SMU, which first came up as a possible ACC expansion target on our pages in the summer of 2022, is currently in first place in the ACC Football race, in its first season as a conference member.
The trips to the ACC Kickoff that Scott German and I make each July often involve long discussions about conference realignment, because the summer silly season draws out every blogger with a couple of followers on the social media with a guy who knows a guy who heard something about UVA getting ready to bolt for the Big Ten.
The Kickoff events always start with Jim Phillips giving his State of the ACC address, which has him going on and on about the non-revenue sports winning national titles, then complaining about TV contracts.
The ink-stained wretch types leave the ballroom thinking, this is the last Kickoff, then go about our day voting for Clemson and Florida State to be in Charlotte in December.
Scott and I end up at the nearest bar having our version of the artificial turf vs. natural grass debate over the merits of the ACC going after this school, that one and that other one.
This was how we ended up on SMU, which has oil money, a good enough academic reputation, and a home base in a huge TV market.
SMU made a lot more sense to us than the UConns and West Virginias that had the focus of the bloggers.
UConn doesn’t play football – don’t @me; I know it fields a team, but they don’t play football – and West Virginia makes Louisville look like Harvard academically, and doesn’t add TV viewers being located out in the middle of nowhere.
So, we got us some SMU, and SMU, in its first season, is atop the ACC standings.
Just sayin’ here, you’ve gotta give your Fringe Media guys credit for knowing what they’re talking about.
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Chris Graham
