ACC = Not Ready for Primetime Players?
Posted Apr 16, 2005, 9:46 AM ET

The Atlantic Coast Conference has been the catalyst for the college expansion controversy for the past few years.

Last year, when the ACC raided the Big East and added Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College...many outside conference and school officials were outraged. The ACC's move had a trickle-down effect on the entire college landscape, as teams had to jockey for new homes across the country.

The ACC was painted as a big bully that was looking to tap into the lucrative college football market that consists of additional BCS teams, bowl bids and conference championship title games.

The fact of the matter is that all of those accusations made by the anti-ACC crowd were true. And the ACC officials didn't care if you liked it or not. It was business as usual - and big-business, I might add. The NCAA mandated that you must have 12 league members to create and conduct a conference football title game, and the ACC was looking for a few good men (three more, to be exact), to get the 12-team minimum.

Personally, I liked the move. I thought it was great that the ACC wanted to create an impressive football conference to book-end with an already well-establsihed basketball league. The ACC was immediately placed in the same football power category as the SEC, Big 12 and the Big 10.

That leads me to the "Ripe Gripe".

This week the NCAA voted and agreed to allow teams to play an additional football game each season. The added "12th" game will be a great opportunity for the "power leagues" to generate even more money and exposure.

In a published report in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, the Big 12 has estimated its teams can generate an additional $1.5 million per game, and SEC schools like Florida, Georgia and Tennessee could earn upwards of $3 million per home game.

Did I mention that there was only one conference that voted against adding a 12th game? That conference would be the ACC!

...How is that possible?

The ACC has indicated it wants to play football with the big boys, but still takes the passive "basketball-only" approach.

Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman indicated that the season was too long with an 11-game schedule and a title game in December. (As if Wake Forest was ever going to be a factor in either the regular season or conference title game!)

What a joke.

The ACC needs to get its act together and stay consistent. College football is an expensive proposition, and if you allow schools like Wake Forest and Duke to determine what is in your conference's best interest in football...then you are bound to be a secondary player.

I have a funny feeling when it was time for the SEC to vote, nobody made a phone call to Vanderbilt to get their input.

Last year, the ACC gave the impression it was becoming a legitimate football league wanting to make a statement. This week, it proved it still doesn't know how to play with the big boys.