makes SEC football great.
It is really simple: "Let's be honest,” Smart told the media postgame. “The reason the Southeastern Conference is what it is, is because the states that encompass the Southeastern Conference love football.”
Well, KY really doesn't love CFB because KY loves everything about basketball. But exceptions prove rules.
And that love of football at the grassroots level of its member states is a very large part of what holds ACC football back and down. The only charter ACC state that loves football is SC, and for 30 years, SC has been half an SEC state as well. GA and FL love football, but the ACC was very late to those states, which means we always play catch up in them.
VT is a campus that loves CFB, but VA is a state that cares more about basketball.
MA is a state hard pressed to care any less about CFB. MA loves the Patriots and so cares about the NFL, but MA cares nada about CFB. All of New England cares nada about CFB. BC does not have a single halfway passionate rivalry, nor one that has any meaning to CFB history.
NY didn't even care much about CFB when Fordham had its Golden Age. The only CFB games that have ever mattered a good deal to New York were the classic Army-ND games, and that rivalry was driven by national love of CFB, not by NY love of CFB. Syracuse does not have a single passionate football rivalry, nor one that has any meaning to CFB history.
PA used to love CFB. The PSU campus and alums still do. But Pittsburgh people love the Steelers and barely keep up with Pitt. Since the start of 2 platoon football, the Pitt campus and city have been passionate about only 2 Pitt rivalries: PSU and WVU. Neither school is on the ACC, which means right now Pitt has no rivalry with the slightest bit of passion or historical significance.
So how can ACC football compete against the SEC?
In terms of finding some fans who are passionate about CFB, would be better off with schools in football-loving states like TX and OH than in states like MA and NY that essentially ignore CFB? NC being a basketball-first state, how great a handicap is it that the ACC has 4 schools in NC, including the smallest school in any Major conference?
It is really simple: "Let's be honest,” Smart told the media postgame. “The reason the Southeastern Conference is what it is, is because the states that encompass the Southeastern Conference love football.”
Well, KY really doesn't love CFB because KY loves everything about basketball. But exceptions prove rules.
And that love of football at the grassroots level of its member states is a very large part of what holds ACC football back and down. The only charter ACC state that loves football is SC, and for 30 years, SC has been half an SEC state as well. GA and FL love football, but the ACC was very late to those states, which means we always play catch up in them.
VT is a campus that loves CFB, but VA is a state that cares more about basketball.
MA is a state hard pressed to care any less about CFB. MA loves the Patriots and so cares about the NFL, but MA cares nada about CFB. All of New England cares nada about CFB. BC does not have a single halfway passionate rivalry, nor one that has any meaning to CFB history.
NY didn't even care much about CFB when Fordham had its Golden Age. The only CFB games that have ever mattered a good deal to New York were the classic Army-ND games, and that rivalry was driven by national love of CFB, not by NY love of CFB. Syracuse does not have a single passionate football rivalry, nor one that has any meaning to CFB history.
PA used to love CFB. The PSU campus and alums still do. But Pittsburgh people love the Steelers and barely keep up with Pitt. Since the start of 2 platoon football, the Pitt campus and city have been passionate about only 2 Pitt rivalries: PSU and WVU. Neither school is on the ACC, which means right now Pitt has no rivalry with the slightest bit of passion or historical significance.
So how can ACC football compete against the SEC?
In terms of finding some fans who are passionate about CFB, would be better off with schools in football-loving states like TX and OH than in states like MA and NY that essentially ignore CFB? NC being a basketball-first state, how great a handicap is it that the ACC has 4 schools in NC, including the smallest school in any Major conference?