Do I Even Know the ACC Anymore?

For as long as I have been following college sports, there are two conferences that I have kept up with significantly more than others: the ACC because of my UNC ties, and the SEC because I lived in Atlanta for a while and that's all you get down there, even with Georgia Tech in the city.  Both conferences have experienced some changes in the past decade.  Most recently, the SEC welcomed Missouri and Texas A&M.  The ACC received Miami, VT, and Boston College in the mid-2000s, completing the ACC I have come to know and love in my lifetime (er, mostly, except for that one school in Durham).

However, times change and teams improve.  Or schools become strapped for money.  Or there's a television deal that's too good to pass up.  Or something.  Whatever the reasons, the ACC I know is evolving, and it will never be the same.

And I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Earlier this year, Pittsburgh and Syracuse stated their intentions to leave the Big East and join the ACC beginning in the 2013-2014 athletic year.  Within the past few months, Notre Dame announced that it will abandon most of its independency and join the ACC in 2015; the Fighting Irish will remain independent in football.

Side note: I'm okay with that.  Based on the Irish's performance this year, they would dominate every ACC team in football and be off to the SEC in no time.

Just this week, Maryland (and Rutgers, but they're irrelevant in this particular post) announced its intentions to jump the ACC ship and join up with the Big Ten starting in 2014.  Their athletics were suffering so much that they had to cut some of their non-revenue sports to break even in the big ones like football and basketball, because even those weren't making enough money to support the school's entire athletic program.  The Big Ten Network looked pretty appealing in that situation.

We're all thinking it...

Maryland was one of the eight original ACC teams (which, fun fact, included South Carolina until 1971) and has been an active member in the conference since its founding in 1953.  In recent years, the Terps have appeared in two Final Fours and have brought home one national title (2002).  Maryland football holds nine ACC conference titles, the most recent from 2001.  

And now, I will have just two more years to watch Mark Turgeon's antics on the basketball court before the Big Ten schools get to experience that for themselves.

Another side note: remember when Tyler Zeller dumped 30 points, 20 of those being free throws, on the Terps last year for UNC's senior night?  That was awesome.

In all seriousness, it's sad to see one of the ACC's flagship schools exit the conference, especially due to these circumstances.  The ACC will certainly never be the same.  I wish Maryland the best of luck in the Big Ten (which, ironically, has 12 members, and will grow to 14 with Maryland and Rutgers), and I hope we meet again someday, perhaps in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

And because I can't resist because I'm a UNC fan...

While we're on the subject of conference changes...with all the Maryland talk from the past few days, there have also been some mentions of a possible VT move to the SEC.  This is not the first time such talks have arisen, and every time I hear or read something about it, I get nervous.  Unless the move is for money, as in Maryland's case, I'm not a huge fan of moving conferences for the sake of competition.  

But there's a caveat: I'd be okay with a VT move to the SEC if we were going 12-0, or even 11-1, year in and year out, dominating the ACC and winning BCS titles.

Are we doing that?  No.  We can make it to BCS games, but we have not clutched a BCS bowl win since the 2009 Orange Bowl.  Granted that wasn't too long ago, but we have made it to the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl since and could not get a win.  We also did not give Clemson a good run for its money in last year's ACC Championship Game.  

Would being in a more powerful football conference like the SEC attract more and better recruits?  Perhaps, and I understand why people would think that way.  But, even if we do make the move, we still have to be successful in that conference to prove we belong there.  I can't give a solid answer to this, but my gut instinct is that, despite being in a "football conference," a team still has to win and put up a good showing to appear attractive to recruits.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Hokies dearly, and I want the best for us.  And in this case, I think the best is staying in the ACC.  It's where we belong for now.  If, in the years to come, we do explode into a football powerhouse to the Alabama or this year's Notre Dame level, I'd be more okay with a move to a new conference for some different competition.

But for now, we are where we belong in the ACC.  

I have a T-shirt that I got at UNC at least six years ago.  The front has a UNC logo with the words "ACC Dominance" next to it, and below that are the logos of the remaining ACC schools: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, Virginia, VT, NC State, Florida State, Wake Forest, and Miami.  If things keep changing and teams keep shuffling, that shirt will need to be reprinted.

But I will always keep my original, because that's the ACC I grew up with, and the ACC I will always know and love.