Too early to label new ACC best conference around
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Tobacco Road hasn't gotten its first grass stain but already is blitzing.
"I think eventually every kid this side of the Mississippi is going to want to play in the ACC," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said here at the preseason ACC Football Kickoff.
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| The ACC is counting on Larry Coker and Miami to strengthen its conference even more.(AP) |
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Anyone notice the expanded ACC hasn't played a game? And the last time we checked lowly Duke was still stinking up the league -- as horrible in football as it is excellent in basketball. Three of the 11 conference stadiums still have capacities of less than 50,000. That's still a heck of a statement about the influence of basketball in this age when the facilities arms race is in full swing.
But no one said falling in love with the oblong philosophy was going to be easy.
"The whole expansion thing is for the long run," commissioner John Swofford said Tuesday at the conclusion the preseason media event. "(The idea) is not to be called the best conference for one year. (But) we feel like we have every opportunity to be just as respected in football as we have in basketball."
The temptation is to make the ACC into instant coffee: quickly made and passed off to a skeptical consumer as French roast. It is still a bitter taste maybe for the rest of Division I-A, most of which underwent a seismic shift because of the league's decision to expand a year ago.
But do true vintages need time? The Big Ten, SEC and Pac-10 have spent decades establishing their tradition and excellence. Even the eight-year-old Big 12 retained all the members of the old Big Eight.
Put it this way: If Paris Hilton can become famous for doing nothing, then the ACC can become a football power overnight. Or a year or two, if it takes that long.
"Why should you go outside your conference when you have all the talent here?" asked Florida State receiver Craphonso Thorpe, who wants every game on the schedule to be a conference game.
Despite the comments above, most of the coaches and players here this week had a hard time slotting the new ACC. Good, yes, but how good? In a league that has yet to kick off, the "new" conference looks like it could still walk into any bar and start a heck of a brawl:
- There are a combined nine national championships between Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
- Miami, Virginia Tech and Florida State have combined to play in five of the first six BCS championship games. Miami and Florida State have won two of the past five national titles.
- No conference has had a better bowl record over the past three years (13-6).
- For the first time the ACC passed the 3,000,000 mark in total attendance in 2003.
- Even before expansion, the Sagarin computer index rated the ACC the strongest conference at the end of last season.
Tickets sales are up all over the league, including Duke, where football really is an afterthought. Clemson has sold out of season tickets (all 57,000) for the first time.
"I don't think we've ever had a point in time in our history where we had the same opportunity nationally from a competitive standpoint as we've had in basketball," Swofford said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to have football, collectively, at the same level."
The ACC gets most of its prestige now from Miami challenging Florida State in the same conference. Virginia Tech is teetering between greatness and mediocrity in the post-Michael Vick era. Like Miami, the Hokies were able to mop up in the Big East but are six games below .500 all-time (130-136-18) against the nine existing ACC teams.
Plus, the Hokies were basically forced on the league, the result of political squabbling within the state. Boston College joins next year making it an even dozen.
They are all quality schools but the fact that two of the three Florida superpowers are now in one league gives the ACC most of its football credibility. Florida State was picked as the conference's preseason No. 1 by the media for the 13th year in a row. Miami was second.
"Now," Bobby Bowden said, tweaking the University of Florida, "the stepbrother is Gainesville."
Given that Florida State-Miami axis, those coaches and players will have to find a way to raise their game. Maryland has won at least 10 games three years in a row. Florida State, which has made a joke of the league going 90-6, now has a challenge from what might be its most bitter rival. On-the-rise Clemson might hit a glass ceiling right about the time it is ready to break through. For that matter, Miami won't have the free pass it enjoyed playing in the Big East.
"Florida State has done a lot to change the dynamics of the league," Friedgen said. "I definitely think Florida State coming into the league raised the level of football. It wouldn't surprise me that Miami does the same. There used to be a point where no one could beat Florida State. Someone has found a way to beat them."
Miami has done it five consecutive times, which is part of the intro to one of the great season openers of modern times. ABC already was positioning Florida State at Miami for Labor Day night (Sept. 6) when the Hurricanes joined the league.
Now the game lends a Super Bowl-like air to the ACC's first full weekend. The winner immediately becomes the league frontrunner. The loser has a chance to win the rest of its games and perhaps get a rematch with the winner in the BCS title game.
"It's one of the super conferences now, I believe," Tigers quarterback Charlie Whitehurst said. "Miami is one of the top teams to beat. They're where we want to be right now. It's not something you want to avoid at all. It's a tougher schedule for us but if you win every game, beat Miami and Florida State, you're in the national championship game."
A conference championship game will follow in 2005 along with more bowl tie-ins beginning in 2006. The TV rights holders have spoken loudest, stepping up with a package that will give league members an additional $1 million each in revenue per year. In those terms, yes, the ACC is among the best in the country. TV confirmed it by believing enough people will watch it so it can recoup its money.
"I think there's a lot of reasons why this is a tremendous league," Friedgen said. "Not only because of the caliber of the teams but do you see all this media here? We're going to be the most powerful media league in the country. We're all the way up to Boston. We'll probably end up pulling part of New York and Philadelphia. Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Miami, that's pretty powerful. We are truly an Atlantic Coast conference now."
The concern is that the ACC loses some of its country club Southern charm. The league always has conducted business in a quiet, dignified manner no matter what Dean Smith had to complain about. The latest example was Monday night: The widow of recently deceased ACC media relations legend Skeeter Francis got a standing ovation Monday night from writers, coaches and staff at a dinner.
Tears welled up. Hugs were exchanged. There wasn't a dollar around to buy the rights to the scene or a camera around to show it.
Nevertheless, a blitz is on its way.
