Tag: ACC

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips fires back at Big 12 commissioner during ACC Media Day

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips had his conference’s back at ACC Media Days, which started on Monday, July 22.

The anticipation continues to build for the start of college football season, which now sits just over a month away.

Plenty of new head coaches take over programs, plenty of school enter new conference and roster decisions still need to be made. Alabama enters its first season in the post-Nick Saban era – will the Crimson Tide remain a college football power? How does Michigan go about replacing numerous starters from its National Championship-winning team? Can Oklahoma thrive in the SEC?

The ACC, as a whole, took a step closer to college football season with the first of Football Media Days on Monday. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was easily the highlight of today, clapping back at Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yorkmark, who claimed the ACC wasn’t a Top-3 conference earlier in July.

It’s encouraging knowing that the conference – in which your favorite school resides – has a boss sticking up for his members.

I know UNC is just one school in the ACC, but it’s one of the conference’s seven charter members. It’s tough to imagine an ACC without the Tar Heels – or imagining the conference no longer.

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CW Network unveils announcers for Pac-12 and ACC football plus studio shows

CW Network has its announcing crews for the 2024 college football season, including Thom Brenneman after his four-year forced exile.

We’re in the middle of “media season” in college football, with media day events occurring in various conferences, including USC’s new home in the Big Ten. While all of that is happening, the Pac-12 (essentially the Pac-2 of Washington State and Oregon State) and the ACC are also preparing for the new college football season. CW Network will air Pac-2 and ACC games. The network has released its set of announcing crews for the 2024 season.

John Canzano, at his Substack (subscription required), had this item a few weeks ago:

The CW broadcast teams for the Pac-12 games this season will be announced anytime now. I’m told it will be Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Chase Daniel (analyst) together in the booth. JB Long (play-by-play) and Michael Bumpus (analyst) will be paired as a second broadcast team.

I previously reported that The CW is adding a studio show to highlight the ACC and Pac-12 games this season. It will be produced by Pac-12 Enterprises in the entity’s Bay Area studios. The aim is to add additional college football programming and give the games a boost.

Ken Fang of Awful Announcing has the fuller list of details here.

In addition to the Robinson-Daniel and Long-Bumpus pairings for Pac-2 games, Thom Brenneman will be paired with former Pac-12 Network analyst Max Browne for ACC games and possibly an occasional Pac-2 game.

Pac-12 Network alumnus Mike Yam will host the new “CW Football Saturday” live studio show, beginning on Saturday, Aug. 31.

CW airs Washington State’s and Oregon State’s season openers on Aug. 31. The CW then airs two ACC games — Marshall-Virginia Tech and Ole Miss-Wake Forest — on Sept. 7 to launch its 2024 coverage of the two conferences.

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David Pollack called this ACC school the perfect Big Ten expansion candidate

David Pollack named which ACC school he feels would be the perfect addition for the Big Ten.

The Big Ten officially expanded its membership to 18 members this summer with the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington from the fallout of the Pac-12’s implosion, but the rumor mill never slows down when it comes to possible future expansion. The Big Ten appears to be publicly settled on its current 18-team membership, but the door will always remain open for more moves if the opportunity arises. The ACC is in the spotlight as a potential conference on the verge of seeing schools leave for greener pastures.

Florida State and Clemson have ignited the ACC chaos with legal battles in court over the conference’s grant of rights, and other schools around the conference are monitoring the situation closely. North Carolina has been one of the big names on the radar and college football analyst David Pollack feels the Tar Heels would be a natural addition for the Big Ten.

“I’ll throw a couple of other teams at you, too. North Carolina has value; that’s a perfect Big Ten team,” Pollack said in an interview on Outkick recently. “North Carolina, I could see in the Big Ten. North Carolina and Virginia, those two teams to me end up in the Big Ten.”

A pairing of North Carolina and Virginia would make sense for the Big Ten given the academic reputation of both schools, but the UNC brand would be the real heavy hitter in that combo. North Carolina has the biggest national brand appeal in any potential realignment changes moving forward outside of Notre Dame. Any addition that involves North Carolina would likely pair nicely with the Big Ten’s previous addition from the ACC, Maryland. Virginia would bridge the gap between Maryland and North Carolina on the map as well.

Another school from the ACC to keep an eye on is Miami, a school that reportedly would make a big push for a Big Ten invite if the door to leave the ACC cracks open.

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ACC Football Kickoff to play out with teams wanting in the Big Ten

The ACC football media days will once again be clouded in uncertainty as the Big Ten stands by and monitors the situation.

As the Big Ten begins its annual football media day event this week in Indianapolis, the ACC will be holding its mid-summer ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina at the same time. While the Big Ten welcomes four members from the Pac-12 as new conference members this season, the ACC will be welcoming in two new members from the West Coast with Cal and Stanford. The ACC will also be going through its media day frenzy under what seems to be a cloud of constant uncertainty as multiple members in the conference have not hidden from a desire to break free of the conference’s grant of rights and potentially land in a new conference home. Of course, the riches that come with being a Big Ten member are enough to entice a few ACC schools to pursue membership in the conference.

Florida State and Clemson are the two headliners that continue to push the issue with the ACC. Both schools have taken legal steps to challenge the ACC grant of rights in hopes of creating an exit that isn’t a massive financial burden. For now, the Big Ten reportedly is not looking to add Florida State.

“[Big Ten commissioner] Tony [Petitti] is staying away from expansion, and we’re taking Tony’s lead,” a source reportedly said to Brett McMurphy of Action Network. Of course, that came with a bit of a disclaimer alluding to mass chaos in the ACC on a level similar to the downfall of the Pac-12.

“There is no appetite among the presidents unless there is some catastrophic development with the ACC and it forces [the Big Ten] into a decision,” McMurphy quoted the same anonymous source as saying.

The SEC is reportedly in the same boat as the Big Ten when it comes to adding Florida State and Clemson. In the SEC’s case, the conference already has a firm foot in each of those schools’ home states with Florida and South Carolina. Of course, the SEC did just add Texas despite already having Texas A&M. But Florida State and Clemson aren’t on the same level overall as the Longhorns.

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The long-time rumors of the Big 12 being the most likely destination for Florida State and Clemson may continue to linger until it becomes a reality. We have been seeing those rumors for well over a decade now, so it may be time to just get the move done.

Florida State and Clemson appear to be a bit of a package deal one way or the other, but there are other schools that could be potential targets for the Big Ten if the ACC comes crashing down. North Carolina is believed to be the bigger fish in the pond if the Big Ten chooses to go fishing. North Carolina would fit in with the Big Ten and the SEC, and the Tar Heels would be an attractive candidate for each.

Miami has become a rising candidate in the rumor mill, and it is being reported the Hurricanes would make a push to join the Big Ten, Miami would make sense for the Big Ten as it would help get the Big Ten a footprint in Florida, and the school is a member of the AAU. And it may not take much to convince Miami to leave the ACC. Miami seems to be the school watching the action around them and waiting to pounce on their opportunity to leave.

Miami and North Carolina as a pair of new Big Ten programs would seemingly be a great move for the expanding Big Ten. If the ACC does crack, adding Cal and Stanford to the mix is not far-fetched given the Big Ten’s new standing on the West Coast. Throw Virginia and Georgia Tech on the radar as well just in case, but Big Ten fans should clearly be paying close attention to the rumblings surrounding the ACC for the foreseeable future. It may not implode quite like the Pac-12, but the ACC is the conference on the shakiest of grounds right now.

The ACC Football Kickoff and Big Ten media days are scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 through Thursday, July 25.

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ESPN drops new “SEC on ABC” graphics package

The SEC on CBS may be gone, but say hello to the SEC on ABC graphics package.

[autotag]SEC media days[/autotag] in Dallas have wrapped, with all sixteen teams taking the podium one by one to talk about their programs. The Oklahoma Sooners spoke on Tuesday, as head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] and safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] represented the team well in Big D.

With the close of SEC media days, ESPN unveiled their brand-new graphics package for the “SEC on ABC” that will debut this fall.

The days of the “SEC on CBS” and its iconic theme music are over, but the “SEC on ABC” looks promising from a viewing standpoint. OU will surely have more than a few games on ABC, as their new conference looks to highlight its new members.

The [autotag]SEC[/autotag] will now have their games exclusively shown on ESPN networks, after previously playing on CBS. The [autotag]Big Ten[/autotag] will be shown on every major network but ESPN/ABC (FOX, CBS, NBC), while the [autotag]ACC[/autotag] is on shakier ground as a whole as a conference. Their TV deal is also with ESPN/ABC, as well as the CW Network. Oklahoma’s old conference, the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag], will still be shown on ESPN and FOX.

The “SEC on ABC” and the new graphics will debut on Saturday, August 31, one day after the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Temple Owls to open their season.

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Notre Dame makes offer to 2026 guard, daughter of former NBA player

Hope she picks the Irish.

Kate Harpring hasn’t even begun her junior year at Marist in Atlanta. That’s the same high school her father, former NBA player Matt Harpring, attended. But that hasn’t stopped many prominent programs from making her offers already. She confirmed that Notre Dame is one of those programs on social media:

On the same day, Harpring also announced an offer from Iowa, which only added onto the list of schools that already have offers to her. Among the other schools hoping to add her as part of their 2026 recruiting class are Florida State, Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Kentucky, Arizona, Utah and Vanderbilt. Needless to say, the Irish will have plenty of competition here.

We don’t know how the Irish would look as far as competitiveness by the time she arrives on campus. However, if many prominent schools already have made her offers, she obviously is something special. Hopefully, she chooses to prove that in South Bend.

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‘I was against it for several reasons,’ Dabo Swinney on the ACC trying to move Palmetto Bowl

“Sometimes we just need to do what is best for Clemson.” That’s what Swinney said when asked about rejecting the ACC’s request to move the game against South Carolina to Black Friday.

It’s no secret that the ACC and Clemson are butting heads, so when the conference asked for Clemson to move the Palmetto Bowl to Black Friday, they shouldn’t have been surprised when Clemson said, “No.”

On Tuesday, head coach Dabo Swinney fielded a question from the media about his response. “I was against it for several reasons,” said Swinney. “[Moving the game to Friday] is not what is best for this town. This is not what is best for this community. This is not a big city. People in this town make their hay off of Saturdays.”

Swinney then argues that the holiday would hurt attendance, especially for students who travel home for Thanksgiving. He said, “I think our students, who are off, are able to come back here on Friday after Thanksgiving with their family and are able to be here and create the type of atmosphere we want. I have been here for 22 years and that is my perspective.”

The program isn’t willing to give up any advantage to only make the conference money. Why would it? Clemson is trying to leave the conference. The request was always foolish, especially seeing how big of a weekend it is for recruits. “Now it is a big official visit weekend. We are trying to get recruits here and asking them to leave their homes on Thanksgiving, but that is hard to do. Some of them are playing on Friday,” said Swinney.

When it comes to playing in Columbia on Friday, Coach Swinney seemed to care less saying, “I am happy to go do it in Columbia if that is what they want to do. I was against it here because I do not think it is what’s best for Clemson.”

North Carolina to be ‘highly sought after’ in conference realignment

Two conferences would pursue the North Carolina Tar Heels in expansion.

Conferences in college athletics will look a little different starting with the upcoming college football season as the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 have added programs. The ACC added three programs with Stanford, SMU and Cal joining but there continues to be talk of teams leaving and joining other conferences.

The latest centered around Florida State and Clemson, with rumors swirling that the Big 12 was set to pursue them. But the latest from Brett McMurphy of Action Network suggests that the Big Ten and SEC aren’t interested in adding the Seminoles and instead, it would be the Tar Heels and Virginia that would be the programs “highly sought after” by the Big Ten and SEC.

Here is what McMurphy wrote on the situation:

If the ACC no longer exists and the floodgates open, allowing a mass exodus from the ACC, North Carolina and Virginia would be highly sought after by the SEC and Big Ten, sources said.

Several sources added they weren’t convinced they could “trust” Florida State as a new member.

“Look what they did: getting the attorney general involved, accusing [former ACC commissioner] John Swofford of rigging the television rights to help his son, filing a suit to expose ESPN’s TV deals — something the other three power leagues are against, by the way,” the source said. “They’re not a good partner. There’s no congeniality. No one wants that.

This lines up with previous reports that North Carolina’s national brand in basketball, as well as football, would make them a top target for conferences if the ACC were to disband.

But for now, the ACC is moving forward as is with the rumors of Clemson and Florida State, and the Big 12 continues to swirl.

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Big Ten, SEC not planning to add Florida State if they leave ACC

Florida State is not of interest to either the SEC or Big Ten if they manage to leave the ACC, leaving the Big 12 as the best option.

If Florida State manages to leave the ACC, and the ACC remains intact, they are unlikely to secure a spot in either the SEC or the Big Ten – according to a report from Brett McMurphy of Action Network.

The Seminoles have been looking to break free from the ACC and join either the SEC or the Big Ten to increase their revenue with much bigger media rights deals, but neither conference has expressed clear interest in the program.

Multiple reasons were provided, including a simple lack of interest in expansion and concern that FSU has shown “its not a good partner.”

Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, was asked if he’s following the ongoing legal battle between FSU, Clemson and the ACC, and he responded saying, “we’re focused on our 16. Period. I’m not going to guess about what happens next. We can certainly remain at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful.”

This story changes if the ACC implodes and the floodgates open, with Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia, and Duke becoming highly sought after entities. But, unless that goes down, Florida State’s best option for realignment appears to be the Big 12.

Neither FSU or Clemson are reportedly that interested in the Big 12, and recently commissioner Brett Yormark said his league is focusing on integrating the eight new schools from the past two years, but if these two programs are desperate to leave the ACC this might be the last resort.

UNC highlights ACC dominance across the entire 2023-2024 college sports season

If you include all athletic programs, the ACC is the best conference in college sports.

It seems like whatever sport you talk about last year, the North Carolina Tar Heels enjoyed plenty of sustained success.

UNC’s lone national championship last season came from the field hockey team, which came back to beat Northwestern in a shootout, for its NCAA-leading 11th national title. Women’s tennis, men’s track and field, fencing and men’s golf also won ACC titles – in addition to field hockey.

North Carolina returned to men’s basketball glory during the 2023-2024 campaign, winning its first ACC Regular Season Title since 2018 and making the NCAA Tournament after a year’s absence. Most recently, the Diamond Heels won the ACC Regular Season Championship and made the College World Series.

UNC made its athletic presence felt in the ACC once again, but it wasn’t the conference’s only school to dominate in athletics last season.

To get an idea of the ACC’s dominance, just take a look at this graphic below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9U0XwZzvCq/

ACC is quietly one of the top conferences in women’s basketball, thanks in particular to NC State and Virginia Tech. For people saying the ACC had a “down” year in men’s basketball, five schools – North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, NC State and Virginia all made the NCAA Tournament, all but Virginia won a game and the Wolfpack enjoyed a run to the Final Four.

Every ACC football program but Virginia, Pitt and Wake Forest made a bowl game last year. Florida State was the most successful – despite entering bowl season a perfect 13-0, it didn’t make the College Football Playoff.

With the College Football Playoff being expanded to 12 teams this coming fall, will multiple ACC teams make it?

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