The Confidential

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29 Aug 2012

ACC Football Predictions for Week 1

The Confidential’s football predictions for this week’s games featuring ACC teams:

August 31, 2012

Tennessee vs. NC State (in Atlanta), 7:30 p.m. This is a great opening week game.  A neutral site.  Two teams that may or may not be ready to take the next step.  It’s a classic coin toss.  We’ll go “homer” on this ontoe.  Prediction: North Carolina State 28, Tennessee 20.

September 1, 2012

Northwestern at Syracuse, 12 p.m.  With all the ESPN employees that graduated from these two schools, you have to figure this will be a big gambling week in Bristol.  But this one is even more of a coin toss than Tennessee/NC State.  This Syracuse team could be 3-9 or 9-3.  Homer on the “coin toss’ again.  Prediction: Syracuse 30, Northwestern 20.

Elon at North Carolina, 12:30 p.m.  A new season dawns for the Tar Heels and new coach Larry Fedora.  There is too much talent left over for Elon to remain competitive.  Prediction: North Carolina 45, Elon 10.

William & Mary at Maryland, 3 p.m. Maryland started last year 1-0, before disaster struck.  They cannot start 0-1 this year.  Despite some offensive growing pains in the first half, they will not.  Prediction: Maryland 24,William & Mary 9.

Richmond at Virginia, 3 p.m.  Virginia head coach Mike London knows that Richmond is capable of winning.  So this game will not have any concerns about looking past an FCS foe.  Still, Virginia has too much talent to lose.  Prediction: Virginia 31, Richmond 17.

Miami at Boston College, 3:30 p.m.  Both teams really need to win this opener.  While Boston College closed strong, the Confidential has a lot of faith in Al Golden.  Prediction: Miami 21, Boston College 12.

Murray State at No. 7 Florida State. 6 p.m.  Florida State is going to be great this year.  It has been written everywhere.  This experienced, talented team will destroy Murray State.  Prediction: Florida State 45, Murray State 10.

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh. 6 p.m.  Pitt should have no trouble with Youngstown State.  But that does not mean that they will not, especially with the injuries.  Prediction: Pitt 27, Youngstown State 13.

Liberty at Wake Forest, 6:30 p.m.  Wake Forest had a tough loss in the opener last year, but will avoid that this year against an FCS foe.  Wake has a chance to make some real noise this year too.  Prediction: Wake Forest 31, Liberty 14.

FIU at Duke, 7 p.m.  This is a tough game to call.  Duke should be improved, but FIU is no slouch.  This just seems like an upset waiting to happen.  Prediction: FIU 24, Duke 20.

Auburn vs. No. 14 Clemson (in Atlanta), 7 p.m.  In another Atlanta-based, SEC-ACC battle, Clemson gets a chance to move past the disappointing finish of last year by defeating a sound SEC program.  Even without Sammy Watkins, the Confidential likes Clemson to do that.  Prediction: Clemson 31, Auburn 23.

September 3, 2012

Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech, 8 p.m. Virginia Tech is capable of losing to anyone in September.  Georgia Tech is a very tough foe.  But Virginia Tech’s defense will rise to the occasion.  Prediction: Virginia Tech 24, Georgia Tech 20.

The Confidential apologizes in advance for not picking your team.  There is also a lot of chalk here.  However, predictions are made to be accurate, not controversial.  Feel free to share why we are wrong. 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Predictions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
27 Aug 2012

The Confidential ACC Football Rankings (Week # 1)

With the football season a mere three days away, the time has come for the Confidential’s First Football Rankings.  As with last year, Syracuse and Pitt will be included in these rankings.  Here they are:

  1. Florida State: It’s put up or shut up time for Florida State.  Well, not really.  After all, the Big XII may be crossing its fingers when it says it is not interested in expansion.
  2. Virginia Tech:  Until someone proves otherwise, you might as well pencil in Virginia Tech every year for the conference championship game.
  3. Clemson: After a long off-season trying to forget about the Orange Bowl, the Tigers get to take it out on an opponent.  Unfortunately, it’s not a cupcake–it’s Auburn.
  4. Virginia:  Virginia hopes to maintain the momentum it regained last year.  Need to care of business against FCS Richmond.
  5. North Carolina State: A win against Tennessee, even if the SEC foe is down, would be a great start.  The ACC needs wins like this.
  6. Georgia Tech: It’s hard to predict a win over Virginia Tech in the opener, but Virginia Tech can be vulnerable early in the season.  Ask James Madison. Well, not the former President.
  7. North Carolina: Elon?  Ugh.  Enjoy that game.
  8. Pittsburgh: Because of WVU leaving the Big East, Pitt has two games against FCS foes.  First up… Youngstown State.
  9. Wake Forest: After the disappointing opener loss at Syracuse last year, Wake gets an easier foe in Liberty.  Should start 1-0 obviously.
  10. Miami: Boston College is a tough opener.  At least Miami will not have to deal with all the suspensions like last year.
  11. Syracuse: With Syracuse’s schedule, they pretty much NEED to win against a good Northwestern team.  We’ll see.
  12. Boston College: BC went 0-6 against FBS foes to start last year.  A win over Miami would be a great way to start this year out.
  13. Duke: Florida International may not be a strong team, but Duke has no business looking past anyone.
  14. Maryland: If Maryland is going to turn it around, they absolutely cannot lose to William & Mary.  Last year they opened with a win and the season imploded.

This will get all mixed up soon enough.  Let the games begin….

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
25 Aug 2012

Week 1 Preview: Do Maryland, Syracuse, Duke, BC, and Wake Forest Have Legit Bowl Chances?

I hope you had your fill of summer because it is about to come to an abrupt stop.  Sure, there is plenty of nice weather in September.  But it is also the time of year that your football team–even the Washington States and Dukes and Mississippis–are still alive for a bowl game.  After all, it takes six losses before a team is ineligible for bowl and even that is perhaps going to be loosened up.  So nobody gets eliminated in September.  So… with Week 1 of College Football JUST around the corner, here is a look at what the bottom 5 teams (excluding teams that are automatically ineligible–North Carolina and likely Miami) in the ACC have to do to become bowl eligible this year.

The Confidential does not care what any outsider thinks, the ACC is going to be fairly strong this year.  The weakest teams in the conference–as per the Confidential’s pre-preseason rankings–all have a conceivable shot of making a bowl game this year.  Consider:

  • MARYLAND.  Maryland was abysmal last year.  The new coach, Randy Edsall, decided to ignore what has failed for many new coaches by running players out of the program and blowing things up completely.  As we saw with RichRod in Michigan, one has to be very careful when dismantling and rebuilding.  Edsall permanently lost some of the fan base last year.  Winning 10 games over 3 seasons will mean no 4th season.  The good news is that Maryland has a tough OOC schedule, but one that was perfectly designed, in the Confidential’s opinion.  Maryland opens with FCS William and Mary.  They then move up to play Temple, before moving up one more step to UConn.  Those are three winnable games.  West Virginia is probably a loss most seasons and should be this year.  Wake Forest is at home–winnable #4.  Boston College is away, but that has to be a winnable game for #5.  Now all Maryland needs is to steal a game from the group of North Carolina, North Carolina State, and the even tougher portion of the slate.  With 5 “winnable games,” a 6-win season is not at all impossible.  Likely?  Nah.  But possible.
  • DUKE.  Unlike Maryland, Duke slated its toughest OOC game for Week #2, with Stanford.  But this is a post-Luck, post-Harbaugh Stanford team.  Still, that has to be considered a loss.  Nevertheless, with Memphis, North Carolina Central, and Florida International filling up the OOC slate, a 3-1 OOC record is very reasonable.  Finding the next three wins for Duke is a challenge though.  The best chances are Wake Forest (even if on the road) and the sanctions-laden North Carolina and Miami games.  Both of those games are at home.  It’s possible.
  • BOSTON COLLEGE.  Boston College will be better than last year, but will it translate into victories?  BC opens with Miami at home.  Who knows the mindset of Miami.  But it’s a possible win.  Maine is next, which should be a win.  Northwestern on the road will be tough, especially if Northwestern loses its season opener to Syracuse and is desperate.  Still, Northwestern’s small stadium is not imposing.  It’s winnable.  The Game 5 road game against Army is a winnable game, obviously.  Maryland visits in October, which is yet another winnable game.  Finding the next two is a bit tougher.  Wake Forest is a road game, but still a possibility.  That still leaves a home game against Notre Dame and a road game against North Carolina State.  Bowl eligibility is within reach if Boston College can not only meet its potential, but exceed it.
  • SYRACUSE.  Poor Syracuse.  They have a 5th-year Senior quarterback, but inexperience at running back and the continued trend of underwhelming wide receivers.  The defense will have one more year of experience, but lost two guys to the NFL.  But what really makes this a tough season is the daunting OOC schedule.  As previously noted, Syracuse is doing all but scheduling NFL teams this year, with USC, Missouri, and Northwestern on the slate.  Minnesota is a battle tested BCS program, while even FCS foe Stony Brook is primed to repeat its college baseball run.  In order to go to a bowl, Syracuse HAS to beat Northwestern, Minnesota, and Stony Brook.  Even then, Syracuse has struggled so much in  conference games since firing Paul Pasqualoni, it is hard to envision going 3-4 in conference.  But if they do, the wins will likely come on the road against Rutgers, at home against UConn, and on the road at Temple.  About the only good thing is that Syracuse has been 5-2 each of the past two seasons, before imploding due to lack of depth.  If Syracuse can somehow get to 5-2 this year, all they will have to do is beat Temple.  We’ll see.
  • WAKE FOREST.  Notably, all of the current ACC teams above are looking at Wake Forest as a necessary win to get to bowl eligibility.  So that’s three winnable games for Wake Forest right there–with only Maryland being a road game.  Wake Forest also has winnable games against Army and Liberty.  And given that Wake Forest has Florida State’s number lately…. well, let’s not go there.  Let’s get win #6 from the group of North Carolina, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina State.  Actually, Wake Forest could end up winning 7-8 games the way the schedule breaks down.

Of these teams, you can feel strongest penciling in Wake Forest for a bowl.  But this is why the week leading up to Week 1 is great.  The injuries (excluding Maryland) still seem manageable.  Nobody has lost a “winnable game” yet.  Even September will retain some enthusiasm.  And for the 5 teams with the toughest roads to bowl-eligibility, there is a path.  Now they just have to go walk it.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Predictions and tagged , , , , , , ,
24 Aug 2012

Nike Uniforms Hit New Low With Georgia Tech’s Alternate Unis

There are few college football fans, and certainly no tradition-respecting fans, that like what the shoe companies are doing to college football uniforms.  From Oregon to Maryland to Notre Dame’s recent abomination, there is apparently some sort of competition to see who can design the worst-looking uniform.  As Frank the Tank described Notre Dame’s unis, “This is what happens when Ed Hardy and a leprechaun have a love child. These uniforms might only be used for one night, but that one night can cause a lifetime of nightmares a la Bjork.”  Well, Frank the Tank, it’s game over.  Just look at the travesty that Georgia Tech is going to roll out as its alternate uniform for its game against Georgia this year.

About the only good thing to say is that Nike is not solely to blame.  These uniforms are the product of a joint effort with Georgia Tech and clothier Joseph A. Banks:

One of Georgia Tech associate athletic directors, who asked to remain anonymous, explained the evolution of these uniforms: “Nike approached us with a few different uniform options, including one that featured antennae on the helmets.  But Nike and Joseph A. Banks were working on a deal to have a certain amount of Nike golf shirts featured in the clothier’s retail outlets.  And somehow they came up with this idea and Mr. Joseph A. Banks himself unveiled the concept.  Yellow Jackets can be taken a lot more literally.  Most importantly, we think that the mock suit look is very appropriate for the genteel, Southern football fan.”

The collaboration between Nike and Joseph A. Banks may be duplicated in the future.  Word is that there are discussions between Adidas, Men’s Warehouse’s Big & Tall Department, and the University of Connecticut on a new uniform for the Big East opener in 2013, much to the delight of Husky fans everywhere.  The Confidential guarantees that you will NOT like the way that they look.  But apparently that’s now the goal with college football uniforms.

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Non-Serious, Sarcasm and tagged , , , ,
22 Aug 2012

Around College Football

With the college football season only 8 days away, the Internet debates and discussions are really starting to heat up.  The Confidential notes that there are some great arguments being tossed around the blogosphere these days.  Please go check out these blogs.

First, Frank the Tank is always sharing something useful.  Today’s blog was about Notre Dame, everyone’s favorite punching bag.  Frank the Tank does a good job providing an objective analysis of Notre Dame and its position in college football.  The Confidential with paraphrase substantially, but the gist is that, even if you hate the Domers, you have to admit that they are doing nothing “wrong.”  They have a contract with NBC and a deal with the BCS that it deserves because that was given to them in arms-length negotiations.  If and when Notre Dame does not deserve these things, they will cease getting them.  So the haters should just go back to rooting for Notre Dame to lose and stop being bothered about Notre Dame’s perks.  The Confidential agrees (and not just because it wants to brown nose Notre Dame until it joins the ACC).

Second, ACC Football Rx has its preseason projections out.  At first, I thought there were a lot of ties for a sport that has an overtime.  But then I realized the formula being used.  Anyway, the website is projecting Florida State and Virginia Tech, which is incredibly hard NOT to do with most ACC seasons.  Anyway, check out the team-by-team analysis too.

Third, poor Maryland is trying to figure out how its angered the football gods, which is obvious given the # of injuries that have befallen the team.  The Friedgen Curse obviously.  As the Confidential commented over there, the football Gods LOVE mediocre coaches.  That is a blog discussion unto itself.

Finally, this an oldie, but a goodie.   A Northwestern blog, Sipping on Purple, had a great analysis of private schools and their football success.  It certainly demonstrates how Northwestern’s performance has been respectable on the field.  And off, unlike superior performing Miami and USC.  The blog does point out that Boston College has had a pretty nice performance run.  Of course, B.C. then went out and stunk up the joint last year.  So, so much for that.  But, with all the private schools in the ACC, this is a good read.

Enjoy!

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Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football and tagged , , ,
21 Aug 2012
2 Comments

Ranking the ACC Out-of-Conference Schedules

The 14 ACC schools certainly have different scheduling philosophies for out-of-conference games.  However, there is not one team that has a truly embarrassing slate, especially relative to the program at issue.  Here is the Confidential’s ranking of teams and the degree of difficulty for their OOC schedules:

Syracuse–USC and Missouri.  That alone puts them atop the list.  Add in Northwestern and Minnesota as two more BCS-level opponents.  Even Stony Brook is a high-level FCS opponent.  Syracuse gets the AC/DC Honorary “Big Balls” Award.

Miami–Kansas State, South Florida and Notre Dame are three high quality opponents.  Only Bethune-Cookman is a sure win.

Florida State–Florida and South Florida are very challenging opponents.  And FSU gets points for being willing to schedule West Virginia, even though that game was cancelled due to West Virginia fleeing the Big East.

Clemson–Auburn and South Carolina are two high-quality OOC opponents also.  Ball State may be tricky too.

Boston College: Notre Dame and Northwestern will be challenges.  Maine is good for an FCS program.  Army may or may not be good.

Virginia–Penn State was supposed to be the key game, but that is now weaker. TCU remains as a very tough opponent though.  Louisiana Tech and Richmond round out the schedule.

Pitt: Virginia Tech and Notre Dame are tough opponents.  Youngstown State and Gardner-Webb mean two FCS opponents.  Buffalo is not an overly difficult game for OOC #5.

Virginia Tech–returned to its Big East roots with games and Pitt and Cincinnati.  The other games are against Bowling Green and Austin Peay.  Meh.

Maryland–West Virginia and UConn, which gives Maryland the edge over NC State.  Temple is not a shabby third OOC game.  William and Mary round out the schedule.

North Carolina State–Tennessee and UConn will be OK opponents, but this is not the Tennessee of the 1990s and UConn did not exist back then.  South Alabama and Citadel are decent for their mid-major/FCS levels, respectively.

Georgia Tech–Georgia is always tough.  Brigham Young may or may not be a challenge, but Middle Tennessee State and Presbyterian are not going to be.

Wake Forest–Notre Dame will be tough, and you can never look past Vanderbilt.  Army and Liberty are also on the schedule.

Duke–Besides Stanford, the Blue Devils play a soft Florida International, Memphis, and North Carolina Central.

North Carolina–Louisville will be good, but Idaho, Elon, and East Carolina are underwhelming.  North Carolina gets the Beck Honorary “Loser” Award for 2012.  [And let’s not talk scandal either.]

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
20 Aug 2012

The Confidential ACC Football Rankings (Week # -1)

With the football season a mere two weeks away, the time has come for the Confidential’s Pre-Preseason Football Rankings.  As with last year, Syracuse and Pitt will be included in these rankings.  In any event, here they are:

  1. Florida State: Sooner or later, the King must be the King.  It has been a long time since the Seminoles were dominant.  Not sure it will happen this year, but they have the inside track for the ACC Championship.
  2. Virginia Tech:  While Miami and Florida State have been the ACC Kings, it is Virginia Tech that has carried the ACC most seasons since the realignment.  The Hokies slide above Clemson due to divisional differences.
  3. Clemson: The first thing Clemson needs to do is forget about the late-season collapse.  The second thing it needs to do is look at all the talent on both sides of the ball.  It’s going to be fun.  Don’t count the Tigers out.
  4. Virginia:  The Confidential likes what happened with Virginia last year and envisions the team building off that success.  It is amazing what a good coaching hire can do to rejuvenate a program.  That Penn State game looks a lot less daunting right now too.
  5. North Carolina State: The Wolfpack have a fairly talented crew returning.  The difficulty of the schedule is questionable.  Tennessee and UConn could go either way.
  6. Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets open the season with Virginia Tech.  If the Tech battle goes Ga Tech’s way, this #6 ranking will be low.
  7. North Carolina: The OOC game against Louisville will be tough, especially on the road.  But Elon, Idaho, and East Carolina is not too tough for the remainder of the slate.
  8. Pittsburgh: Every year, the Panthers seem ready to make a run.  Every year they do not.  So, it is #8 for Pitt until they capitalize on potential.
  9. Wake Forest: Not sure where Wake Forest is going with this OOC slate.  Anything from 1-3 to 3-1 is possible with Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Army, and Liberty.  Pencil in a win over Florida state though.
  10. Miami: A reasonably challenging OOC slate with USF, Notre Dame, and Kansas State.  But Miami gets North Carolina State, Florida State, and Virginia Tech at home.
  11. Syracuse: An insane OOC, with preseason #1 USC, Missouri, Northwestern, and even Minnesota.  Is any other team playing 4 BCS conference teams OOC?  Throw in 4 conference road games and the USC game being home but on a neutral site and this has the makings of a very difficult year.
  12. Boston College: Boston College rallied last year, showing some serious character.  This should pay off in 2013.  Just not quite bowl-ready though.
  13. Duke: Outside of Stanford, Duke’s OOC is very soft.  This #13 ranking may end up being a little low.  But Duke’s going to have to prove it on the field before the Confidential believes.
  14. Maryland: Well, it cannot get WORSE for Randy Edsall, can it?  A tough OOC slate with Temple, UConn, West Virginia and William & Mary?  That’s right… William AND Mary.

The Confidential predicts a Seminoles-Hokies battle for the ACC Championship, with the Seminoles showing the world that they are back.

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Rankings and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
17 Aug 2012
2 Comments

North Carolina Academic Probe: Much Ado About Nothing?

When it comes to academics, it is hard to argue that the Atlantic Coast Conference is second to only the B1G in academic prestige.  On the football field, the ACC teams have had their fair share of NCAA trouble lately, with issues at Miami and North Carolina garnering the most attention.  An academic fraud situation at North Carolina is even more troubling.  Or is it?

The details of the North Carolina academic issue and its status was recently summarized by ESPN as follows:

But as an offshoot of the NCAA investigation, a UNC internal probe found that 54 AFAM [African-American Studies] classes were either “aberrant” or “irregularly” taught from summer 2007 to summer 2011. That included unauthorized grade changes, forged faculty signatures on grade rolls and limited or no class time.

* * *

A four-member UNC Board of Governors panel is reviewing UNC’s original investigation into the AFAM department. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether any computer fraud, forgery or conspiracy to commit those crimes in the AFAM department took place. June’s faculty report called for an independent commission of outside experts in higher education to take a forward-looking review of athletics and academics at the university.

Meanwhile, the NCAA, fresh off imposing sanctions on the football team for non-academic reasons, is going to have an interest in the North Carolina self-study.

The Confidential does not want to defend North Carolina, but this issue seems very overblown.  About half of the students in these easy classes were athletes.  The idea of classes like “Rocks for Jocks”  was invented long before ESPN and billion-dollar TV deals.  Is one easy class REALLY the end of the world?

Frankly, even a non-athlete can obtain a college degree without ever truly challenging himself or herself.  That is part of the beauty of college–you have a lot of freedom to determine what you want to learn.  Some students become engineers or architects and devote massive effort into difficult undergraduate curricula.  Other students (ahem, the Confidential, ahem) choose to take a broader spectrum of classes (i.e. not challenging themselves sufficiently).  But there is always graduate school.  And part of college is the learning that takes place outside the academic corridors.  So taking one or more easy classes is actually quite normal.

The Confidential believes that the fraud issues are certainly worth looking into.  Athletes’ grades should not be changed.  Everyone has an obligation to be ethical.  But if this is just a matter of steering athletes towards easier classes, it needs to just go away.

 

 

 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Scandal and tagged , , , ,
16 Aug 2012
5 Comments

Big East Contract Negotiations and the ACC

Last week, someone on the Internet reported that the Big East is looking to get $14 to $17 million per team per year in television revenue.  Granted, the Big East is in the catbird seat as the next conference up to market itself.  But to think that the current collection of Big East schools could approach what the ACC is getting is shocking, especially after losing Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, and TCU.  If the Big East could land that–and that is a huge IF–what would that mean for the ACC?

First, before we get carried away on what the Big East will get, we should heed the words of Frank the Tank, the Internet’s best blog for discussing conference issues (realignment and business):

Regardless, if there’s any semblance of reason out there, then the truth will likely be somewhere in the middle.  NBC Sports Network effectively needs any type of halfway decent live sports content, so it has a larger incentive to pay a premium to the Big East.  Comcast is NOT a charity, though, as evidenced by the aforementioned Animal Practice interlude to the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics.  This can’t be emphasized enough: Comcast is going to pay the least amount that they can possibly get away with in order to win the Big East rights.  As a result, that floor is going to be determined by how much interest ESPN and, to a lesser extent, Fox have in the Big East.  If the conference wants to obtain maximum value, then it particularly needs to have ESPN legitimately involved in the bidding process or else Comcast isn’t just going to hand over large rights fees for the hell of it and negotiate against themselves.  In my humble opinion, ESPN isn’t going to want to let NBC Sports Network get the Big East for free, but the guys in Bristol aren’t going to go balls out to retain the Big East, either (and Comcast, who has gone toe-to-toe with ESPN in tough negotiations on many fronts, definitely knows that).  That points to a potential Big East contract that’s in the middle of the high and low figures that have been reported out there – let’s say about $10 million per all-sports school per year and $4 million per non-football school per year.

Plus, the Confidential has always believed that ESPN is genuinely irate that the Big East rejected its offer last year.  It remains to be seen whether ESPN will even allow itself to get into a bidding war with other networks over the Big East.  While Georgetown, Villanova, St. Johns, DePaul and Marquette are situated in nice markets, the lack of a football team renders them somewhat indistinguishable from Atlantic 10 schools.  So it falls on the schools like Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati, Memphis, Temple, and Rutgers to carry the all-sports side of things.  That is not an awful collection of teams, but is it really going to top what the ACC and Big XII can offer in hoops, much less what all conferences can offer in football.  Just not sold on the ratings being there to justify mega-millions.

But if the Big East does land a deal approaching the ACC’s deal, then it is obvious that the ACC is in trouble.  By being locked-in at well below market value, and with conferences like the B1G and Big XII having the ability to negotiate soon, the disparity will be massive.  Seriously, if the Big East is worth $15M per team, the other conferences have to be worth $30M per team.  It will be hard for FSU and other schools to justify being compensated like a Big East team just because the ACC improvidently locked itself in.

And once the first school leaves the ACC, it is not difficult to envision scenarios where there is a greater pillaging of ACC schools by the Big Four conferences (except the Pac-12).  There are no shortage of Internet posts analyzing just how the major conferences would carve up the ACC.  Unfortunately for Syracuse and Pitt, they may have been on the wrong side of this move.  The Big East having the good fortune to market itself at the perfect time might, ironically, be the ACC’s undoing.

Of course, if you are ESPN, you do not want the ACC imploding.  So, again, expect ESPN to make a “take it or leave it” offer to the Big East that will give it a raise, but also keep the Big East from going on the market.  And if the Big East refuses, ESPN will have to just walk away entirely and put its billion dollars elsewhere.  Frankly, that’s a good move.  ESPN does not need to overpay for content.

Maybe the NHL could use that billion dollars?

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Conference Realignment and tagged , , , ,
15 Aug 2012
1 Comment

Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone on 2012 season: “We will only go as far as anonymous Internet commentators take us.”

(90 minutes south of Canada) Look out Big East, the Syracuse coaching staff is calling in the big guns.  Syracuse Head Coach Doug Marrone addressed the local media with his biggest concerns for the upcoming season and did not shy away from who was responsible for getting his team in position for another post-season run, “Without question we will only go as far as anonymous Internet commentators take us.”

Marrone is loved by real Syracuse fans, who will never forget that he was able to take the big pile of dog doo left behind by Greg Robinson and turn the team into a competitive team in season 1 and a bowl team in season 2.  His popularity peaked in Week 7 of season 3, when Syracuse blew out West Virginia in a nationally televised game to go 5-2.  But the team was unable to win any more games and missed being bowl eligible.  From there, the anonymous Internet commentators began churning out the criticisms and helpful advice.

And Marrone has taken notice.  “If the anonymous commentators on websites like Syracuse.com do not provide us with useful critiques, how can you expect us coaches to make the right adjustments each week?,” Marrone explained.   Athletic Director Dr. Gross added: “The input from our fans, especially the fair weather ones, is huge. I mean, if not for some of the anonymous posters online, then I would have kept Greg Robinson. That guy had two Super Bowl rings and it’s not like you can just walk into a pawn store and buy those.  So I wholeheartedly support Doug’s plan to harness the genius of anonymous Internet commentators.”

Marrone’s plan is brilliant.  Syracuse has hired two graduate assistants to monitor the blogosphere to harvest the great ideas.  He even shared one gem.  A Syracuse.com fan named ScarletNites69 noted that “your teem [sic] sux [sic] because there [sic] offense is the worst ever and will not complete no [sic] 30 yard passes all season.”  So, after spending several hours debating whether the double negative at the end of that comment was a mistake or not, Marrone and his team are fully resolved to rewrite the offense this year to try to complete more of those 30+ yard passes.  No more striving for incompletions and interceptions.

The Confidential’s own research has unearthed several brilliant comments that may or may not end up being utilized by Marrone and his staff:

  • OrangePreTeen11 noted–“our defense would be better if the defense can be where the other offense has the ball more often.”
  • StalkingFrankReich noted–“Not sure why Marrone is beholden to Nassib.  That cute backup Loeb is the real deal–why are we going to waste his talents on the sidelines in favor of a Senior who has never taken Syracuse to even ONE Super Bowl?  How many chances does this guy get?”
  • CuseGramps noted–“Syracuse won a national championship with Jim Brown.  We just need to recruit more guys like Jim Brown.”
  • James1983 noted–“I coached High School football at a big time program.  Marrone just needs to tell these guys to block and tackle.  Obviously, he is not doing that.”
  • Cap_10_Ille noted–“Syracuse needs to pass on 1st down, run on 2nd down, and then pass on 3rd down.  Every series.  That will keep the defense off guard.  If they run on first down even once this year, I am cancelling my season tickets.”

“Everyone knows that the most talented and experienced advisors are not wasting their Saturdays and Sundays on the sidelines,” added a rival coach who preferred to remain anonymous, “but instead are impressing their friends and family with their superior knowledge of sports from the comfy confines of their livings rooms.”  Other top-tier programs have secretly relied heavily on call-in radio shows to get expertise advice on how they should have played the game better, but Syracuse has upped the ante.  Look for big things from Syracuse this year.

by Anthony Caffrey & Matt Caffrey

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Sarcasm and tagged , , ,

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