some logic in it, but questions the choice of schools.  How about this instead:

Atlantic: FSU, Miami, Va Tech, Clemson, Georgia Tech, NC State, Louisville

Coastal, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, Virginia

If anyone runs the table in the Atlantic, they should be sitting pretty from a strength-of-schedule standpoint.

Of course, if anyone runs the table in the ACC in any format, will they be excluded from a strength-of-schedule standpoint anyway?  That seems to be a fabricated issue.  It is not strength of schedule that harms the ACC schools, it is losing to teams that one should not lose to.

Moreover, playing all those games may help the strength of schedule, but wouldn’t it increase the chances of a bunch of 4-3 teams.

The Confidential’s perspective is that the ACC has a poor image because it is not top-heavy enough.  The B1G is Michigan and Ohio State usually.  The Big XII is Texas and Oklahoma usually.  The Pac-12 is USC or Oregon usually.  Exceptions happen obviously, but that is what we can expect.  The SEC is great because there are 5 teams that have the ability to run the table–and one or two of them usually do.  The ACC may have a couple of schools that “can,” but they always falter along the way to middling schools.  Bunching up the great teams is not going to help.  However, the idea of ignoring competitive balance has merit.  One can never get it straight anyway.

Otherwise, the suggestions over there involve a re-assortment of the current system.  Swap Miami for Florida State, or Clemson for Georgia Tech.

Nobody suggested this one… organize by number of words it takes to state the school:

Atlantic (1 word): Clemson, Miami, Pitt, Louisville, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse

Coastal (2 words): Georgia Tech, Florida State, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest

Actually, that is not bad competitive balance for football.  Hmmmm.

From the Confidential’s perspective, the priority of the conference should be as follows:

  1. Maximizing TV revenue–gotta keep up with the Joneses
  2. Maintaining traditional rivalries
  3. Easy of remembering divisions –nobody should have to look up who is in each division, whether an ACC fan or not
  4. Maximizing gate revenue–more $$$
  5. Competitive balance
  6. Ensuring high strength of schedule
  7. Other?

What do you think–what is THE most important thing that the ACC must consider if/when rearranging the divisions for football?   What is your proposal?

ACC Bowls: The Future

Posted on by acaffrey

ESPN.com has a fairly comprehensive look at the ACC bowl picture as it transitions from a 12-team conference to a 15-team conference (including Notre Dame).  The article notes the possibility that the “league might increase its bowl affiliations to nine or 10″ and change some of the bowls.  So let’s take a closer look at some of the bowls being discusssed.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl.  As you know, this bowl game is played in New York City.  With the Big East transitioning to the American, the inclusion of the ACC in the Big East’s slot makes sense.  There is also scuttlebutt on the Internet about the B1G taking over for the Big XII with a bowl tie in for that game.  Such a decision makes complete sense.  Just look at the schools that could potentially face each other in that game:

  • B1G: Penn State, Rutgers, Maryland
  • ACC: Boston College, Syracuse, Pittsburgh

All six schools have significant proximity to the NYC market.  Plus, one could envision these schools not being selected for better bowls.  And Penn State will be grappling with its sanctions.  There are numerous combinations of schools that would lead to interesting matchups.  It really is a slam dunk, no brainer, grand slam, whatever you want to call it for the bowl and both conferences.  And if Notre Dame is part of the mix?  Consider it done.

Gator Bowl.  Until 2009, this bowl game involved the ACC.  Seems like a natural fit given its location in Jacksonville and the ACC’s two Florida-based schools.  Not to mention Georgia Tech and Clemson being relatively close.

Belk Bowl.  This Charlotte-based bowl is currently an ACC-Big East event.  There is apparently talk of switching to an ACC-SEC matchup.  As with the Pinstripe Bowl, it is hard to disagree with that logic.  Again, look at the teams in the region:

  • ACC: North Carolina, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, Louisville, Clemson
  • SEC: Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina

Once again, you have teams that are likely to qualify in the region.  Also, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Auburn, and the Mississippi schools are nearby.  Another nice fit.

In fact, between these three bowls alone, every single ACC team would have a regional bowl tie-in.

What do you think, are there are any other bowls that the ACC should try to get tie-ins with?

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ACC & 2014 NFL Draft

Posted on by acaffrey

After a great 2013 NFL Draft weekend, it is time to start looking ahead to the 2014 NFL Draft.  At least that is the case if you are a draftnik like ESPN’s Todd McShay!  He already has a ranking of the top 32 NFL Draft prospects for 2014. 

There are a handful of guys with ACC ties on this preliminary list.  Obviously, much will change in the next 12 months.  But here are the guys with ACC ties getting love from McShay:

  • #2  Teddy Bridgewater QB  Louisville
  • #7  Louis Nix III  NT  Notre Dame
  • #8  Tajh Boyd  QB Clemson
  • #14  Timmy Jernigan  DT  Florida State
  • #18 Stephon Tuitt  DT  Notre Dame
  • #20 Jeremiah Attauchu WR Georgia Tech
  • #21  Sammy Watkins WR Clemson

So that is 4 guys playing in the ACC and 7 guys with ACC ties.  Not sure what anyone else thinks, but the ACC is claiming Notre Dame effective immediately.  So we will call it 6. 

As always, the  SEC is the dominant conference, with 14 guys on the list.  The Big 2/Little 12….err… B1G has 3–exclusively represented by Michigan and Ohio State.  The Big XII has two.  The Pac-12 actually finishes ahead of the Big XII and B1G with 5 guys on the list. 

What do you think?  Who is McShay leaving out from the ACC?