The ACC proudly announced the return of College Championships to the state of North Carolina. Boldly proclaiming “the return of neutral-site championships in the state of North Carolina,” all must now seem right again in the minds of those on Tobacco Road.
Perhaps the conference hierarchy that is from, lead, and run by those in the state of North Carolina can breathe more easily now that they are back in full control. UNC’s recent national basketball championship may highlight the strength of a great basketball conference, but those in Clemson and Tallahassee and perhaps Louisville and Miami who care about football and need comparable funds to compete with the SEC and Big 10 must feel like the budget guru’s in the Soviet Union felt when Ronald Reagan decided to try to outspend them. For those who failed history, it didn’t turn out very well for the side with less money!
It would be easy to dismiss facts, given that FSU and Clemson recently won National Championships in football, but leaders and fans outside of NC must consider several things: Is the state of NC a neutral-site if you come from Syracuse, S. Carolina or Florida? Is it time to rename the conference the NCC to fully recognize that the conference is housed, run and managed entirely in North Carolina by North Carolina schools? Why did we grant our rights to a conference that is led by people who are 5 years behind conference peers and worst of all, how can we compete with schools that get $20M a year more because their conference leaders created better deals for them than John Swofford and his NC cronies did for us in the ACC?
