ACC still trying to catch SEC, Big 12

Expansion has helped, but securing solid host for title game key

PINEHURST, N.C. — When it opted to expand to 12 teams and add a championship game in football, the Atlantic Coast Conference hoped to duplicate the success of the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences.

The SEC's championship game has found a permanent and profitable home in Atlanta. The Big 12 has succeeded by bouncing around different cities.

The ACC is still trying to figure out the best way to stage its title game, which is still in its infancy after two years.

"We just need to find the right niche for our league," ACC commissioner John Swofford said Tuesday as he wrapped up the ACC Football Kickoff at Pinehurst Resort.

The first two championship games have been played at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., with this year's game scheduled there as well.

But with the contract up, sites for 2008, 2009 and 2010 will be up for grabs among Jacksonville, Charlotte, Orlando and Tampa.

The cities have until Aug. 31 to submit proposals. The ACC is expected to make a decision by mid-December, and the conference is open to the possibility of rotating the game among cities during that period.

The SEC title game has called Atlanta home since 1994 after the first two were played in Birmingham, Ala. The Big 12 has played its game in five different cities since the first in 1996.

"We need to find what is right for the ACC, and what is right for the ACC might be different from what is right for the SEC or the Big 12," Swofford said.

The title game has largely been a disappointment in Jacksonville because of low turnout and conflicts with the Gator Bowl, which is one of the ACC's bowl partners.

The inaugural game between Florida State and Virginia Tech fell short of selling out, and last year's meeting between Wake Forest and Georgia Tech was played before thousands of empty seats.

The ACC's relationship with the Gator Bowl was strained after the conference asked the bowl to select the Yellow Jackets to face Big East representative West Virginia. The bowl was partial to a Clemson-Texas matchup, which would have filled more seats and attracted more television interest.

When the ACC expanded to 12 teams and placed Florida State and Miami in opposite divisions, the prevailing assumption was that the Seminoles and Hurricanes would meet regularly in the championship.

The lack of interest in the first two games has significantly reduced Jacksonville's interest in keeping it. It's considered unlikely that the game will return to the city after this year.

Preaching patience

Swofford acknowledged that the ACC's struggle to establish a presence in college football's elite has hurt the conference's national credibility, but he expressed confidence that the future is bright.

The ACC has lost its past seven Bowl Championship Series bowls. It has yet to secure a BCS at-large bid in the format's nine-year existence, and its last appearance in the BCS title game was in 1999.

Last season, the ACC failed to put a team in the Top 10 of the final Associated Press poll for the fourth time in the past six years.

Swofford said the problems at the top overshadow the conference's strong depth. The ACC has posted bowl records of .500 or better in each of the past six seasons.

"I do think we have arguably been as deep as any conference in the country," he said. "That's certainly something we wanted and hoped for with expansion."

The ACC will have a chance to make its case this season against a formidable non-conference schedule. Miami will play at Oklahoma and play host to Texas A&M; Florida State plays Alabama in Jacksonville, visits Colorado and has its normal date with Florida; Maryland plays host to West Virginia and travels to Rutgers.

On Sept. 8, Virginia Tech will venture to Louisiana State for a much-anticipated showdown.

"The successes will come and take care of themselves," Swofford said.

This and that

Doug Rhoads, the ACC's new coordinator of football officials, said all of the conference's televised games will be closely monitored in ACC offices on a bank of televisions he called the "gameday center." He said coaches will receive "immediate feedback" on questionable calls or replay decisions ... The ACC will oversee the BCS for two years starting in 2008, taking over for the SEC ... Rhoads said he expects a large increase in kickoff returns after rules moved kickoffs back 5 yards to the 30-yard line ... Swofford said all ACC teams in all sports will wear black patches in 2007-08 to honor victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Reach Larry Williams at lwilliams@postandcourier.com.