Here in the great Midwest, crazy rumors have been circulating. Over the past few days, the unsubstantiated gossip was gaining momentum. What was the wacky hearsay - that Clemson and Florida State were leaving the ACC to join the Big XII.
Now while I love the Big XII, I have a really, really hard time believing these two schools EVER seriously considered jumping conference ships. While the rumor mill was churning out tidbits of speculation at its maximum capacity, I heard plenty of arguments from numerous talking head "experts" about why or why not these rumors could be true. The two that grabbed my attention the most were both against the move. Geographically, it just doesn't make sense. I'm just not sure what the benefits would be for Clemson and Florida St. other than opening up Texas a little more for recruiting purposes. The other reason, while not very glamorous, is that the ACC is a much better academic conference. According to the U.S. and World New Report list of best academic schools, the ACC's average ranking for its members is 43rd and the Big XII is 106th (I think). That is a HUGE difference. While some may scoff that conference realignment has nothing to do with what happens in the classroom, I think this is short sighted. Some conferences do stress academics more than others. The ACC is one that does. West Virginia was supposedly spurned by the ACC for this reason but the Big XII couldn't snap the Mountaineers up more quickly.
Now with the ACC's new ESPN contract signed, sealed, and delivered, I hope these ridiculous rumors will disappear quickly. It is amazing what can be expounded on the internet and how quickly it can spread. While I would be interested to know if there was even a tiny bit of truth to this story, we will probably never know and I for one could live without knowing or hearing about it again. I just wondered when the next crazy rumor will start making its rounds.
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