(08-20-2023, 06:43 PM)Spiny_Norman Wrote: I see the ACC as a life raft, not a rescue ship. But it could keep all of the other programs alive. The ACC is nationally competitive in many sports beyond basketball and football. They have teams that compete at a national level in:
Men's Cross Country (3 in the top 11 at last year's NCAA meet)
Women's Cross Country (NC State is the defending NC)
Men's and Women's Soccer
Men's and Women's Tennis
Men's and Women's Golf
Women's Swimming (Men's not as much)
Women's Volleyball (Louisville and Pitt are top 5)
Softball (Florida St, Duke, Clemson all top 10)
Women's lacrosse
Field hockey
My reading-between-the-lines of the strong push for ACC membership is that the Stanford leaders (including their advisors) see the ACC as an attempt to maintain a well-rounded, nationally competitive athletics program for the time being. Stanford could continue to pitch recruits (and coaches) in those sports that they will get to compete against the best if Stanford joins the ACC. I think recruiting would suffer in non-football and non-basketball sports in a reconstituted Pac 10 with SD State, Fresno St, UNLV, etc. Stanford could lose coaches as well.
Whether or not you think that is true, Stanford seems to see it that way. Their offer to take a significantly reduced share or no media rights fees at all (if true) speaks to their desperation.
And men's lax.
ACC schools won 9 team NCAA championships this past year, the most of any conference. And ACC teams were national championship finalists in 5 additional sports, with 26 total final four teams.
And it is crazy deep in many sports like soccer and lax.
It is arguably the best all-around sports conference. Its members collectively have the highest mean US News ranking. Its membership comprises a mix of small to medium-sized schools with enrollments of 9K to 45K (avg 25K) including 7 with AAU membership among its 6 private, 1 private-public hybrid, 5 public, and 3 public land-grant schools. Institutionally, the ACC is probably the best current fit for Stanford except for the unfortunate nature of its geography.