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Clemson football: The ACC continues to amaze and that’s not a compliment

By Marty Coleman

BLACKSBURG, VA - OCTOBER 09: A view of the ACC logo on a down marker during the first half of the game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lane Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
BLACKSBURG, VA - OCTOBER 09: A view of the ACC logo on a down marker during the first half of the game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Lane Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Blacksburg, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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The ACCs lack of movement in realignment shows one thing: No team that will move the meter is interested in joining the conference.

As the latest round of realignment has taken shape, I’ve been almost exclusively critical of the Atlantic Coast Conference and it’s inaction in a world that requires action.

Others have been more understanding, believing that the ACC is not in as bad as spot as it appears on the surface.

For the life of me, I struggle to understand that.

For me this is not about the short-term that would potentially still see ACC teams with access to the college football playoff just as they have today.

It’s about the longer term, where SEC and Big 10 teams will dwarf the ACC in revenues allowing those teams to spend on things ACC teams can only dream of.

Sure the facilities at Clemson theoretically will still be nice, make no mistake about that. But if you have twice the money you usually acquire twice the “stuff”, and by “stuff” I mean facilities and trappings that get the attention of recruits, their families and those around them.

The latest example of this is the University of Connecticut allegedly having a goal of playing in the ACC some day.

"“First of all, he explained that he has a goal of joining the ACC within the next few years,”Harper said, via Mike Anthony of CT Insider. “Obviously, they have to have a few respectable seasons for the ACC to really take them seriously."

To be clear the article does not say the ACC is courting Connecticut or will in the future if the Huskies reach some unspoken goal.

But it’s also clear that it’s Connecticut’s goal and one that they believe can be reached.

Connecticut is very good at basketball, good at baseball sometimes and has been terrible at football for the last, oh I don’t know, 15 years?

"However, they are probably going to have to win more games than they have recently. The Huskies haven’t had a winning record since 2010 and have lost double digit games in each of their last three seasons. Since 2016, and not including the canceled 2020 season, UConn has only won 10 games total."

The ACC can “survive” if you want to call it that, but eventually the disparity in revenues will render the conference to second tier status

So, the SEC adds Oklahoma and Texas and the Big 10 adds UCLA and USC while the ACC stands pat.

If Connecticut is the type of football program that’s showing interest in the ACC, I understand the conferene’s reluctance to make a move at this time, but that’s part of the problem, right?

No team that will remotely move the meter is interested in joining the conference.

Short term the ACC will likely survive, if that’s the membership’s desire.  Longer term they’ll be priced out of the top echelon of the sport, if not directly, then certainly financially, for all intents and purposes.

Next. What happens if Clemson leaves the ACC early?. dark

You simply can’t continue to compete with teams that are making multiples of the revenue the ACC is generating per team.

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