ACC Football...what does the future hold?

[oldtimer]

What does the future hold for ACC football? How will the conference regain some of the national recognition and bowl respect without going further down the road of ruin by trying to be another SEC? The only national recognition recently has been the unwanted variety with NCAA investigations into violations.

[Marty Da Hungry Wolf]

As naive as it might sound, I just think it's better to "stay the course" and keep working. Sooner or later, I believe, there's going to be an SMU-level scandal at one or more of the major SEC schools. As "good" as they are, I'm wondering if some of the top SEC houses aren't built on the proverbial sand.

[mattncsu02]

Well just look at LSU last season. All those top players were suspended at the beginning of the season. Something is brewing in that conference, and when it boils over, it will be big. I hate it for any university to go through a big scandal, but it's coming for the SEC, just wait.

I think the ACC will get stronger in football. Surely the powers that be at the schools are tired of the SEC getting all the attention.

[Ken D]

I think college football has been sitting on a powder keg for some time. Lately, the pace of the money race has been accelerating rapidly, adding to the pressure. This year there have been a lot of major programs beset with scandals, and there has been significant movement toward a playoff. I think there are major changes ahead for all of college football, not just the ACC.

The cost of college athletics is rapidly becoming prohibitive, and the obscene amounts of money going to ESPN and a small number of schools at the top of the food chain have to give a lot of university presidents pause. One change I would personally like to see is a reduction in the number of scholarships for football. I would like to see the FBS schools drop down to 70 and the FCS schools to 50 scholarships. That saves $150 million a year, and more importantly would dramatically increase competition.

To offset the impact this would have on depth, I would recommend that all football players have five years of eligibility instead of four. Eliminate redshirts altogether. This hurts the Alabamas of the world, and greatly helps the Carolinas and NC States. How much more balanced would competition be if the top 25 schools had to let 375 of their scholarship players go to other schools? And how much more incentive would coaches have to limit the number of roster spots they commit to players who will leave with two years of eligibility remaining?

Just my thoughts.

[Ken D]

To focus more on the ACC in particular, I think that adding Notre Dame to the league would boost our image, but I don't know that it would have a major impact on our overall performance. We (the ACC) are now being judged in football against the other BCS conferences. Because of geography, that means we are being judged largely by how we do against SEC teams. And against that standard, we don't look so good.

But for most of the ACC's existence, we weren't even in that conversation. The ACC was at best a mid-major when it came to football. Now I would say we are clearly behind the Big XII (more precisely behind the Southwestern teams in the Big XII) and the SEC. We may be a little behind the Big Ten and the PAC 12, but not enough to matter much. I'm not sure I want the ACC to do the kinds of things we would have to do to close the gap on the Southern football factories.

I would hope that other forces will bring those conferences back down to where we are competing on a level playing field (and right now we aren't). But if that never happens I can live with that.

[Tizu]

Good Stuff, Ken!

[mattncsu02]

Ken, I think you definitely on to something. Very valid points sir!