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.
Tag Archives: Boston College
ACC Basketball: A Decade in Review and Prediction for the New ACC
The ACC records for the last decade of football was posted by acaffrey earlier this week so I thought it would be fun to see the numbers for the basketball side of the conference. I believe the biggest surprise over the last decade of ACC basketball has been the emergence of Florida State as the third winningest program in the conference behind Duke and North Carolina, a period that includes an ACC tournament championship for the Noles.
1. Duke 123-39 76%: Arguable one of the most successful decades in conference history. Duke has won at least 10 conference games in 9 of the last 10 years. During the last decade Duke has won one NCAA title, 3 ACC Regular Season titles, and 6 ACC Tournament titles.
2. North Carolina 117-45 72%: The baby blue (UNC) and navy blue (Duke) have dominated the conference in hoops. Although Duke has a better conference record, North Carolina won 2 NCAA titles during the Roy Williams era (which started in 2003-04). The Heels have also won 6 ACC Regular Season titles and 2 ACC Tournament titles during that time.
3. Florida State 85-77 52%: How in the world did the biggest name in ACC college football climb so high in the basketball centric ACC? Leonard Hamilton. Hamilton’s teams consistently play above their talent level through hard work and relentless defense. However, FSU could be hit the hardest from the most recent conference expansion as the competition for 3rd place in the conference gets considerably tougher.
ACC Football: Decade in Review
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.
- Virginia Tech had the best record in ACC conference games this past decade, going 64-20.
- Florida State was #2, albeit significantly behind the Hokies in win total, going 54-29.
- Clemson narrowly edged Georgia Tech for the #3 spot, with a 51-31 record.
- Georgia Tech misses out because of that ACC-CG appearance last year to finish #4 at 51-32.
- Miami comes in at #5 with a 44-35 overall record.
- 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.
- North Carolina & Virginia tie at 35-45.
- see above.
- Wake Forest went 35-46.
- North Carolina State went 34-46.
- Maryland went 33-47.
- 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?
Ranking the ACC-B1G Challenge Games
The ACC-B1G Challenge games were announced a few days ago. After looking to see who your school played, the next thought was probably to check out whether any other games were intriguing. And there are several. So let’s just go ahead and rank them for interest.
Gold Medal Games:
1. North Carolina @ Michigan State. Tom Izzo v Roy Williams. That’s a lot of Final Four appearances. MSU always reloads, and North Carolina never stays quiet for long. This one should be a battle in Breslin.
2. Michigan @ Duke. Both teams had good seasons in 2012-2013, with Michigan exceeding expectations by making a run to the title game. Both have a lot of production to replace. Will be a great game though.
3. Indiana @ Syracuse. A rematch of a March Madness game that went for the Orange. A lot of new faces in 2013-2014, but a lot of star power will be back and new to both campuses.
4. Wisconsin @ Virginia. The first one to 40 wins? Don’t expect a lot of points in this one. But this is still a darn good matchup.
Silver Medal Games:
5. Notre Dame @ Iowa. Any time ANY Fighting Irish team comes to town, it is a big deal. A nice regional battle too.
6. Penn State @ Pittsburgh. A battle for Pennsylvania. This one should be close too–Penn State has experience coming back.
7. Miami @ Nebraska. The Hurricanes invested in their program by hiring a dynamic coach. Nebraska is investing in its facilities. A better game on the gridiron, but one to keep an eye on anyway.
8. Florida State @ Minnesota. Both teams fell short of expectations last year. A lot of new faces.
Bronze Medal Games:
9. Northwestern @ North Carolina State. This game might be underrated at #9. But until the Wildcats make a Big Dance, it is hard to take them seriously on the hardcourt.
10. Illinois @ Georgia Tech. Still waiting for that Georgia Tech team to turn the corner. Illinois fans may feel the same way.
11. Boston College @ Purdue. Not exactly the old Patriots-Colts battles featuring Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. It is what it is.
12. Maryland @ Ohio State. Big 10 fans will be rooting for Ohio State. ACC fans will be rooting for Ohio State. Not much of a “challenge.”
Participation Ribbons:
Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest are left out of the challenge. We’ll give them participation ribbons even though they are not, obviously, participating.
ACC-Big 10 Challenge Schedule
Listening to ESPN Radio on the way home from work and heard that the schedule for next season’s ACC-Big 10 Challenge had been released.
Here’s the lineup:
Tuesday, December 3
Florida State at Minnesota
Illinois at Georgia Tech
Indiana at Syracuse
Michigan at Duke
Notre Dame at Iowa
Penn State at Pittsburgh
Wednesday, December 4
Boston College at Purdue
Maryland at Ohio State
Miami, FL at Nebraska
North Carolina at Michigan State
Northwestern at North Carolina State
Wisconsin at Virginia
Admittedly NC State does not have the most attractive draw. This is only right after the debacle of 2012/13; however I do believe the coming year will see a less star-laden but more focused Pack. Meaning, of course, this game is winnable, especially at Raleigh.
However there are some great matchups here. Duke/Michigan and UNC/Michigan State, of course, but also the Battle of Pennsylvania, Pitt/Penn State; Syracuse/Indiana looks huge; and the first Challenge appearance of the Irish, Notre Dame/Iowa.
There is even a game in which I might end up rooting for the B1G team; er, go Buckeyes?
Notre Dame’s ACC Football Schedule Announced
Several months ago, the ACC and Notre Dame announced a football partnership, with Notre Dame agreeing to play 5 games against ACC opponents each year. With these games set to begin in 2014, the parties have now announced the games that will be played during the first three years.
Without further ado, here is the schedule for the first three years:
2014
Notre Dame at Florida State
Louisville at Notre Dame
North Carolina at Notre Dame
Notre Dame at Syracuse
Wake Forest at Notre Dame
2015
Boston College at Notre Dame
Notre Dame at Clemson
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Notre Dame at Virginia
2016
Duke at Notre Dame
Miami at Notre Dame
Notre Dame at NC State
Notre Dame at Syracuse
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame
All those who thought Syracuse would be the team to get two games with Notre Dame in the first three-year period, raise your hands! Of course, Syracuse had games slated for all three years, so it was a logical plan to keep in place.
Notably, Notre Dame visits three of the more football-oriented programs each year, with trips to Florida State, Clemson, and North Carolina State scheduled. The following three years will involve travels to Louisville, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Miami.
On Thursday, Notre Dame announced an extension of its television deal with NBC. The ten-year extension is reported to be worth $15 million a year.
ACC Tournament Begins Tomorrow!
The out-of-conference games are done. Season 1 complete. The regular season conference games are done. Season 2 is complete. Now the college basketball world heads into Season 3: the Conference tournaments. For the ACC, the tournament kicks off tomorrow with four very good games.
Here is the complete schedule, courtesy of the Bleacher Report:
Tournament Schedule & TV Information
Thursday, March 14 (First Round)
Game 1: No. 8 Boston College vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 2: No. 5 NC State vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech, 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 3: No. 7 Maryland vs. No. 10 Wake Forest, 7 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Game 4: No. 6 Florida State vs. No. 11 Clemson, 9 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Friday, March 15 (Second Round)
Game 5: No. 1 Miami vs. Game 1 Winner, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 6: No. 4 Virginia vs. Game 2 Winner, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 7: No. 2 Duke vs. Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Game 8: No. 3 North Carolina vs. Game 4 Winner, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 16 (Semifinals)
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 3 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
Sunday, March 17 (Finals)
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN/ACC Network)
The big games to watch on Thursday are the Maryland-Wake Forest and North Carolina State-Virginia Tech games. Maryland is squarely on the bubble. There is no room for a loss against the Demon Deacons. North Carolina State is likely on the right side of the bubble. But one never knows just how at-large spots will be open. The Wolfpack are probably safe, but every year there is a surprise or two. It’s best to remove all doubt when you get the chance to.
The Case for Navy to the ACC
Look, nobody knows what is going on with the rumors regarding teams leaving the ACC. Depending on where you choose to read, the ACC may be extremely strong right now or extremely vulnerable. The Confidential remains of the opinion that the absence of a grant of rights deal confirms that the Conference is at least somewhat vulnerable. But, assuming it is not, there is still the issue of Notre Dame’s partial membership. While the Confidential understands the lure of Connecticut and Cincinnati, and maybe even Temple, the Confidential would also like to make the case for Navy as the 16th school.
First, Navy could be considered in the same exact format as Notre Dame–a partial football schedule, with membership in the remaining sports. Perhaps Notre Dame and Navy could split one share of the revenue somehow unless/until full football membership was resolved.
Picture this for divisions, with cross-over above/below:
Atlantic: Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, Wake Forest
Coastal: Navy, Florida State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, NC State
If ND and Navy could commit to the 7 division games, plus an 8th game between the two teams, this should make everyone happy and wealthier. ND would still have 4 more games to spread among its OOC foes, such as USC and various Big 10 schools. And the ACC Championship game could include Notre Dame.
Frankly, Navy has not been that bad in football anyway. Credit Paul Johnson for putting them back on the map. They are not a pushover.
Or, if ND/Navy are reluctant to go that high in terms of # of games, just keep them in parentheses… playing 5 games, plus the 6th game with each other.
Those divisions still work for hoops too.
Second, Navy is a fine academic institution. There is no downgrade there.
Third, Navy has a lacrosse team, which would give the ACC its 6th lacrosse-playing school.
Fourth, Navy is located in the very place vacated by Maryland. While Navy does not have the local following that Maryland does, it certainly has the national following.
Fifth, while its basketball team will always be undermanned, is that the worst thing for the conference? There is already plenty of competition to get to the Big Dance. And if Navy ever DID make it… they would have the whole country rooting for them. Needless to say, Navy has not done well outside of the David Robinson era anyway. So it’s no loss for the institution.
Finally, this keeps the UConn/Cincinnati debate alive should the ACC suffer additional losses. It is likely that future expansion will be in pairs. So adding those two teams together remains possible for backfill purposes.
What do you think? Why yes or no?
Is ESPN’s Greed Causing it to Lose Profit?
Frank the Tank has a new article up on the Catholic 7′s new television deal showing that basketball has more value in expansion than previously thought. The Confidential does not disagree. However, with Fox offering big money for a basketball-only product–and taking that product away from ESPN–it is just the latest example of ESPN’s greed causing it to lose profit. What this also shows is that ESPN made a killing off its undervalued contract with the Big East and is making another killing off of the ACC contract.
Think about it. If the Catholic 7 collectively have a fair market value of $3M apiece–that is $21M right there. TCU, Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Louisville have values of approximately $18M apiece–given that they were accepted into conferences that needed roughly that (more for TCU/Rutgers/WVU) to break even. So that is $108M. Figure ND is worth $6M for its non-football stuff… that is $135M ($21M + $108 + $6M). And then you still have UConn, USF, and Cincinnati. Even at $25M total for the three schools, that is $160M.
For that collection of schools, ESPN offered $11M per football school–or $99M/year. With the hoops schools getting a few million apiece, that is another $20M tops. So $120M. $40M less than what the schools ultimately proved to be worth individually. At the very least.
In the end, ESPN ends up with UConn, USF, Cincinnati, and fodder. So much for that extra value. By trying to profit as much as possible off the Big East, ESPN ended up losing most of it.
Sort of. Some of it went to the ACC, which is also under ESPN’s control.
For now.
Regardless of the veracity of any rumors, there are vultures circling the ACC to see IF it is a carcass.
So the interesting issue is whether ESPN will lose its ACC golden goose also. Viewed separately, all but a handful of ACC schools are desired by the Big XII, SEC, and Big 10. Viewed conservatively, BC, Pitt, Syracuse, and Wake Forest are “stuck” in the ACC. An argument could be made that BC, Pitt, and Syracuse might have value to the Big XII as part of a NE wing with WVU. Interesting thought. But let’s assume not. If conferences making $20M/year (minimum) can find a revenue BOOST in adding the other 10 ACC schools, that must mean that those schools are worth at least $22M apiece or $220M. Assuming the remaining 4 are worth $11M apiece (50%), that is $264M total. Minimum. It is probably much higher.
Well, ESPN is paying an average of $240M per year. Less extra profit than with the Big East, but still a nice 10% premium above the bare minimum numbers discussed above.
The question this time is whether ESPN will allow the ACC–in its current form–to walk out the door. For every ACC school that leaves for somewhere other than the SEC, ESPN becomes less relevant and Fox becomes more relevant on the college sports scene. At some point, ESPN has to protect its place in the college sports game. It wants to start an SEC Network, not become the SEC Network. Right? But, given what has happened at many major corporations, one can never underestimate the stupidity of an organization. 10 years from now ESPN’s college programming might be down to the SEC and 10 different shows where reporters yell at each other about college sports. Or ESPN could end up overbidding on the Big XII or Big 10 because they put themselves into a desperate situation. Who knows?
But it does seem like ESPN could save itself a lot of trouble by locking up the ACC. That gives the network good football and great basketball. Programming from September to March. At the very least, something to keep it on pace with Fox.
Syracuse, Notre Dame, Pitt, and Louisville fans… get your Big East Conference Tournament tickets here:
Big East Basketball Tournament – All Sessions
ACC fans, get your tournament tickets here:
ACC Basketball Tournament – All Sessions
The 2013 Greg Schiano Pansiness In Scheduling Award for the ACC
Nobody rode the coattails of weak scheduling any farther than Greg Schiano. As noted here previously, Rutgers rise to mediocrity was accompanied by a rather obvious shift to absolutely putrid OOC scheduling. Well, it worked…as Rutgers is now in the Big 10 and Schiano is now in the NFL. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the OOC schedules for the ACC teams. In the spirit of the Oscars, who gets the Greg Schiano award for the ACC in 2013?
First, let’s look at the OOC schedules (courtesy of http://www.theacc.com):
- Boston College: Villanova, @ USC, Army, @ New Mexico State
- Clemson: Georgia, South Carolina State, The Citadel, @ South Carolina
- Duke: North Carolina Central, @ Memphis, Troy, Navy
- Florida State: Nevada, Bethune-Cookman, Idaho, @ Florida
- Georgia Tech: Elon, @ BYU, Alabama A&M, Georgia
- Maryland: Florida Int’l, Old Dominion, @ UConn, West Virginia
- Miami: Florida Atlantic, Florida, Savannah State, @ USF
- North Carolina: @ South Carolina, Middle Tennessee, East Carolina, Old Dominion
- NC State: Louisiana Tech, Richmond, Central Michigan, East Carolina
- Pittsburgh: New Mexico, Old Dominion, @ Navy, Notre Dame
- Syracuse: Penn State (Neutral site), @ Northwestern, Wagner, Tulane
- Virginia: BYU, Oregon, VMI, Ball State
- Va Tech: Alabama (Neutral site), Western Carolina, @ East Carolina, Marshall
- Wake Forest: Presbyterian, Louisiana-Monroe, @Army, @ Vanderbilt
Old Dominion might have the toughest schedule East of the Mississippi, with games against Maryland, Pitt, and North Carolina. Heck, let’s add them to the conference! Just kidding.
Notably, only a handful of teams play more than one AQ-conference team. Clemson plays Georgia and South Carolina. Maryland plays West Virginia and UConn (kinda, sorta). Miami plays Florida and USF (kinda sorta). Syracuse plays Penn State and Northwestern. So those 4 teams can be eliminated from the Schiano Award.
Virginia Tech plays Alabama, Virginia plays Oregon, Florida State plays Florida, Pitt plays Notre Dame, and Boston College plays Southern Cal. That is five teams that are taking on elite teams, kings of the sport. We can eliminate them too. That leaves but 5.
Georgia and Southern Carolina may or may not be Kings, but they are darn goods teams. We can eliminate North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Down to 3 teams.
Wake Forest plays @ Vanderbilt and @ Army. Two road OOC games against decent programs. Heck, Greg Schiano would not have scheduled a road game against Vandy in the same year as a road trip to Army, so we’ll eliminate the Demon Deacons. Down to 2.
The two finalists are Duke and North Carolina State. Duke’s toughest game is either Navy or @ Memphis. Yep… one of the worst teams in all of FBS may be Duke’s “toughest” game. For North Carolina State, home games against Louisiana Tech and East Carolina are the choices. Wait a minute… North Carolina State is not even going on the road at all! Four home games and zero games against any BCS-level programs? Methinks we have a winner here.
The 2013 Greg Schiano Pansiness in Schedule Award for the ACC goes to… the North Carolina State Wolfpack!
