Exactly! Who in their right mind would leave the SEC for the ACC?
We have winning records against the entire conference except Clemson over the past 60 years. I think we'd be ok.
My understanding is that when the ACC added Miami, Boston College, Syracuse, etc., back-channel inquiries were made to determine USC's interest in rejoining the ACC. Those inquiries were made 20 years too late, IMO.
And Vandy saw what happened to Tulane when they left the SEC.
Agreed we should never have left. But when the ACC finally came calling, we were firmly ensconced in the SEC.
I think the ACC bit off more than they could chew by adding enough members to stage a championship football game.
Are you talking all ACC opponents combined record, other than Clemson? Because in the individuals matchups, which is how the games are played they don’t have a winning record in that time frame against Miami & FSU. Some teams they have not played at all. So if you’re talking combined record then great I guess.
I pine for the 8-member league we foolishly left in 1971. With bloated membership stretching from coast to coast, the ACC we left no longer exists.
You must be one of those people who would be happy if USC discontinued sponsoring all varsity sports except football.
Yeah seems we were invited into the SEC to give the power teams an easy break in their schedules. SEC to SC, “shut up and just cash your checks”. Officiating reflects that too!
We were invited as a high profile school to enable the SEC to stage a championship game in football while also expanding the league's geographic footprint. I wonder if the SEC reached out to Georgia Tech at all back then about the possibility of returning to the SEC.
In ~130 years of varsity athletic competition, with the exception of periods of success in basketball (both genders) and baseball, this is generally true.
The SEC wanted two more teams for the very reason you say. But SC and Arkansas were invited because Texas and Texas A&M said no at the time. That much I can remember and have heard that a few times over the years. What I don’t recall clearly was any potential interest in FL St. I think, FL had strong objections and FSU probably had no interest given their recent admission to the ACC. But had they found their way to the SEC that may also have kept SC out.
We were lucky to become well paid whipping boys instead of just whipping boys.
I recall FSU being approached by both the SEC and the ACC and Daddy Bowden turned the SEC down because he didn't want the stiffer competition in the SEC vs. the ACC. He knew he could dominate the ACC. I think at the time, FSU was an independent like SC. I recall the SEC approaching Clemson and Clemson turning them down because they liked being the big fish in the small ACC football pond.
Ok. I remember once Bowden being asked about the SEC and him saying he’d rather be in the ACC but wasn’t sure if they ever were approached formally by the conference. Didn’t know about the Clemson interest at all.
I don't think the SEC ever made a formal offer to Clemson, I just seem to remember some Clemson "insiders" and some people who were really keeping up with SEC expansion saying Clemson had been approached to gauge their interest. I want to say the talk at the time was that the SEC would have liked to get FSU and Clemson since both were more "SEC like" and geographically closer to the SEC footprint.
Yep. Still think we could finish in the Top 4 in today's ACC on some consistent basis though and make the playoffs.
We beat Miami. I forgot about the bowl loss to FSU.
We won the ACC in 1969 only. We tied in 1965 with Duke and then had to vacate our conference wins. That resulted in NC State and Clemson being co-champions with 5-2 conference records.
"Gamecocks weren't any good prior to the SEC. I think they have a loosing record against most of the ACC opponents they used to play with regularity. So if that is any sort of metric then leaving the SEC ain't fixing anything..."
Your theory assumes that we would immediately fall back in line if we went back to the ACC. That's a big assumption.
It's not a theory nor an assumption that SC is a mediocre football program, they have been in any era. I'm also not assuming they would return to the ACC. Given their history with the conference both as a member and nonmember it was logical to consider how they have done against them. When comparing them to the ACC since their departure until now, as far as records go, it's simply nothing special. If you remove Clemson from the equation as that's the only ACC team they've always played since leaving, I think that does come out to a record a little over .500.
No, men’s basketball, soccer and baseball are ok with me. I wish we could make Rugby a varsity sport also. Women’s sports are boring to watch and I have no interest in them. They cost a lot of money to support and take revenue away from the important revenue generating sports. All nonrevenue sports should be club level enterprises in my opinion.
I was thinking more along the lines of hoops. Today's ACC does not interest me, although I would like to see us schedule more of our old ACC rivals (i.e., those schools who were in the conference at the time of our departure) in as many sports as possible - a major reason for my dislike of the SEC going to a 9-game football schedule.
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