Academics may help ACC avoid poaching

Sports talk radio hosts have lots of time to fill right now.

The NFL and college football seasons haven’t started yet. The NBA is in a labor stoppage and NASCAR just isn’t as interesting as it used to be.

So when talk of the SEC raiding the ACC starts crackling through the airwaves, there is reason to be cautious.

But talk of Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 seems legitimate. Texas A&M has a legitimate reason to bolt because the Big 12 has sold its soul to keep the Aggies’ rival, Texas, in the conference.

If the SEC takes Texas A&M, the conference would be looking for a 14th member, and some attractive options exist in the ACC:

- Florida State has a national following and a top-25 program even after Bobby Bowden’s ouster.

- Virginia Tech has a football program that’s without peer in the ACC.

- Clemson is Auburn with a lake. As a small-town, football-crazed state-supported school, Clemson has a lot in common with Auburn, Georgia, Florida and other SEC schools. So why not join a conference with schools that have similar demographics?

This point has been made before, but it’s worth making again.

In each case, it’s instructive to remember who makes the decision to switch athletic conferences. University chancellors, presidents and boards of trustees usually are charged with that task.

And while the SEC has won the past five national championships in football, the ACC has finished first among BCS conferences in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Ratings in each of those academic years.

Chancellors like to be aligned with other schools that possess highly regarded academic reputations. The big dollars of the SEC are enticing, but having an association with Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Virginia is not to be underestimated when evaluating chancellors’ motivations.

Another point is that in terms of football, the ACC schools would put themselves in danger of being considerably less competitive if they joined the SEC. Virginia Tech dominates the ACC, but loses almost every time it plays a nonconference opponent of any estimation, with recent defeats coming to Boise State, East Carolina and even James Madison. Florida State gets thumped every year by Florida; why join the SEC and get clobbered by a bunch of other football powers, too?

Bottom line, except for the money in the SEC – which is enticing – there aren’t many reasons to leave the ACC.

"As I've said previously, we'll continue to be mindful of the collegiate landscape and what's best for the ACC and its member institutions," ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement today. "With that said, I've received no indication from any of our 12 Presidents that they have any intention of being affiliated with any conference other than the ACC."

As for the idea that the North Carolina schools might leave, you can forget it. UNC’s rivalry with Duke in basketball is far too important for the Tar Heels to leave for the SEC. (The SEC would not be interested in Duke as a package deal). N.C. State’s culture and tradition as the first home of the ACC tournament, and rivalries with UNC, Duke and Wake Forest would make it difficult to leave.

If somebody does leave the ACC, though, it would be fascinating to see who got an invitation to become the new 12th member. Keep in mind, the academic profile of the new school would remain critically important to the ACC. Here would be some likely candidates:

1. Rutgers: A New Jersey presence would deliver a new TV market and bridge the geographical gap in the ACC between Maryland and Boston College. Rutgers has a decent football program and a basketball program that should be better than it is with a location so close to New York City.

2. Pittsburgh: This is another geographical bridge school that would help the ACC in football and basketball. The TV market isn’t huge, but it’s bigger than the one Virginia Tech brought to the ACC a few years ago.

3. Connecticut: The basketball program would add a lot to the ACC, and the football program is coming off a BCS appearance. The Huskies would provide a local rival for Boston College as well.

4. East Carolina: Perhaps this is a sentimental choice as the only non-BCS conference member on this list. The Pirates wouldn’t add anything in basketball and don’t contribute a TV market. But East Carolina has demonstrated that it can compete with ACC teams in football, and if North Carolina politicians are courted in the right way (remember Virginia Tech in the last ACC expansion), the school could get a shot at ACC membership.

Again, though, this is getting way ahead of the game. It will take a bold move by a chancellor for a school to leave the ACC, especially with the college athletics hierarchy suddenly at least paying lip service to the importance of academics.