Clemson and Florida State to the Big 12 - a hoops perspective
Yesterday the rumor mill known as Twitter began recirculating the possibility of Clemson and Florida State jumping from the ACC to the Big 12. This has been postulated for a while, but now the rumor appears to have some legs. This was brought back due to the hiring of Bob Bowlsby - the former Stanford Athletic Director - to run the Big 12. The conference has long been in need of strong leadership, and now it has it.
"The institutions of the Big 12 wanted a commissioner that could take us to the next era as a conference," said Burns Hargis, president of Oklahoma State and chairman of the conference's board of directors. "The search committee looked for a candidate that has a vision for the next generation of college athletics, and his credentials and ideas exceeded this."
I'll leave the rumors to those inclined to push them. For me, I wonder if this is a good move for hoops.
Clemson is one of the founding members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (1953). In those 59 years they've never won the conference tournament, and have finished atop the regular season standings just once. FSU has been in the conference since 1992. In two decades they've won the conference tournament once, and never finished atop the regular season standings.
Aside from a record of futility, what do these two programs have in common? Money, or the lack thereof.
In the most recent financial data available Clemson finished No. 11 (of 12) in conference hoops revenue, while FSU finished No. 12. And like any business, those with money have a huge advantage.
And now the ACC is adding Syracuse and Pittsburgh which will give them two more top-20 revenue teams. And at the very top the ACC will have Duke (No. 1), North Carolina (No. 3) and Syracuse (No. 5).
The Seminoles and Tigers just don't have the financial resources to compete in that market. The Big Ten and the ACC are the players in high finance college basketball while Clemson and Florida State are the bottom feeders in the ACC.
What about the Big 12? Shifting Clemson and FSU into that conference immediately puts them above Baylor and Texas Tech, and within shouting distance of Kansas State. More importantly, none of the top-10 revenue generating programs come from the Big 12. The Big 12 is No. 5 in men's basketball revenue per school.
So should basketball fans from these two schools be exciting about these rumors? No doubt. It could put them into a conference where they have a better chance at competing regularly.
Or they could stay in the ACC where in 70 combined years of basketball they have one regular season title, and one conference title.
An added bonus? The Big 12 hasn't hired Karl Hess to ref a game since 1997.
You really think basketball is the driver in this realignment equation?
Football is what it is all about, and football only.
FSU and Clemson couldn't give a rat's behind about the basketball implications.
Get real.
Thank you for this insight, Michael @runthefloor We realize this is a basketball centric blog, and a damn fine one at that. We also realize that the decisions made for football affect the basketball side of the equation as well. I believe where there is smoke, there is fire. Keep up the great work.
You do realize that the move has nothing to do with basketball right? The money comes from football. If conference realignment was about basketball, everyone would want Louisville and Kansas. This is about basketball. You should do an article on how much FSU and Clemson make in football compared to the rest of the ACC. That will explain why FSU and Clemson want to go to the Big 12.
1 Like
I'll leave the rumors to those inclined to push them. For me, I wonder if this is a good move for hoops.
------------
you do realize the author was writing about basketball and never stated anything implying the possible move from the ACC to BIG12 was basketball related?
have issues with wider viewpoints? dislike non-primary concerns?
@TravisElder Yes, I do realize whether it was a good move for hoops article. But to be honest, does it matter what Hoops does? The realignment is a football first thing is all I'm saying. Also, you can leave the rumors all you want, but from everyone I've heard, the move is likely.
My whole point was, basketball doesn't really matter anyways. ACC is becoming the new Big East and we all saw how that turned out. Obviously the ACC hasn't learned that Basketball revenue, won't get you anywhere.
I guess they will soon learn.
@big12source @Rlh04d He probably didn't touch on football at all because he's writing a blog about basketball.
Again, if you want info on how this is going to affect the football side of things, you should probably read ... I don't know ... every other piece of information that will ever come out on this. This is probably the only article that will ever be written strictly about how this affects the basketball side of the equation.
It's a worthwhile question, and one that won't be addressed often. It's not the leading issue, nor was it portrayed here as such. A guy that writes about basketball addressed the basketball ramifications. If you seriously have a problem with that, I seriously question your intelligence.
@Rlh04d @big12source I know what blog I'm on. Just like if the Pac12 were to expand, I wouldn't leave out the fact they expanded as a Big 12 guy. I would hint at that in the end. It was only a suggestion because I know I'm not the only one thinking, why didn't he touch on football at all.
@big12source You do realize the logo on this blog says "A college basketball blog" right? Why would you come to a basketball blog and bitch that he isn't addressing the football side of things? That's like me complaining someone with "big12source" as their name isn't properly informing me on the Pac12's new TV contract. There will be plenty of talk on the football aspect. Obviously that is what is driving the move. However, as an aside, it's perfectly reasonable to speculate on what impact that move would have on the #2 college sport. Next time figure out what blog you're on before posting.
@big12source Obviously. But that's not the point. The ACC is a basketball first conference. Clemson and FSU are football schools. They're a much better fit in the Big 12.
