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I'm a tad late to the party on this one but if you haven't heard, Notre Dame is ACC bound in all sports sans Football and Hockey. To me, this is a big deal but it also has potential for disaster down the road. This is a power move by the ACC to help bolster it's conference in all sports. This gives the ACC multiple bargaining chips and I strongly urge you to not underestimate the power Notre Dame carries with it in college athletics. But, without the Irish joining as a complete member, the ACC is still lacking in football.
Yes, Notre Dame will play 5 ACC games every year but those games won't count as ACC conference games. Instead, this is a way for the ACC to improve team's schedule and rake in more TV money.
Yes, I'm excited about the fact that Virginia Tech will now play Notre Dame on a rotating basis. But, the Irish will only come to Lane Stadium once every six years. Plus, who are we going to have to boot off our schedule to make room for the Irish? Hopefully not Wisconsin.
Yes, the Irish will be a huge addition to our league in basketball and other non-revenue sports.
But, to me, this is all about trying to get Notre Dame to become a full ACC member sometime down the road when the playoffs expand and conference championships mean a birth in the elite 8 or the salacious 16... or whatever they'll call it 10 years from now. That's where disaster lies. If the ACC can't get Notre Dame to fully join in the future, then we're the next Big East. A conference that inflates up to an insane amount of schools only to eventually falter.
The good news is, all ACC teams agreed to increase the current exit fee up to 50 million dollars. That all but assures that Florida State, Clemson, Miami, and Virginia Tech will be in the conference for the long haul. To those who, for some reason, wanted Virginia Tech to be a 7-5 team in the SEC each year, I'm sorry but those dreams are now over.
Enough from me, here are a few tweets regarding the ACC move for Notre Dame.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
This is gonna be one hell of a basketball conference. I know that it didn’t work out for the Big East, but basketball could hold this conference together for the long run. You have UNC, Duke, and Cuse that are always going to be in the thick of the national championship. Also you have Pitt, NC State, and Maryland are going to be perennial top 15 programs with the way that they recruit. Not only did we steal the best teams from the Big East, but we already have a handful of great progams. Football is still the main factor, but I couldn’t see any of the major programs leaving the ACC. I know that this is gonna be a huge boost to our basketball recruiting, but how do you think that this will affect football recruiting?
Anytime you can sell a big name opponent like Notre Dame it will help. But, it’s just another factor added in amongst hundreds of other factors. The one benefit is that it may give us more exposure in the Indiana/Ohio market. It will allow us to expand our footprint a bit and perhaps go after a few Ohio kids each year. But, with Beamer in charge our main recruiting focus will be VA followed by sections of NC, SC, GA, FL, PA, and MD/DC. Very rarely will you see us go elsewhere to land a recruit unless he has a specific tie to the program.
Do NOT underestimate the importance of this move for the ACC. This is a “get your foot in the door” step for the conference and clearly moves us ahead of the B1G and the Big-12 for someday including Notre Dame in all sports. Even if that never happens, the cup is 3/4 full with the current deal and the ACC will benefit financially with the participation of the Irish. I am really looking forward to the first VT\ND football game at Lane, should be quite an affair, especially if we can get it on a Thursday night or even Saturday night. Say what you want about ND’s lack of football relevance over the past 2 decades, they will likely sell out every ACC stadium that they visit.
I have no idea why the ACC would agree to such a lame deal! once again we see ND dictating who/what/when and how they are going to do things. It should be an all or nothing scenario, no exceptions. Why should they benenfit from being in all ACC sports except football? It is because they do not want to share any of the NBC tv money nor any bowl money with anyone. ND is not the elite team they think they are. They are average at best. I agee they do have a good following and will draw a crowd, but Lane is soll out every game anyway. Time to make ND face the music and join the party like everyone else.
One small correction… The withdrawal fee was increased to 3 times the annual operating budget, which today is about $50 million. This will be an even greater deterrent as contract values increase, with the addition of ND.
count me as one who doesnt give a crap. nd is that girl who use to be hot but still thinks she is
Agree w/Scott, ND has not been relevant in any sport other than LAX and woman’s soccer in over 10 years. The best thing ND brings to the table is academics…from top to bottom the ACC is now best academic conference in the BCS. As for the “best” Big East teams that are now in the ACC ,,that is also BS. Louisville was the overall #1 seed in the NC2A a couple of years ago and a final 4 team last year and pre-season #1 this year in BBall and the NC in men’s soccer in 2010. Their football team was very good under Pratrino and is again on the rise with Charlie Strong. Even if ND were full-time in football the odds are they never win the conference. As for recruiting I agree with Justin that we have a great player base in VA/NC/GA/MD/DC and the occasional target in FL/SC & PA. There has not been a target in IN or Ohio or anywhere in the Mid-West that I ever cared about getting (Sorry K Harley)….this ND agreement does nothing for VT. I for one like the Alabama & Wisconsin OOC matchups…the ND story is simply overhype as usual