(10-26-2023, 08:41 AM)GK3 Wrote: (10-25-2023, 05:28 PM)CompSci87 Wrote: Assorted Colleges Conference
Well, the ACC will be our conference next year, like or not. We can continue to complain about how it got that way, but it won't change what is going to be.
I am trying to understand how this might work. Each team to make a West Coast trip every 2 years. Does that mean the 15 existing members, or 16 with SMU added? So 8 teams come west and play 4 games against us and 4 against Cal? So Cal and Stanford then make 2 trips east and stay two weeks and play on consecutive weekends, or make 4 separate trips, or every other year make 3 trips, one being two weeks long before school starts?
It will be interesting and in some ways very interesting to get a whole new set of opponents. Frankly, I could care less if we play SC or UCLA any longer. I would like to see the Big Game continue. If we can field a decent basketball team, the chance to watch Duke and UNC every two years would be fun. It will certainly be challenging for many of our other sports. ACC produces some fine soccer, golf, tennis and women's basketball teams, and probably others I am not up to speed on. Is it possible share travel with Cal to help reduce the overhead?
Let me give you my understanding of this. I'm a Duke fan so I follow this vastly more closely that any Stanford fan at this point.
First, to make it clear, we're talking about basketball.
It looks like you'll be playing SMU home and home each year as well as Cal so I don't think they're going to be part of the two teams coming West at a time.
There is some uncertainty about how many conference games there will be each season. It's been 20 games for several years. That's brutal for the players. The current ACC coaches are lobbying to cut it back to 18. I doubt they'll succeed but we'll see.
It looks like the plan is to send two Eastern ACC teams to play in California at a time for two games each. That will probably mean the weeknight games will be at the same time. I don't see the ACC scheduling an 8:00 PST or later weeknight game for Eastern teams nor do I see them scheduling 4:00 PST weekday games. I think you'll see a lot of 6:00 PST weeknight conference games. I may be proven wrong but I somehow see Duke and UNC being sent out to California the first year to try to jump start interest in ACC basketball. If you're having two Eastern teams traveling to the Bay Area at a time, I think you'll have to also send Stanford and Cal East at the same time for two games each.
The ACC Commissioner is saying that he can't see inviting all 18 teams to the ACC Tournament. That's a radical shift since the theory has always been that each team has the opportunity to win the tournament. That's something the ACC has been known for since the 1950s. Still, I don't see more than 16 teams in the tournament. That's the number that Dave Teel says is most likely. I actually wish it were lower, maybe even 8. An 8 team tournament is far more watchable than a 16 team tournament.
I hope that Stanford and Cal can improve their hoops enough to enjoy playing in the ACC. You have to have serious NIL programs to succeed these days. Stanford has well-heeled alums. You should be able to do it. It's less difficult to build a program based on NIL in basketball than football. See Miami.
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