Returning from the ACC football kickoff this weekend, I had the pleasure of being stopped for speeding just north of Charlotte, NC. As the officer wrote my citation, we struck up a conversation about my weekend. When I told him I was part of the press covering the ACC, he stopped his writing and looked me in the eye. No, he didn't tear up my ticket, but began asking questions instead.
"Well, Matthew," he asked, "What in the world is the ACC gonna do?" Excited that he might want to talk football, I asked him to be more specific. Unfortunately, expansion, not football, filled his thoughts.
"How many more teams are they gonna add?" he asked.
It was that kind of weekend. Amid the grandeur of the Ritz Carlton resort and the plethora of coaches, players and reporters, the question of expansion refused to go away. Sure, there was plenty of talk about football. Some reporters (J.D. Moss and myself) even asked about individual players. But for every discussion of the upcoming season, there was at least one discussion of expansion.
In my opinion, the persistence of the expansion question could prove quite unfortunate. Sure, the 2004 football season will be exciting with the addition of Miami and Virginia A&M, err, Tech. But by continually looking to 2004, we might do ourselves a great disservice: Overlooking 2003. It would be a disservice we might regret in years to come.
A brief history lesson will elucidate my point. Florida State joined the ACC in 1992 and everyone knows what happened after that. In short, the Seminoles won nine conference titles in a row before being upended by Maryland in 2001. But how many of us know about the conference before Florida State joined? How many of us know that the ACC was in the midst of its most exciting period ever? Clemson had won a national title in 1981 and had won three straight ACC titles in the late 80s. Georgia Tech had won a national title in 1990 after beating Virginia in "the game of the century." Our beloved Cavaliers had catapulted to #1 nationally that season, a spot they held for three weeks. And a brash, young coach named Spurrier had built a winner at Duke of all places, and had stirred anger after calling a triple-reverse flea-flicker during the last play of a blowout of UNC. Excitement was abound throughout the region, and for once it wasn't fueled only by basketball.
Then the Seminoles arrived. They won 29 ACC games in a row before Virginia upset them in 1995. They ruled the football landscape and prompted writers to refer to the ACC as "FSU and the eight dwarfs." They left an indelible impression of sustained dominance. Ask anyone about ACC football, and they won't tell you about the excitement of late 80s and early 90s, but about Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke and Peter Warrick.
Fast-forwarding to 2003, we find the ACC on the brink of its most competitive season since FSU joined. The league has four legitimate title contenders (FSU, Maryland, NC State, Virginia), and two Heisman trophy candidates (State's Phillip Rivers and Virginia's Matt Schaub). It has two stud running backs trying to return from injury (FSU's Greg Jones and Maryland's Bruce Perry), and load of teams that could upset anyone in the league (Wake Forest and Duke lead that list). But still, all anyone wants to talk about is expansion.
Now don't get me wrong, I applauded the expansion move and I think that Miami will bring a lot to the conference (as for VPIA&M, we'll see). But for the time being, the current ACC deserves discussion on its own accord. So soak up and remember this season, Cavalier fans, and don't look ahead to next year. This is the last year of ACC football as we have known it, and we fans are in the midst of exciting times. Should Miami win 13 straight ACC titles, or should Virginia, NC State, and Maryland fade back into obscurity, this season will be a memory we'll need to preserve. We'll regret it if we don't.
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