And I recognize there are those who know more, but I have been following this stuff quite closely for about 15 years. I remember being ecstatic when VT finally received the ACC invite. The ACC WAS the premier league back then and it DID have the best payouts. It was top tier.

And despite their clearly wanting two dumpsterfire football programs, Cuse and BC, over VT, I was more than willing to attribute that poor judgement to a one time lapse in judgement. (And YES, I know Shalala wanted both those, but the ACC should have never allowed her to call the shots in the first place. Where else was Miami gonna go?)

But, from there, they went on to make nearly every blunder imaginable. I saw it play out right here on this board. They failed to be able to negotiate the ability to play an ACCCG with only 11 teams, so they went and added BC because BC would deliver every cable subscriber in Mass. OK?

THEN, they established the game in Florida because they just knew FSU and Miami were gonna be there each and every season. That was ridiculous. VT had already been more than holding its own with Miami. The odds of the FSU vs. Miami matchup were less than 25% even then. In fact, it has yet to happen. That's the ONLY matchup that would perform better in Florida than Charlotte. MAJOR bonehead mistake and those empty ACCCG stadiums made league football a laughingstock.

From there, they CLEARLY failed to negotiate a decent TV deal back in 09-10. These guys are CLEARLY out of their league. The Pac12 negotiated a deal only months afterward that paid far more, and the Pac12 did not have to include potential network content. Shortly thereafter, the University of Texas negotiated a deal for their own network. So, please do not tell me ESPN wasn't interested in networks. (BTW, the SEC was already locked into multiple longterm deals for its tier 3 content. That explains the wait for their network. EVERYONE since 2007 knew the SECN would make mucho money.) Then there's Raycom. Dead serious, I really truly think there were quite possibly illegal activities involved in that. Certainly unethical and what happened there WAS NOT in the best interest of Virginia Tech.

Next, they needed to renegotiate the deal, so they added Pitt? and Cuse? You know, because every cable subscriber in Pennsylvania and NY would be forced to pay $.35/month for the network. (Problem is there was/is no network).

Also, they went after PSU and failed miserably. There was as much bad blood between PSU and the B1G as possible over Sandusky issues, but the ACC couldn't get it done and they have paid a horrible price. This clearly opened the door for the B1G to steal away Maryland. It even came up in Maryland's trial. Swoff and Co never saw it coming. Stealth Swofford was overmatched against Delaney. (This dispute has continued to cost us as the B1G made an unprecedented move of rejecting the ACC's aspect of being able to choose its own champion while actually allowing the Big12 to play a game with only 10 teams. Hey, you remember how the B1G and others refused to allow the ACC to play a champ. game with 11?)

Also, the ACC is the least paid of the Playoffs teams. Look it up. We earn $27 million from the Orange Bowl for our 14 teams, while the Big12 earns $40 million from the Sugar for its 10. WUWT? (BTW, the Big12, or old Big8, actually has more of a historic tie to the Orange. Why didn't they get stuck there?)

And here we are at Virginia Tech with one horrible conference schedule after another. It doesn't get much worse in major college football. None of the teams on our schedule increase ticket demand. Maybe UVA does, but they've given up on fball and we would play them if we were in the Pac12. Miami's a decent draw, but they don't actually have butts in seats fans. Increased ticket demand is a primary driver for athletics donations.

Virginia Tech DOES deserve better. We're historically a top 20 program, look up win percentages. Over the last 25 years, we're top 10 to 15. Hokie Nation is a real phenomena. You hear us take over ND's home field last year? I've traveled around with the Hokies all over the country and we get MAJOR props for our support. From Baton Rouge, to Lincoln, to Columbus. Bowls love us and want us. Sugar has a history of taking VT over more qualified teams. TV loves us. ESPN had a real love affair with VT for years. We were all over that network when we were playing good ball. We still earn the ratings too. That OSU vs. VT rating was historic. And THAT didn't even outdraw our game against Boise a while back. We even until rather recently had one of the longest sellout streaks in football. BTW, just last year Virginia Tech was part of the biggest crowd to ever watch a football game.

So, VT has fans and support. But, here we sit ranking 40th out of 65 P65 schools. That does not do us justice. We're back to 1997 all over again and we're playing in a hodgepodge league. There's private schools vs. publics/bball schools vs. fball/old schools vs. new. It's a disaster and ACC leadership has only created more problems.

And frankly, I don't blame VT folks for not paying a ton of dough to get tickets to these humdrum games. They suck. I've maintained season tickets for 20 years, but I fully recognize I can get tickets to the GT, Duke, UNC, Pitt, BC games for $10 - $20 as I'm walking to the gate. Actually, people offer me free tickets to such games all the time.

I just hope we don't poppycock opportunities moving forward. And yes, I do expect us to act like one of the bigger draws in this league. Whether they wish to acknowledge it, or not, we most definitely are. Screw them. Screw UNC. And BTW, howabout the ACC fining us and Louisville recently and not doing a dang thing to UNC?
[Post edited by chuckd4vt at 05/11/2017 12:20PM]