The ACC and the Summer of '04

The ACC logged its biggest win of the young season when Florida State knocked off seventh-ranked BYU in Provo, Utah this Saturday. Think about that… FSU defeating a Mountain West team today is seen as an impressive feat. It’s a fact that demonstrates the sad state of the Atlantic Coast Conference in its current form, a far cry from the mega-conference the ACC felt it was becoming in the summer of 2004.

Let me take you back, back to July 2004. George W. Bush boasts a 51% approval rating and seeks a second term of office. The Nelly song, “Over and Over Again” with Tim McGraw is getting considerable radio airtime, Facebook is four months old and the ACC is a respectable athletic conference best known for its sterling academic reputation.

In July of ’04 ACC Commissioner John Swafford organizes efforts to entice perennial Big East juggernaut Miami and burgeoning, defensive-minded Virginia Tech to ally with the conference and elevate the ACC into a venerated regional power poised to challenge the SEC, Big 10 and Big 12.

It was an impressive move. And you were hard pressed to find a critic who felt the annexation did anything but make the ACC an immediate BCS power broker. Va. Tech was building an impressive resume, with four recent BCS bowl invites and a national title game appearance. Miami added five national title claims to the conference coffers and an instantaneous rivalry with Miami, certain to curb national attention. The addition of the two new schools gave the ACC a total of twelve, the magic number needed to institute a conference championship game, and an automatic media spotlight. How could the conference go anywhere but up?

Back to the current day, a Wake Forest ACC championship and two Boston College runners-up later, and the conference has become a yearly disappointment. Florida State and Miami, the conference’s cornerstones, have fallen from influence. The ACC title game has been dismally attended and the venue shifted. We are still waiting for the conference’s pre-ordained resurgence. Where’s the yearly national title contender? Where are the prime time rivalry games and new, intriguing matchups brought on by the addition? Raycom Sports, that’s where. The SEC and Big 12 have clearly stepped up as the game’s top conferences. The Big 10 has put two Ohio State teams into the BCS title game since. And the Pac 10 can at least boast USC, its ’04 title and ’06 appearance.

And what does the ACC have to show for its machinations? The Big East is eviscerated. Talking heads are calling for its BCS tie-in to be revoked. And at what cost? The damage done to the Big East certainly isn’t justified by what the new ACC has accomplished, not by a long shot. And since these two BCS conferences cannot hold their own, we must suffer the constant boo-hooing of mid-majors purporting a claim to the national championship every season.

The damage is done, and there’s no going back. While the Big East has improved somewhat this season, its BCS privileges will continually be challenged. The ACC may not be far off from meeting the expectations of 2004, with Miami and FSU showing signs of revival, but the unavoidable truth remains that the annexations of ’04 have so far been a supreme disappointment.