Again, when the 1971-72 hoops schedule was released, I said to myself "I don't know about this, but we'll see what happens."
It begins! Paris mentioned as candidate to replace Howard at Michigan
- Thread starter 18IsTheMan
- Start date
Again, when the 1971-72 hoops schedule was released, I said to myself "I don't know about this, but we'll see what happens."
The Metro would have settled in as less than the current ACC in football, and without the established rivalries, in my estimation.
I think we were thrashing around as an aspiring meaningful program during both the independent and Metro eras of our lostness - 20 years total. The strings that were pulled to land us in the SEC were manipulated by the unseen hand of God. We are blessed, but some meaningful things were relinquished that have never been replaced and probably will not be.
Again, when the 1971-72 hoops schedule was released, I said to myself "I don't know about this, but we'll see what happens."
Make it two different 8-member conferences with a "working relationship" between them. And yes, football would have to be among the sports in which each league competed and crowned a champion.
I'll bet that what the ACC likely wanted to say, but probably couldn't, is that we would have had to keep McGuire on a short leash or get rid of him, and not challenge any league academic initiatives. Maybe put us on a 5-year non-voting probationary period. Dietzel, who really rankled the league by recruiting below ACC academic requirements and pushed for secession, was gone by the time informal talks began.
I really think that ideally they did not want us to leave, but Dietzel and McGuire were so arrogant and especially Dietzel pushing lower academic standards, they just got tired of us.
People still discuss things that go back even farther than this, but that doesn't mean they haven't moved on. All some folks want is for other folks to understand that things that happened in the past gave rise to things being as they are today, and that not ALL aspects of EVERY change are fortunate.
The Beatles ‘happened’ half a century ago. Doesn’t mean I pay fealty to Taylor Swift so as to ‘move on.’
"When I think about Lamont Paris, I think about the reasons I first hired him at Wisconsin. He stands for all the good things in college athletics. He's got an old school bedrock with creative and new school energy and ability. He paid his own way to play at a D3 school. He knew he was doing it for the love of the game and he's translated that mindset to his coaching style as well. His purpose as a coach is to help young men understand not just here and now, but also what comes after basketball. He is able to relate with all types of people. His work ethic in drills, film work, scouting reports is so thorough that I never had to critique his work. I could just turn him loose. His ears and eyes were always open and will continue to be open. South Carolina is getting a good one."
---- Bo Ryan, Retired Wisconsin Head Coach ---
If anyone is not familiar with Bo Ryan, look up his entire record on Wikipedia.
---- Bo Ryan, Retired Wisconsin Head Coach ---
If anyone is not familiar with Bo Ryan, look up his entire record on Wikipedia.
Last edited:
I gotta think it was a giant missed opportunity for the Metro had they implemented that. Just add football and it was probably a done deal where they would have been leading the direction of college athletics. No telling how powerful they could have made themselves and how powerful the teams in it could become in a monster size TV market and a conference like no other at the time. It was the perfect time for such a move that would never come again. I would not have been surprised if they would have poached a team or two from the ACC that were not based in NC... taters? Anyhow, it would have changed college football for sure.
Schools, not teams.
In the 80s, nobody wanted to share their football earnings, but knew they needed a conference for all other sports.
Money or not, I'm against that in principle. If enough (ideally all) members of a conference sponsor a sport on the varsity level, then those schools which sponsor the sport should compete for the conference title (here's looking at you, Notre Dame).
There's always exceptions. The Irish are not. Villanova is. Wildcat football competes at the FCS level.
That is a helluva endorsement. Wow!
