The Confidential

The ACC Sports Blog

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27 Oct 2011
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NCAA Rules Changes

The NCAA has approved some rather radical changes to its rules.

First, the NCAA has allowed schools the ability to add $2,000 to a scholarship.  This would help prevent student-athletes from having a shortfall between the cost of attending a school and what the school is allowed to pride.

The Confidential believes that this rule is long overdue.  For the most part, student-athletes are not allowed to earn income.  That’s a pretty unfortunate Catch-22… money needed, but no ability to earn money.  While some student-athletes have parents that can make up the gap, many other student-athletes do not.  Moreover, $40/week is hardly going to lead to craziness.  I think this is a great move.  Granted, this will not stop boosters from abusing the system.  But I have to figure that having a little spending money has to have some positive impact on temptation.  We’ll give the NCAA an A.

Also, it is noted that the NCAA hopes that this rule will be adopted on a conference-by-conference basis.  The Mac could vote to make it $500.  The Sun Belt could opt against it.  It is certainly expect that the wealthier conferences will not hesitate to take advantage of this.  This will likely lead to a further gap between the AQ schools and the non-AQ schools.  But conferring this benefit on student-athletes, which will remedy a present unfairness, is worth that risk.

Second, individual schools can choose to award multiyear scholarships, which may not be revoked based on performance.  The Confidential is less sure about this one.  For one, who decides what “revoked based on performance” means?  If a kid with an attitude problem does not perform well, he could rather easily be dismissed from the team for “improper conduct.”  That same conduct with a star could be ignored.  I tend to think this will lead to litigation.

That being said, the absence of multiyear scholarships is absurd.  A student-athlete is punished for transferring.  However, a university can revoke a scholarship at will.  And that usually occurs to allow a better player to have the scholarship.  That is patently unfair.  It sends the wrong message.  Also, I think this rule will also work against the AQ schools in recruiting.  If a Houston can offer a student a 4-year scholarship, but Texas Tech will only offer a 1-year scholarship, this may offset any differences regarding stipends.  This is a benefit to the true student-athletes.  All in all, it is hard to quibble with the rule change.  We’ll give the NCAA a B+.

Third, there will now be a rule that schools that fail to meet the Academic Progress Rate benchmark will be ineligible for playoffs, tournaments, and bowl games.  The devil is in the details.  The 4-year phase in is helpful.   There is going to be some pain here.  The Confidential needs to see how this gets implemented before giving it anything more than a C.  The fear is that this will punish schools whose players leave through no fault of the school.  On the other hand, it does emphasize recruiting players who are going to at least do the minimum as students.

Fourth, incoming freshmen will now need a 2.3 GPA, rather than 2.0 GPA.   The Confidential gives this a D.   The difference between 2.3 and 2.0 is meaningless.  Grades vary.  Integrity in grading varies.  The Confidential would rather see the schools create programs to bring the student-athletes with subpar academics UP to par, rather than just exclude them.

Finally, there were some rule changes regarding basketball recruiting activity periods and types of contact.  Again, while attempting to correct problems with recruiting, it remains to be seen whether this will just lead to new problems.  This deserves an incomplete.

In sum, The Confidential gives the NCAA rules an aggregate grade point average of 2.58.   Not exactly demonstrating a good example…

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized and tagged
27 Oct 2011

Big Tests This Saturday

There are a number of interesting games this Saturday.

College football is about having elite teams.  Having a 9-3 conference champion may show that your league has parity, but the nation only cares about the undefeated teams.  Clemson has a chance of reaching that elite status this year, which would be huge for the ACC.  This week, Clemson will be tested by Georgia Tech.  While the Yellow Jackets are reeling right now, they are a formidable foe.  The league would benefit from having Clemson win this game.  And win out until the conference championship game.

In the 1990’s, Florida State could be counted on for 10 and 11 win seasons.  Now?  Not so much.  A game against North Carolina State is the type of game that the old Florida State would handle. The ACC needs Florida State to return to elite status.  Losing a game like this is another step in the wrong direction.

Wake Forest has been a surprise team this year.  After narrowly losing to Syracuse in the opener, Wake Forest has acquitted itself well this year.  North Carolina did well out-of-conference, but has struggled within the conference.  This should be a great matchup.

Boston College v Maryland is not a good game because of the prowess of the two schools.  But it may represent Boston College’s best chance of winning a conference game this year.  Recall that Maryland lost to Temple.  And it was not even close.

Virginia Tech gets Duke.  Duke is improved this year, so Virginia Tech has to be careful.  The Hokies’ can occasionally be vulnerable in games that the rest of the country considers “easy wins.”

After losing to Maryland in the opener, Miami has done reasonably well this year.  The ACC needs Miami to step up and win the winnable games.  While Virginia is on the upswing, the ACC needs its elite programs to return to prominence.

For the new members, Syracuse heads to Louisville this week.  For ACC fans, the rooting interest is easy.  A return to national respectability for Syracuse will help the conference.

And congrats to Pitt for beating UConn in a rare Wednesday night game.  I am sure Pitt will not miss having to play midweek games.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
26 Oct 2011
3 Comments

The Notre Dame Elephant

The proverbial elephant in the conference realignment room remains: Notre Dame.  If Notre Dame says it is ready to join a conference, you can expect the Big 10 and the ACC to start recruiting.  Notre Dame to the conferences is like Lebron James times Sid Crosby to the power of Peyton Manning.  The reasons why the Big 10 and the ACC would want Notre Dame do not need to be listed.

But why would Notre Dame consider the ACC?

Well, we all know that Notre Dame is not on the Atlantic Coast.  Or near it.  Or near ANY coast for that matter.  So there is a poor geographic fit, compared to the Big 10.

Also, Notre Dame has a history of playing the nearby Big 10 schools, especially Michigan, Michigan St. and Purdue.  And the ACC cannot match the Big 10 and its lucrative Big 10 network dollar-for-dollar.

However, contrary to the opinions of your garden-variety Internet troll, Notre Dame is not all about the money.  Notre Dame is all about its football independence.  Notre Dame’s NBC contract allows it to remain independent.  They would get a a raise jumping to the Big 10.  But that would compromise football independence.

Why does Notre Dame care about football independence?  Because it sees itself as a national school.  They want to be seen in the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and West.  Their main rival is USC–a home and home between California and South Bend.  They are going to play Navy every year.  A game that gives them some visibility in the mid-Atlantic.  They want games in New York City, as evidenced by agreements to play Army and Syracuse in that market.  They will gladly play against Boston College, Stanford, Texas, Georgia Tech,  and Miami.  When you are not confined to a conference schedule, you have the freedom to play a unique schedule every year.  This is HUGE.  It is huge for the alumni.  It is huge for recruiting.  It is Notre Dame.

This is also a strength of the ACC.  The ACC stretches from Boston to Miami.  Notre Dame’s home games cover the Midwest.  It’s away games could include, in any season, trips to Boston, New York City (Syracuse or UConn or Rutgers), the DC area, the Carolinas, Atlanta, and Florida.  That is quite a stretch of real estate.  Throw in a game against USC in California and you’ve got the West coast.  Perhaps when home against USC, Notre Dame could schedule the Navy game for San Diego or play Stanford or Washington.   They already have Texas on the OOC slate.

In the Big 10, Notre Dame would get its 6 or 7 home games, with perhaps only Penn State representing an opportunity to get East Coast viewership.  The addition of Rutgers with Notre Dame would help.  But that is still 9 or 10 games with a Midwest focus.  I have to give the edge to the ACC.

Academically, both the Big 10 and ACC are excellent.  The Big 10 is primarily state schools that focus on research.  The Notre Dame philosophy is closer to Syracuse in that regard than Northwestern (who does several times more research than Notre Dame or Syracuse).  Plus, an ACC with Notre Dame would have several private schools.  The fit is there for Notre Dame.

Nobody knows if or when Notre Dame will join any conference, much less the ACC.  But the ACC has a very real chance of landing Notre Dame someday…

Posted by acaffrey in Conference Realignment and tagged , , , , , ,
26 Oct 2011
1 Comment

As Lee Corso would say… “NOT SO FAST” West Virginia…

Apparently, West Virginia to the Big XII has hit a snag.  According to ESPN:

West Virginia has been notified by the Big 12 Conference that its expansion process is on hold, a school source told ESPN’s Joe Schad on Wednesday.

The Big 12 is waiting on Missouri formally to withdraw from the conference and that there has been some late “hard lobbying” by Louisville for Big 12 inclusion, the source told Schad.

Interestingly, it looks like politics is becoming a factor, as Kentucky’s politicians are getting involved.   This conference realignment stuff has always been very heated.

The ACC knows firsthand about this.  Recall the expansion efforts to include Syracuse and Boston College that were derailed (temporarily in both cases) when Virginia politics got involved.

This could get ugly.

Posted by acaffrey in Conference Realignment and tagged , , ,
26 Oct 2011
2 Comments

ACC Football Rankings

This is particularly complex with Pitt and Syracuse not yet in the ACC, but it can still be done.  Here is how we view the ACC football schools as of October 26, 2011:

1.  Clemson–hard to argue with 8-0.

2. Virginia Tech—  again, hard to argue with 7-1.

3. Miami–the Kansas St. loss looks more impressive with every week.  The win over Georgia Tech makes this an easy selection for #3.

4.  Georgia Tech— this starts to get more difficult.  The losses to Virginia and, to a lesser extent, Miami cause some concern.  But with games against #1 and #2 coming up, we’ll find out real soon whether this team was a mirage.

5.  Syracuse– Fresh off the win over previously ranked West Virginia, and coupled with an early season win over Wake Forest, I’ll give the Orange the nod here.

6.  Wake Forest– That season opening loss to Syracuse looks better now, but the win over Florida State is key here.

7.  Florida State–  The most impressive wins are Duke and Virginia.  This is not your father’s Florida State team.

8.  North Carolina State– The loss to Cincinnati is looking more justifiable now.  At some point, this team needs an upset though.

9.  North Carolina– With a win over Rutgers and a win over Virginia, we’ll discount the three losses to teams at the top of these standings.

10. Virginia– The win over Georgia Tech may say more about Georgia Tech fizzling, but it is the best win among the remaining teams.

11. Maryland– This gets REALLY tough down here.  Maryland did beat a rattled Miami team Week 1.  They also rallied against West Virginia.  Grasping at straws at this point.

12. Pittsburgh— Pitt has played a tough-ish schedule, so we’ll give them the nod here.  The win over South Florida is now looking less impressive though.

13. Duke— Overcoming a loss to Richmond is progress.  The win over Boston College certainly helps.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Blue Devils though.  Hard to see them leapfrogging anyone.

14. Boston College– The anti-Clemson.  No wins over a FBS school yet.  Ugh.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
25 Oct 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to the Atlantic Coast Confidential–a conference about the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

Do not let the name discourage you, we’ll let you read these tidbits about basketball, football, lacrosse, and anything else that is of interest to fans of the various schools in the ACC.

And that includes the newbies, Syracuse and Pittsburgh!  We are not sure when they will join, but they are part of the ACC now, so they deserve the coverage.

So whether you color yourself a Blue Devil, an Orange, or a Yellow Jacket … whether you are an Eagle, a Hokie, a Terrapin, Tiger, a Panther, or part of the Wolfpack… whether you are a Cavalier, a Demon Deacon, a Seminole, or a Tarheel… and whether you are a Hurricane… stay tuned.

This is THE source you need.

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
25 Oct 2011

West Virginia to the Big XII?

Nobody can call this a surprise.  I have never quite understood why the Big XII would select Louisville–a relative newcomer to competitive football–over a school with the history of West Virginia. West Virginia has equivalent academics, an entire state fanbase with no real competition, good basketball, and football on a level to compete with anyone (except Syracuse, apparently).

The disappointing thing is that I am sure that Syracuse and Pitt would have loved to see West Virginia join Notre Dame in moving the ACC to 16 teams someday.  While West Virginia’s academics are subpar, Notre Dame would make up for that.  Plus, it is not hard to salivate over a conference division like this:

  • North: BC, Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, ND, Virginia, Va Tech, and Maryland
  • South: Duke, NC, Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson, Ga Tech, FSU, and Miami.

That surely would have made FSU and Clemson happy.  A strong commitment to football. The single greatest threat to the ACC is either (a) the Big Ten wooing Maryland or Va Tech; or (b) the SEC wooing Florida State or Va Tech.  Anything that can keep the football powers (historically, if not recently) happy is good for the entire conference.  While Rutgers may have superior academics and UConn has superior basketball, it is West Virginia that is best suited to placate the football schools.

Of course, Notre Dame has not let out any suggestion that it is ready to give up treasured football independence.  If they are even a few steps away from considering a conference affiliation for football, it is being done entirely behind the scenes. It sure does not seem imminent.

And… it would be naive to think that West Virginia to the Big XII would be permanent.  As long as Texas and Oklahoma have wandering eyes, that conference will always be the least stable conference not named the Big East.  So the ND/WVU dream scenario can always resume in 2018 or 2025 or whenever.

Posted by acaffrey in Conference Realignment and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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