Posted on 09/01/2023 7:47:29 AM PDT by NohSpinZone
The Atlantic Coast Conference has cleared the way for Stanford, California and SMU to join the league next year, two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Friday, providing a landing spot for two more teams from the disintegrating Pac-12.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement was still being prepared. The conference's university presidents and chancellors met Friday morning and voted to extend invitations to the three schools.
The additions make the ACC the latest power conference to expand its membership and footprint westward. Starting in August 2024, the league with Tobacco Road roots in North Carolina will increase its number of football schools to 17 and 18 in most other sports, with Notre Dame remaining a football independent.
Notre Dame is currently the westernmost ACC school in South Bend, Indiana, with Louisville the farthest west among football members.
But now, like the Big Ten, the ACC will be a cross-country conference. The ACC will span from Boston in the Northeast to Miami in South Florida, out to Dallas in the heart of the Southwest and up to the Northern California, where Stanford and Cal reside.
The move appears to be a marriage of desperation for the Bay Area schools, in need of a Power Five conference to call home after the Pac-12 was picked apart by the Big Ten and Big 12.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
That is a good deal! 50% chance at a conference title every season!
I came up with a totally restructured organization of college football.
Basically scrap conferences altogether, and put teams in divisions that more closely resemble the old classic conferences.
Basically each Division has two levels: A “Championship” Tier, that consists of the traditional Power teams, and a 2nd Tier of the non-Power Five schools. But each year a playoff game at the end of the season determines which 2nd Tier team gets to play in the Championship Tier the following season.
The top-two teams from each division make the playoffs.
I painstakingly worked out the divisions and where each team would go, based on Geographic location and traditional rivalries:
West 1 Division
Championship Tier
Washington
Washington State
Oregon
Oregon State
Cal
Stanford
Boise State
2nd Tier
Hawaii
San Diego State
Fresno State
Nevada
UNLV
San Jose State
West 2 Division
Championship Tier
USC
UCLA
Arizona
Arizona State
Utah
BYU
Colorado
2nd Tier
Air Force
Wyoming
Colorado State
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Utah State
UTEP
——
Central 1 Division
Championship Tier
Nebraska
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Missouri
2nd Tier
Tulsa
North Texas
Arkansas State
SMU
Central 2 Division
Championship Tier
Texas
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Baylor
TCU
Texas Tech
2nd Tier
Houston
Rice
UTSA
Texas State
——
Southeastern 1 Division
Championship Tier
Florida
Georgia
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Kentucky
South Carolina
2nd Tier
Georgia State
Georgia Southern
Memphis
South Alabama
Southern Mississippi
Southeastern 2 Division
Championship Tier
Alabama
Auburn
LSU
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
2nd Tier
Tulane
Louisiana
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana Tech
UAB
Troy
——
Atlantic 1 Division
Championship Tier
Florida State
Miami
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Duke
Wake Forest
2nd Tier
East Carolina
Coastal Carolina
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
South Florida
UCF
Atlantic 2 Division
Championship Tier
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Louisville
Clemson
Georgia Tech
West Virginia
2nd Tier
Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee State
Old Dominion
Navy
Liberty
Marshall
Appalachian State
Atlantic 3 Division
Championship Tier
Syracuse
Rutgers
Boston College
Notre Dame
Penn State
Pitt
2nd Tier
Buffalo
Temple
Connecticut
Army
Massachusetts
——
Midwest 1 Division
Championship Tier
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Indiana
Purdue
Cincinnati
2nd Tier
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Ohio
Akron
Bowling Green
Toledo
Midwest 2 Division
Championship Tier
Wisconsin
Northwestern
Minnesota
Iowa
Iowa State
Illinois
2nd Tier
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ball State
My friends does it really matter? The pac-12 was always a two-tier conference. Washington/Oregon and 2 southern Cal teams. The rest were the Washington generals. A surprise win or two and a few really good pros to come out.
Two or three more quakes and Stanford may find itself on the Atlantic coast.
May I suggest the RCC (Roller Coast Conference)?
It’s right up there with the Big Ten having 14 teams this year and 16 teams next year.
That’s a good one.
The Bi-Coastal Conference? The Big BI!
They’re as bad at geography as the Big 10 is at counting.
Well, the Bi designation might just fly w/ the university set.
Big 10 invites schools that are members of the AAU. Neither FSU nor Clemson are members of the AAU.
Is there any system that has failed the United States more in the last 50 years than the university system?
I like it!
“But now, like the Big Ten, the ACC will be a cross-country conference.”
Not surprising it took TWO AP dumbasses to write this, the great Big10 schools like Michigan & Penn State etc. do not have teams on the other side of the country.
Neither was Nebraska. Both schools have initiated the process to become members of the AAU. I expect FSU to be accepted soon.
You deserve credit for your work, But i’m told it will be fewer divisions.
Bama and Georgia teaming up in a conference with Ohio State & Michigan would bring in zillions. The Vanderbilt’s of the world will be kicked to the curb.
As a college football traditionalist i find it sad. As an American who is being asked to pay the student loans of strangers who went to many of these schools that are raking in billions of tax free $$$ each year, its sickening.
I thought Jackson State might move up to FBS.
They had higher attendance per game last year than any of the PAC-4. They were 30k-ish before Deion — Deion brought them up to 42.
The MEAC (the other HBCU conference in FCS) is down to 6 teams in football.
The SWAC does not send as many players to the NFL as it once did.
True that Nebraska wasn’t an AAU member when they actually started playing in the Big Ten (2011), but they were an AAU member when they were invited (2010).
OTOH, Miami is an AAU school. I have no idea of their interest in moving from the ACC and/or the interest of the Big 10 of extended them an invite.
FSU is now a higher ranked public University than PSU. PSU hired their ex-President and FSU’s rankings skyrocketed while PSU’s plummeted.
Thankfully the guy is finally gone, but his successor is no bargain either.
I didn’t care for him as a Senator, but I think Ben Sasse will do good things at UF. The liberals hate him, so he’s got that going for him.
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