Some of your comparisons mean little...
Population of a university's town doesn't mean that much. I'd bet more residents within a 50 mile radius of Winston-Salem like UNC more than Wake. Plus a private school like Wake isn't going to have the fan support and TV viewers that a large state university like Virginia Tech. Tech's fan support goes way beyond Montgomery County, VA.
As for Tech women's soccer. They have made 8 straight NCAA post season appearances and 9 in the past 12 seasons. Tech made the College Cup Final 4 in 2013. Plus Tech was in the SoCon, an Independent, Metro, A-10, and Big East before landing in the ACC. A better comparison would be Tech and Wake the past 20 years.
My problem with Wake Forest isn't personal. My problem is the state of North Carolina already has 3 other members in the ACC. UNC and NC State are popular large state universities. Duke has 15,000 students and has performed at the highest level in men's basketball for decades. Wake, to me, is more like the University of Richmond. Wake isn't getting kicked out of the ACC. Wake made the right move in 1953 and they are fortunate to be in the Power 5 today with their small enrollment (lowest in the P-5) and small football stadium.
Tech performs very well in the sport that matters the most, football. Since joining the ACC, Tech has more wins than any program, despite our lackluster past few seasons. The year Wake won the ACC football championship, they were crushed at home against Virginia Tech during the regular season. When Wake expands their stadium to 45,000+ seats (and doesn't depend on visiting fan bases to fill up their seats) and doubles or triples student enrollment, then I'll take a more favorable view of them. I'd love to see the ACC have more large state flagship and land-grant universities like the other power 5 conferences. That's the biggest reason the SEC and Big 10 are making more revenue from their conference sports networks. Hopefully, the ACCN will be running soon.
|
(
In response to this post by Burnss)
Posted: 06/08/2016 at 6:19PM