VT Schedule

What mentality is that?

FSU has also scheduled OU in '10 and '11.
I know it's not the SEC, but their pretty good competition.

By and large ACC teams don't have much on their plate as far as in conference competition...and they don't compensate by scheduling upper eschelon teams in fear that they won't be in line for a big payday come bowl season. That's my definition of the ACC mentality.

That don't matter though because it's a BCS conference. Win a BCS conference your guaranteed a BCS bowl. That's pretty much cut and dry.

That is why non conference champs like Kansas can get in and beat conference champs as well..lol

I'm not sure if this been mentioned yet, I've not read the whole thing. However, I think it says a lot when the SEC has won 4 of the 10 BCS Championships and is 4-0 in those games as well as having an undefeated team in that time period as well.

the recruiting gap will never close cause those kids know that if they want to be seen by a bigger television audience and by more fans and viewers then they will play in the sec plus there is just more tradition in the sec....they are generations of athletes that stick to the same school as their father did and so on

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: oakland raiders</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the recruiting gap will never close cause those kids know that if they want to be seen by a bigger television audience and by more fans and viewers then they will play in the sec plus there is just more tradition in the sec....they are generations of athletes that stick to the same school as their father did and so on</div></div>

Thanks for the softball in my wheelhouse.

It should eventually close as coaches come and go, which will likely be the place in the next few years as some of these "superstar" coaches in the SEC won't be there forever and will be too tempted to either leave for another college job or for an NFL gig.

The ACC is on TV just as often as the SEC in the same area--so that's a null point. If TV audience is what these kids in the south are looking for, then they'd all go to tOSU*, or Michigan--who are on ESPN every week. I think both of those schools have a fan base & tradition on a national basis that rivals any SEC school...and as we see, those kids out of the south aren't flocking up to there out of the south--so it's not that.

If you want to talk about generations of athletes sticking to the same school--I'll cite two examples that obliterate that point, one that went in the SEC's favor and one that didn't.

Matt Patchan, who's father (Matt Sr.) went to Miami and was a standout OL during his time there, after getting tons of pressure to go to Miami and follow in his father's footsteps, wasn't promised that he could play both ways in college, both OL & DL, by Miami, eventually committed to the Gators. Meyer promised he would try him both ways on the line, and preferred the culture in smaller, more rural Gainesville over the area of Coral Gables/Miami. So--family ties meant squat there.

Robert Marve, who is looking to be the starter at Miami this year as a redshirt freshman QB--his father Eugene Marve played at Saginaw Valley St. in college, but played in the pros as an OL for the Buffalo Bills and knew ex-Bama HC Mike Shula as a QB on the team. Marve wanted to heed his father's advice and go play as a QB under Shula, who's perceived to be a great QB coach. Once Shula was fired, the family tie wasn't there any longer. Instead of sticking to the Bama commitment, he left and went to Miami.

There are other examples on down the line that you can site--Antone Smith--FSU RB, had a bunch of family that went to UM and was originally from Miami--now at FSU...switched hats on signing day. Ted Ginn, had tons of attachments to Miami, but wasn't recruited highly by Coker & Co...but eventually was given an offer--committed to tOSU*.

So it's not just that generations of father/son sticking to commitments. Today's recruiting landscape doesn't allow that to always be the case...if nothing else, one should expect the opposite and be surprised when a team gets a legacy.

I think the seperation of conferences is not talent, it is something else...Because someone posted that current NFL list the other day and the SEC only had like 16 more NFL players than the ACC, and both had well over 100. both of which were way more than any other conference....Might be coaching, might be scheduling, but the ACC isn't lacking in talent...I can think of one ACC team that is probably putting a top 3 national talent team on the field this season, what they do with it is still the question...

Cane you mention the superstar coaches will leave one day for other gigs. Probably the only reason they would take another college job is because they got fired from their SEC school. NFL maybe. But then you have the next headlining coach filling right in generally. The SEC schools tend to pay more it seems like for their coaches. Bigger stadiums and followings tend to lead to more money and better facilities. And you mentioned family ties, yes you have a couple of examples, but more often than not, the college of choice tends to stay within the family. See Eric Berry, the Blades at UM, and on and on.

Then why didn't HB Blades come to Miami? Today's recruiting landscape doesn't make that a certainty, was my point.

And as for a college coach taking another gig--I dunno. Spurrier's been rumored to be leaving S. Carolina every year since he's gotten there. Saban's not exactly trustworthy when he says he's at Bama to stay--ask the Dolphins about him and his word. Plus, if a coach like Rich Brooks got a gig with a higher eschalon school than UK in another conference, I'd say he'd jump. Les Miles was up in the air until the bowl game last year as to whether or not he'd be at Michigan. The key to all of that? $$$$$$$$. I dare say had Miami actually offered Mark Richt the HC position before they hired Shannon that he would have at least closely considered it, for that's his alma mater. Meyer's been rumored to be flirting with NFL jobs since before he stepped foot in Gainesville. Nothing's set in stone as much as what anyone likes to see it, not with today's coaching landscape. Right there's 6 SEC coaches that could have likely jumped ship (and have had opportunities) w/o getting fired.

Ask yourself why does the SEC have more money to pay for coaches, and why do they have bigger followings that spend more money for better facilities.

The answer? 11 of the 12 schools in the SEC are publicly funded schools, and along with that comes more seed money from their respective states, and a higher alumni count (not to mention lower academic standards). The ACC? 8 of 12 are public schools, with Duke, Miami, BC, and Wake Forest being private. Higher academic standards as a whole, less of a natural alumni fanbase, and less money as a result. That, to me, is the crux of why the SEC is the better conference right now in a sport that demands an excess of money be made, and that emphasis be placed more on players than academics (sad but true). Granted, Wake Forest is trying to get rid of standardized test scoring in their admissions process throughout the university, so they'll likely be an easier school to get into--but historically--private school = tougher academics = less athletes.