TallyBull

This is just a restatement of what that CW Lambert guy said the other day.

I have it on good authority that advanced renderings will be released during the spring game.

Agreed. Anybody heard anything about this? I thought the "true" renderings were going to be released at or before the Spring Game, but I've seen nothing to confirm that.

He does, although it hasn't translated to an ACC invitation - at least, not yet. Connections can only do so much... a vote by member institutions is required.

Miami is just one vote and I'm not sure it has much political pull with the ACC's other members. In fact, if Miami did make a stink about it, I could see the other ACC members voting to add USF just to spite them. It was a bigger stretch for the ACC to invite Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC - which FSU opposed as much as I'd expect Miami to oppose USF, if not more so - and we see how that vote went. The ACC could lock down the two largest media markets in Florida, at a time when keeping as strong a media deal as possible is key. USF is the logical add and I'd expect Miami to go along with it once it realizes it doesn't have the votes to keep USF out. EDIT: How we feel about FAU didn't manage to keep FAU out of the AAC either (sadly).

Even if Cal and Stanford stick with the ACC long-term (I have my doubts), that doesn't mean the ACC's other members will vote to add Pacific Northwest schools that nobody else wanted, just because they used to be in an auto-bid conference. I'd anticipate a much more modest move westward with bigger media market impacts (maybe paring SDSU with Cal and Stanford and Tulane with SMU), thereby strategically accommodating Cal, Stanford, and SMU somewhat, and adding USF (to keep two AAU schools in always-booming Florida) and UConn (to ensure the ACC remains a significant BB conference after losing UNC and Virginia) to fill things out on the east coast. The ACC currently has 17 football schools plus ND. Rumors suggest that the ACC will likely lose 4 football schools (FSU, Clemson, UNC, and Virginia). Seems to me they'll add USF, UConn, and Tulane, and *maybe* SDSU to get back to 17. I think the ACC is likely to remain primarily an east-coast conference, in the same way the B1G will remain primarily a mid-western conference notwithstanding its additions of Oregon, USC, and UCLA. I also think that ND will stick around; they value independence more than any affiliation with the four schools rumored to be leaving. Just my two cents.

I'm far from an expert on realignment. I'm intrigued but don't keep up with it as closely as others. That said, to understand realignment, I think you have to understand primarily two things: (1) how much money a university is bringing in and (2) how does it compare academically to its fellow conference members. Currently, I'm not sure how Duke ends up with more money in the Big 12, provided it enjoys a portion of any large exit fee/GoR settlement from departing members, and provided the conference TV and CFP money ends up being similar to what the Big 12 gets. And academically, Duke doesn't fit in with the (mostly) rabble in the Big 12. Nothing is impossible, but all signs point to Duke staying with Cal, Stanford, ND (at least, for now), Georgia Tech, and other AAU institutions (Miami, possibly USF later). Note that for FSU and Clemson, they don't necessarily see things this way. They care less about academics and more about money/access, which seems to be driving their current attempts to get out of the ACC. In fact, that's been their frustration all along - they care more about athletic success than the other denizens of the ACC, but all of the other teams benefit financially from them. But I suspect the president at Duke is more concerned about academics and fielding a strong basketball team and good, but not necessarily great, other teams. Again, nothing is impossible, but that's my take on the Duke rumors.

Posting this because there are a lot of people on this board and on X that seem to put a lot of stock into this anonymous account. I also find his constant P2 triumphalism a bit grating.

My understanding is that there will be a club area just like at RJS. I like to be outside, even if it's hot (sunblock, hats, and sunglasses are helpful), but it's nice to have a retreat to AC if you need it! And I think we'll have one, although it may not be quite as fancy as at RJS.

I think the problem is the "X.com" portion of the link. For whatever reason TheBullspen.com won't embed X.com links the way it embeds Twitter.com links. My work-around (there may be others): Click on the bottom-right corner of the post (specifically the u-shaped bracket with the arrow pointing up). Click "Share via." Click "Open in Safari." Copy and paste the link from the URL window (it should start with "Twitter.com," not "X.com"). Embed the URL starting with "Twitter.com" into your TheBullspen.com post. Works for me. I'm not particularly tech-savvy, so there may be other/better ways to do this.

Unless the ACC completely dissolves I don’t understand why UM would move to the Big 12 over just staying in the ACC. But what do I know.

Agree 100% and I strongly suspect this is the anticipated end game. But how soon do they get there?

And you should appreciate that voting to spend money is about as good an endorsement for an idea as you'll ever get from anyone, including from board members.