Yow on Expansion

WRAL:

N.C. State however never had a shot at the SEC according to Yow.

“We’re not a part of that conversation. As a founding member of the ACC I can’t envision being anything else. Our focus needs to be doing our part as one athletic program to strengthen overall, the ACC.”

Yow then put it bluntly. State hasn’t won an ACC football championship since 1979. Why in the world would it want to go to the SEC for football?

The smart answer to that question would be money, or financial stability. While Swofford said the ACC will be able to renegotiate its 12-year $1.86 billion TV deal and produce a positive impact, Yow wants to be sure her school is taken care of before falling in line with another expansion to 16 teams.

“I have no interest in State losing money by sharing with more people or losing more from what we ultimately will gain by adding these two,” she told Mark and Mike. “We’re not a wealthy program and we’re trying very hard to find new revenue sources and enhance the ones that we have so we can provide for our 23 varsity sports. I would be very vocal in any initiative that would harm us in our ability to do that.”

Travel concerns for N.C. State are not as great as they would be if the ACC decided to expand to the mid-west. Still, Yow is on board with the concept of having a North and South division to help minimize some of those costs.

“Not just in the Olympic sports but in the revenue sports as well. It makes all the sense in the world and as far as I’m concerned N.C. State belongs in the South division, obviously.”

One concern that will be on the thoughts of fans more than anyone else is the schedules in a mega-conference. Those fans will want to continue to see the same rivalry games they’ve been seeing for decades. And it’s a fact that ACC expansion has already eliminated N.C. State and Duke from playing in football every year and sometimes eliminates a game in the basketball season. But Yow says she isn’t worried about that aspect of it.

“I think the conference is very smart, very in tune with the games that are considered marquee games and have been for 50 years,” Yow said. “We’ve had our ups and down and we’re going to be headed back up the mountain. I think they want to protect us. That’s all about protecting your brand and the value of that conference on the national level. You want to protect games like State versus UNC.”

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24 Responses to Yow on Expansion

  1. GAWolf 09/19/2011 at 1:37 PM #

    I for one am a traditionalist as well; however, if UT and TT give us the best chance to solidify an ongoing BCS bid if indeed there is any chance we could lose it AND they provide us the most opportunity to earn more money… geography be damned.

    I love Yow, but I think her approach there is a bit too elementary given the situation as a whole.

  2. Pack Mentality 09/19/2011 at 1:57 PM #

    I totally agree with what Yow said. I also believe that with the increased buyout and the new additions there is no chance that the BCS or whoever it is that is in charge in the future will leave all of these schools hung out to dry. We are secure in the ACC.

  3. Spike 09/19/2011 at 2:06 PM #

    “Yow then put it bluntly. State hasn’t won an ACC football championship since 1979. Why in the world would it want to go to the SEC for football?”

    That is exactly how I have felt while all this talk is going on. Why in the hell would we go to the SEC if we can’t even hack it in the ACC right now and over past years??

  4. Rick 09/19/2011 at 2:47 PM #

    “That is exactly how I have felt while all this talk is going on. Why in the hell would we go to the SEC if we can’t even hack it in the ACC right now and over past years??”

    Cuz losing is a whole lot more palatable when you are getting Mega$$

  5. highstick 09/19/2011 at 2:53 PM #

    No guts, no glory! But I had a feeling “our powers that be” wouldn’t have the nads nor the mentality to handle it.

    “Safety must be a warm blanket”!

    Now please tell me how this is going to help recruiting? It just digs the hole deeper!

  6. mkkelly271 09/19/2011 at 3:47 PM #

    Kay is right. We haven’t won an ACC championship since 1979. UNC hasn’t won one since 1980 and all powerful Clemson hasn’t won one since 1991. (That’s 20 years for a school that has more 5 star recruits than 90% of the country) Highstick – Nothing we are doing helps recruiting. A move to the SEC would have caused us to lose our backsides for at least 10 years but the potential long-term effect should have been positive. Instead, we further dilute our recruiting by adding Syracuse and Pitt to the conference. The SEC move would have distinguished State as the only SEC school in NC and northernmost of all SEC programs. Maybe I’m delusional, but I think that’s a drawing card for recruits in NC and VA especially. Of course, you need a staff that draws recruits too. Maybe we should just accept the fact that State is too financially poor to support a program capable of obtaining top tier coaches and players. Having no mega alumni resources doesn’t help either. Maybe we need to start an IPTAY program.

  7. tuckerdorm1983 09/19/2011 at 4:06 PM #

    Atlantic division
    pitt
    syracuse
    bc
    va tech
    Maryland
    uva
    Wake

    Coastal division
    Miami
    Fl St
    Georgia Tech
    Clemson
    NC State
    UNC
    Duke

  8. old13 09/19/2011 at 4:33 PM #

    “The SEC move would have distinguished State as the only SEC school in NC and northernmost of all SEC programs.

    I believe that Lexington KY (and Morgantown WV) is northwest of Raleigh.

  9. BJD95 09/19/2011 at 4:42 PM #

    Moving to the SEC would give us a chance to make a better sales pitch in recruiting. Just as how we would recruit lesser athletes if we dropped down to C-USA (thus, we wouldn’t logically just dominate there, certainly not longterm).

    But that’s a really stupid thing for Yow to say out loud (ie, “no way could we compete in the SEC”). The losers’ mentality continues for Charlie Brown U.

    But I am glad that the ACC will likely survive.

  10. Wulfpack 09/19/2011 at 5:05 PM #

    I agree, BJD. Not sure why she said that.

    I’m just happy the ACC survived this round. The round of 32 could be a lot tougher.

  11. GAWolf 09/19/2011 at 5:28 PM #

    With the Swoff in control, a move to the SEC for us is no different than the same made by A&M, and it would be for similar reasons. While the Aggies have more football history than we do, they aren’t even a constant in the top 25.

  12. BJD95 09/19/2011 at 6:01 PM #

    Agreed, GA – that was my main point in being a proponent. But if it wasn’t going to happen (and it was never likely) then I’m slap happy to not be dead or on life support. Sounds like maybe 4 supers will survive, and the ACC will be one of them (but by far the weakest, and that will hurt when the supers formally make a honest-to-God or de facto playoff system happen). I would feel much more comfortable if we landed Texas or Notre Dame as well, although I would hate having yet another “prima donna” mindset-having program around. Blech.

  13. BJD95 09/19/2011 at 6:08 PM #

    And for the record, Cuse and Pitt are excellent strategic additions. I was a Cuse proponent in the first round, but we had to invite VT for UVA, and BC cemented Wake’s vote. Stupid, intransigent Duke and UNC.

    And if anyone still doubts that this is necessary for survival, note how cooperative the blues are being this time. Not a peep of dissent.

  14. mkkelly271 09/19/2011 at 7:04 PM #

    Old 13. WVU isn’t SEC yet so you get no credit there. Yes KY is north but also significantly west of what should be our recruiting base. It’s really a moot point because we aren’t considering it, can’t afford it, and highly likely would be turned down if we desired to. It’s just really disappointing to see us consistently out-recruited by others with no more of a football history that NCSU. We could be so much better but seem to be headed in the opposite direction. All this in light of the fact that we gave away an emerging Heisman candidate to WI.

  15. 61Packer 09/19/2011 at 7:09 PM #

    I’m glad to hear the obvious from Yow, that we have no (football) business in the SEC. She gets it. It is illogical to think, based on our past 20 years of football, that we would win as much or more in that conference than we have here. We aren’t even near Arkansas’ level, a 2nd tier team in the SEC, and I believe we’d have our hands full with Miss State, a 3rd level SEC program who seldom matters in their own division, let alone in the whole league.

    The only thing I’m wary about is how the league will divide and who’ll get to play who. Putting us in the south is ok, but that could kill the rivalries with Maryland and UVA, and it would keep us from developing what could be a great rivalry with Va Tech. In other words, the league screwed us by keeping their three best programs off our schedule as much as possible- Duke basketball, and VT and Miami football. Of course, UNC gets all three annually on their schedule.

    And now we have the same Carolina guy with even more teams to redistribute, some big names who’ll get the bigger piece of the pie at the expense of us, Wake and BC. Mark my words, we’ll end up having to play Syracuse and Rutgers every season in football, but will be lucky to see Syracuse and UConn (if they come) more than once a decade in the RBC Center. ESPN will see to that, just like they always see that we never get a really good Big Ten team in the RBC Center during the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. “Hoosier” daddy, ACC? Little Boy Blue John Boy, of course.

  16. Primewolf 09/19/2011 at 7:50 PM #

    the fact that we haven’t won a FB championship since 79 is not a reason for or against the SEC.

    If we were to get $10M more per year than we are in the ACC, that would make a huge difference.

    We would have a chance to dis-associate with UNX and began to build an SEC program. I think we would have the top Engr school in the SEC, on a par with TAM.

    Her response was not as sophisticated as I would have hoped. Kind of like her poorly thought out email prior to landing Gottfried.

  17. TOBtime 09/19/2011 at 8:05 PM #

    Sorry Deb, not buying it. WHat exactly has being a charter member done for us? ESPN hitched their wagon to the blues, not us. If going to the SEC wasn’t at least considered you’re not whata I thought we had for an AD.

  18. highstick 09/19/2011 at 8:08 PM #

    It’s a basketball move, pure and simple…Read between the lines as to why..

    As I’ve said, if you don’t think big in football, you won’t be!

    I’m not blasting Deb cause she’s thinking basketball and I’m sure the pressure was on her, not only from our folks, but from the other conference AD’s.

    You gotta think “outside of the proverbial box” on this one and I don’t see it has happened…

    It’s ok, I’ll pull for one team in basketball which is my alma mater, but I’ll pull for 2 teams in football which is what I do now, but my expectations in football will not be as high for one of those..But, except for a few years of PR since the 70’s, nothing has changed..

    Dream, if you think you’re gonna compete with the “major football powers’ in recruiting…You can forget it!

    Primewolf, how many engineering grad football players can you count on one hand?

  19. TruthBKnown Returns 09/19/2011 at 8:13 PM #

    mkkelly271, it’s Debbie, not Kay.

  20. TransientWolf 09/19/2011 at 8:33 PM #

    I’ve been stuck in SEC country for years now (GA & AL) and admittedly I don’t get much news on the the Wolfpack or the ACC with the exception of UNX and FSU, however with all the conference shifting news I’ve made the effort to tune in. These are the first comments I’ve really heard from Yow and I’m not impressed. After those words she should be fired.
    Just because we haven’t won anything since ’79!?! Why doesn’t she just say this because it’s saying the same thing, “we’ve sucked since ’79 and we’re always gonna suck and we would rather just maintain status quo and suck forever than to try and fight it out with the big boys.”

    Personally, I think a move to the SEC would make perfect sense just like it did for A&M. I have friends that are A&M alums. They have the same passion for hating UT that we do and now they have differentiated themselves from that school in Austin and that has revitalized their Alums and recruiting potential.

    As far as competing in the SEC, I know we can compete. Maybe not now but one day. As long as we continue to fight the SEC, UNX, Wake, Duke even ECX and App. State for the same recruits then we will continue to be second rate. If you don’t believe you can compete then you never will.
    There’s a saying I learned in my Fraternity days at State, “If you’re gonna be a bear, then be a grizzly.” Right now we’re not even bears, cubs at best.

    I’m sure I don’t know all the financial details of college athletics but I think our AD Yow has just admitted defeat without even firing a shot. If I’d heard that the Wolfpack was even contemplating a move to the SEC my Wolfpack printed checks would have jumped from my checkbook for the university. With this attitude from the AD my money will stay with me or maybe I’ll mail it to Alabama after I finish my Masters degree there.

  21. bTHEredterror 09/19/2011 at 9:56 PM #

    Debbie’s comment is ludicrous, good thing for the Gamecocks they didn’t think that way back when they were invited to the SEC. They were nothing before then, and they have risen to be a consistent program and steadily increased their expectations.

  22. drgreenhouse 09/20/2011 at 2:02 AM #

    It’s foolhardy to think that being in the SEC automatically means that you will have a great football team. What exactly has being in the SEC done for Vanderbilt or Kentucky in football?

    Speaking of Kentucky, they are a good comparison of what our potential would be in the SEC, good in basketball, mediocre in football. Why can’t we achieve that now in the ACC? We were in this range prior to 1990.

    Actually in the early part of the 2000s we were (slowly) on the way to that point, but Amato and HWSNBN top-lined and our incompetent AD and inattentive Chancellor didn’t pull the plug until it was too late to make an effective change.

    Debbie Yow is just stating the obvious, don’t hate her for that. I’ve had the chance to read a couple of books by the late, great John Wooden. He never gave inspirational speeches before a game or at halftime because he felt that they were not needed. Paraphrasing, he said that practice is where the game is won. We don’t need an athletic director to always speak in glowing terms, where exactly has that talk gotten us before now, besides the “fuh-cilities.” We just need people to get the job done behind the scenes.

    As for SEC Football, why not play a SEC team every year on the OOC schedule? South Carolina is a natural rival and we should play them as often as we play ECU. The other teams would make great home and home series or neutral site games in Charlotte, Atlanta or Nashville. I would rather be playing Vanderbilt or Kentucky as opposed to Liberty or South Alabama.

  23. Pack85EE 09/20/2011 at 11:32 AM #

    Too often I find the values about conferences on these pages are all based on recent history. You guys have short memorys. True the SEC has always been one of the top conferences but there have been years in the past where the Big 10, Big 12 and sometimes the Pac 10, as well as the South West and Big 8 (days gone by) could argue with them. Those that are screaming for the SEC are overlooking a lot of history. I for one appreciate the quality of the education from the ACC schools and like the fact that we can be considered top class on that note. I love our basketball and it won’t be just Duky and the heels forever. We’ll be back. Wake, UVA, Maryland, they’ll be back too. Things change. But expansion had to happen. And when I think of ‘Cuse and Pitt, beyond recent history, I think of storied football programs. I remeber Tony Dorsett running all over Duke back in my teen years. The SEC has more money due to TV but where is the richest part of the country, the East Coast from Miami to Boston. With planning we could one day be considered the primere conference in the country. Excluding football, I think we are right now.

  24. PackerInRussia 09/21/2011 at 1:59 PM #

    Wow, I can’t believe that Debbie turned down the SEC who was, no doubt, begging for NC State to join. I wish she would have just come out and said it instead of hiding the truth from us.

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