If we don't expand beyond 11 and don't get approved for a football championship game, we won't have any need to split into two divisions. We'll be in the same boat as the Big 10.

OTOH, if the NCAA changes the rule so an 11 team conference can have a champ. game, I wonder if the Big 10 will follow our example and have one as well. After all, they didn't even have a basketball tournament until 4 or 5 years ago.

And if we do get it, where should it be held? Should we do like the SEC and have it at a permanent location (Georgia Dome) or do like the Big 12 and move it around throughout the region? Personally, I like the 2nd idea. We could go from Orlando to Jacksonville to Charlotte to DC, and places in between.

The NCAA WON'T CHANGE THE RULE JUST FOR US!!

And we don't want them to! If they do, the Big 10 and Pac-10 have the same "advantage" we do -- and what's an advantage when all the other folks have it??

We will eventually gobble up another team.... I'd agree with Andy Katz -- it'll be within 2 years, and odds are it's a race b/t Cuse and BC.

If it is between those two, my money is on BC. As it is, they're going to have to tuck their tail between their legs and head back home to a conference (and commish) that they have publicly criticized in the last month and a half. My guess is Trained Geese will try to slight them as much as possible in the coming year or two.

We did not come this far in the expansion battle
to stop with only 11 teams.

We are expanding to have a Championship game
and more TV revenues.

So the question becomes: Who is the 12th team?

I going to assure all of you...that something else is
in the works. They are talking to another school
or schools.

Could it be Notre Dame? They're on the Atlantic
Coast...well almost...(The Atlantic Coast side of
Lake Michigan) [Lucy will be beside herself]

Interresting comment on the fallout of Notre Dame dropping out of the Big East in the other sports it is aligned.

<a href='http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/' target='_blank'>http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/</a> 0603/26tony.html

Notre Dame is a football independent whose other teams, including men's basketball, participate in the Big East. If Virginia Tech and Miami leave the Big East, Notre Dame might have to find another home for all of its sports.

Notre Dame officials have insisted that the school is not looking to join a conference for all sports, and athletics director Kevin White will not discuss the subject publicly. The school considered joining the Big Ten in 1999 but rejected an official invitation.

But last month the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune reported that the school has been weighing its options should its current arrangement with the Big East come to an end.

I have heard that it's possible that the SEC and the Big 12 might support a championship game with 11 teams. It is rumoured that some of the SEC and Big 12 ADs think that the ACC, the Big 10, and the Big East have an advantage in making into to the National Championship Game (with the BCS rankings the way they are) because the other conferences don't have to play a conference championship game. Look at last year -- OSU goes to the NC game without having to play Iowa. Miami doesn't have to play in a championship game, either.

Also, we might consider that having one more conference pushing for a championship game without 12 teams could turn the tide.

I agree. The NCAA will not change the CG to fit an 11 team conference. You need a 12th team

But, Southlink, do you think UGA is at a disadvantage relative to the Big 10 and the ACC in raaching the NC game because you have a conference championship game.

I mean, if UGA beat UF this year, and then lost the SECC Game, it's all for naught. That's a heck of a lot to have to do to have a shot at the NC. Again, I'm not sure OSU could have beaten Iowa in a championship game.

Nebraska went to the National championship game without even making it to their Conference Championship game...But anyways IMO there is a better chance of the NCAA allowing the ACC to hold a Championship game than you all seem to think even if they do I believe we will eventually add a 12th team but it would just give us more time. As I have said before the whole point of expansion was to allow the ACC to have a championship game...I dont think they would have "settled" on 11 teams if they didnt think they stood a decent chance of getting the championship game anyways. Remember, they shocked everyone by inviting only Miami and VT. I have not seen any evidence that the vote would have been any different if they had invited Syracuse or BC to go along with Miami and VT. So why did they invite only 2 teams? I believe that it must be because they feel they can get the Conference Championship game anyways OR another big times school has shown serious interest and they are currently working on something major that hasnt been leaked to the media as of yet. I just dont understand why they would invite BC or Syracuse at a later date after courting them for a month and a half and then leaving them at the altar. It just doesnt make sense to me. I believe that Syracuse and BC are out of the picture and they are either happy with the status quo or working with another school as we speak.

SouthLink02 Wrote:I agree. The NCAA will not change the CG to fit an 11 team conference. You need a 12th team

As exhausting as it has been the last 2 months watching the ACC struggle to obtain the "12 team" conference. The question ought to be asked "why so much effort?" When the new 2005-2006 TV contracts are signed nobody will remember the effort the ACC used to obtain this goal. The "why" will be evident when the dollar amount is revealed.

Some have speculated that the NCAA will easily wave the league championship requirement established in 1987 for a conference championship without 12 teams! If that were true why does Miami insisted the ACC have divisions and a championship? Part of the answer is the "Big XII" factor which gets two teams in major bowls because of a championship.

Here lies the twist! The only rule pertaining to conference qualification is that a conference's champions must average a ranking of 15th or higher in the previous three years of the BCS formula. It came about after Syracuse's poor performance in the Orange Bowl after the 1998 season. "That speaks to rankings, not to what happens if a conference's membership changes," Pacific-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said Thursday. "The original (BCS) group was very much determined by what the bowls and the networks said they were interested in. That will be a factor."

The Big "Easy" as it may be called with the departure of VT & Miami may have a difficult time meeting the BCS qualification for an "automatic" bowl since there appears to be no team that could consistantly stay inside the top 15 in the polls.

Assuming the ACC bylaws remain the same, it will take =2/3 vote to expand once VT and Miami are in the conference. That would be 9.

Who would vote for expansion?

Miami
VT
Tech
FSU
Clemson
NC State
Wake
Virginia
Maryland

I count 9.

Dodo: Virginia & NC St have already proven that they can't be counted on.

XX2 Wrote:Dodo: Virginia & NC St have already proven that they can't be counted on.

Now that VT is in, I think Virginia can be counted on. VT is going to want expansion, so Virginia will be with them.

I think NCSU will vote to expand, too.

State voted against a 12th team this time around. I have no reason to believe that things will be different next time.

And as for Virginia ... that dog already bit us once.

Frankly, if the ACC doesn't go to 12 teams now, I'd just as soon stay at 11 (if we join). Otherwise Gov Warner may force the ACC to accept VMI as the 12th team. :rolleyes:

At least VMI's fans don't cry about everything like Miami's do.

roxborobluedevil Wrote:At least VMI's fans don't cry about everything like Miami's do.

I'm surprised a dookie would even talk about another school crying about anything... :rolleyes:

roxborobluedevil Wrote:At least VMI's fans don't cry about everything like Miami's do.

...and Duke could break that "0 for the 21st Century"
streak!