ACC Expansion

Wake Forest 9 Georgia Tech 6. The ACC's second championship game featured a defensive struggle between a small private school and a former football power that hadn't won a league title since 1990. When proponents of ACC expansion first pressed their case in 2003,  there seemed to be a tacit assumption that the new 12 team league, bolstered by the addition of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College,  would each year stage a championship game featuring at least one and possibly two legitimate contenders for the national title. The prospect of, say, Florida State and Miami swapping touchdowns a second time on national television in an ACC Championship Game was just too good to turn down.

Four years later, however, some still feel ACC expansion has not measured up.  The 12 team ACC has not increased the number of nationally ranked teams, nor has it brought the league any closer to another national championship (last title-Florida State2001). Expansion has brought in new revenue, but has also increased the pay out from nine schools to 12. At this point, each school takes in about $10. 9 million, same as in the nine team ACC.

This is not to say that expansion has been a failure. The addition of Boston College near the northern tip of the east coast and Miami at the southern end has given the ACC unprecedented visibility in the major media markets of the eastern seaboard.  Virginia Tech's loyal fans have filled stadiums wherever the Hokies have played-even at Wake Forest and Duke.  The ACC's new expansion-rich tv contract doubled football revenues and added markedly to the league's national exposure on ESPN and ABC.

But the arguments for expansion in 2003 suggested there would be more. The 12 team ACC was supposed to significantly increase the chance for the league to put two teams in the Bowl Championship Series (and bring in several million more dollars). This has not come close to happening. The new ACC would, we were led to believe, increase the league's contenders for the national championship. To this point, Miami, BC, and VT have made the ACC an incredibly balanced league, but they have not brought the lucrative national championship payout any closer.

Personally, I enjoy showing highlights on football Saturdays for a 12 team league, and there is no question the ACC generates more news since expansion. But for the "great football upgrade" to live up to its promise, the ACC must outperform the Big East and the Big Ten and challenge the SEC in most years. It must put more teams into the rankings and occasionally send two teams to the BCS. And win some national championships.