The talks between Cal and Stanford and the ACC have run into (expected) roadblocks, probably over revenue issues.
Interestingly enough, Notre Dame seems to be on both sides of the argument.
Interesting article. Not surprising that the votes are lacking or that ND is one of the schools pushing it. The Irish see the writing on the wall. The Big Ten might not freeze them out entirely, but they could crowd them out by leaving only a September window for nc games, moving the SC/ND game up and limiting the Irish games against big names for tv.
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog@yahoo.com
If the ACC does in fact take Stanford and Cal , maybe ,just maybe , it would indicate that academics plays a part , and it isn’t just 100 percent about money. Perhaps Jim Phillips‘ tenure at NU May have left that positive nugget.
While Stanford and Cal do come from a large SF Bay Area market, it is definitely not by any measure a college football hot spot. Except when Cal and Stanford are playing , getting a seat at a suburban sports bar on a Saturday is pretty easy!
Harry
I think the USC folks would be unhappy with a schedule that had the ND game in September.
ND is kind of used to getting its way, it’s good to see some ACC schools pushing back. (I hope the SEC is doing that to Texas, they deserve it.)
If Notre Dame would have a ‘Saul on the road to Tarsus’ moment, and decide the Big Ten is where they need to be, along with Stanford, would Stanford insist that Cal has to tag along? That would produce a 21 team conference, which while it makes for 3 pods of 7, would create scheduling issues and a championship selection problem. Assuming there’s another team worth taking, 22 isn’t really much better, since 2 11-team divisions is probably unworkable because you couldn’t even have division RR schedules. The next viable number is probably 24, but if the Big Ten were to add ND, Stanford, Cal, Wazoo and Oregon State, who’s #24?
Out of curiosity what is the appeal of Stanford?
Private school
Few alumni
No national following
Doesn’t dominate its local market
Not currently a dominate football power
Now we are worse in every aspect, however I am confident NO P5 CONFERENCE would consider us.
They are excellent at the Olympic sports and they are rich, but neither translates into conference money.
Based on the rich aspect why not permanently forgo a full share as a way to buy themselves into their choice of conference. I’m sure any conference including the SEC would accept them if they only required $15 million/year and their value is $30 million the extra money can be distributed to travel for their conference mates.
Only ND and USC and to the lesser extent Miami(FL) or Duke(basketball) have appeal among the private schools. If there was a complete reshuffling I think only ND and USC would find homes.
Valid point on why Stanford is worth having, maybe that’s why the ACC is hesitating?
Oh, Northwestern would find a new home, it just would be a lousy one.
The appeal is the bump in TV revenue that comes fro the ACC Network. Carriage fees are significantly higher in those states in which there are member schools. The Bay Area and Dallas (SMU) have a lot of cable/satellite TV households. Remember, it’s homes subscribed to the cable/satellite, not homes subscribed to ACC Net that counts.
Oh, Northwestern would find a new home, it just would be a lousy one.
No way. Who in the Power 4(No Pac 10) would think we brought something to the table?
Geographically we fit in the B1G and nowhere else. We like Stanford bring money, but no national following, no fanbase, etc.
We aren’t any better than BC or WF in terms of appeal, which is sad to say but true.
WV struggles and they own a whole state and have had serious football and basketball success.
I never said it would be a Power-N conference. But in a complete restructuring of college conferences I could see the MAC taking them, which is why I said it would be a lousy new home, but (probably) better than dropping varsity sports ala U of C.
ESPN says 4 ACC teams opposed to adding Cal and Stanford: FSU, NC, NC State and Clemson
SI is reporting that the Pac-12 turned down an ESPN offer of $30 million/year per team. Their counteroffer of $50 million led ESPN to break off negotiations.