Everyone takes a deep breath. Seriously. It’s been an interesting and stressful few days in the ACC, and as we come to the end of it all, the main takeaway is this: We knew schools were examining the grant of rights to see how airtight it is, and now we know some of those schools have had those conversations amongst themselves. It’s not exactly shocking, but every decision feels heightened in a period of instability and realignment across the national landscape.
“We are better off together than a smaller subset in the sense that it’s been proven that national championships are great when you have multiple leagues competing for it, not just a couple.”State athletic director Michael Alford said the Seminoles are “thrilled” to be in the ACC and wanted to remain a league member, one day after reports emerged that the group of schools had been exploring ways to leave the conference.
“The ADs and the universities are very unified,” Alford told reporters. “So we’re thrilled about being in this league, and we want to stay in it.”that the seven schools have met together and had the discussions.“I would classify it as a number of conversations, usually in small groups, on interpretations of grant of rights, of bylaws of the league, of options that may be out there,” Babcock told The Times-Dispatch.
“People had to say where they were and why do you feel that way,” Radakovich told reporters, adding that the growing revenue gap between the Big Ten and SEC and everyone else may impact ACC schools in myriad ways that would show up on the field or on the court. “We have this gap, and the gap is not just about money,” Radakovich said.
“I think it was less than ideal that it came out, but it’s been a catalyst for some real conversation and maybe getting to things a little faster that we’ve been working on as the ACC,” Babcock said.Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.