I wish we were in the AAC

[wake_is_great]

Is it selfish of me wishing that my Wake Forest Demon Deacons were in the American Athletic Conference instead of the ACC? I think we would actually have a better chance to compete for championships in that conference in every sport unlike the ACC. I would miss the rivalries though

 

[963BUSC]

Who are Wake Forest's rivals?

 

[wake_is_great]

Who are Wake Forest's rivals?

NCSU, UNC, Duke. I think we could easily play them out of conference though. It would be kind of nice to break away from the Carolina schools though since I feel like each one over shadows us.

 

[tech_iceman]

all Wake had was basketball... now they're not very good at that anymore

 

[Hook'Em0608]

Wake probably would do well to break off from the other North Carolina schools if they got into an equal conference to the ACC. AAC ain't it though...

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Dump your AD first and his hooligans, start there 1st and "recover" from there.

 

[UTVolCountry]

I wish we were in the AAC too

 

[xpuctaqpGT]

Is it selfish of me wishing that my Wake Forest Demon Deacons were in the American Athletic Conference instead of the ACC? I think we would actually have a better chance to compete for championships in that conference in every sport unlike the ACC. I would miss the rivalries though

It's rough for Wake. You have ~5000 undergrads. In the modern era of money in college athletics, it is very difficult for a school of that size to compete. It's not even in a large metro area where you can get non students/alumni in the stadium.

I don't know what the solution is either. Expand the university to maybe 10k undergrads? *shrug*

 

[t0nyintransit]

You do realize that the AAC will no longer be a power conference after this year right?

Be grateful, fucker. Some of us are doomed to sit at the kids table! Es no bueno!

 

[TexasExes98]

NCSU, UNC, Duke. I think we could easily play them out of conference though. It would be kind of nice to break away from the Carolina schools though since I feel like each one over shadows us.

If Wake Forest is having trouble beating NCSU, UNC and Duke in football, why do you think they would be able to compete in the AAC?

 

[Sox33OSU]

If Wake Forest is having trouble beating NCSU, UNC and Duke in football, why do you think they would be able to compete in the AAC?

Beat me to it. I was gonna say, there are probably at least 4-5 teams in the AAC this year that are better than those 3.

 

[Wild Turkey]

Wake has historically screwed me in the basketball brackets over the years so I really have a hard time feeling sorry for them....but I will admit that is kinda spiteful on my part.

 

[uncfan103]

They couldn't win at home against ULM. If they want to compete for championships they might need to move to the SoCon so they can play other smaller schools that don't have the same fan support as a lot of the other ACC schools. Obviously that's not a smart decision for Wake though lol. They're fine in the ACC where they have meaningful games every year against their "rivals".

Also, I'm not saying Wake is terrible and UNC isn't. UNC sucks this year. Wake struggles because of their lack of alumni/local fan support not just because they have bad seasons. They're a smaller, more academic school.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I was excited when UH got into the AAC. Seemed like a step up from C-USA. Don't really see it as a step up from the ACC, though. Maybe Wake needs to simply get a better AD, coaches and/or players.

 

[uncfan103]

I was excited when UH got into the AAC. Seemed like a step up from C-USA. Don't really see it as a step up from the ACC, though. Maybe Wake needs to simply get a better AD, coaches and/or players.

Grobe is a pretty good coach, IMO. It's kinda hard to recruit when you have to compete with 4, soon to be 5, in-state D1 teams. I think Wake has been successful recently considering what they have to work with.

 

[wake_is_great]

If Wake Forest is having trouble beating NCSU, UNC and Duke in football, why do you think they would be able to compete in the AAC?

Oh well we have beaten Duke 13 out of the last 14. Beaten UNC 3 of the last 4. With NCSU we have beaten them six of the past nine.

Also out of the state of North Carolina we are the only team to win a conference championship in the last twenty years.

Also lets not act like Louisiana Monroe is a horrid team, they will be a bowl team this year.

 

[jonvi]

SU couldn't get away from the BigEast/AAC fast enough. They would have been there when Miami bailed if not for politics.

If you're willing to go to the AAC....think DIII and save tons of money. But understand you'll make no money either.

 

[douggie]

Louisville certainly isn't staying in the AAC. When they get into the ACC it will be even tougher for Wake Forest. Bzdelak is in his 4th year and has yet to have a winning season. But his recruiting is less than stellar compared to Prosser and Gaudio. Grobe got a 20 year contract and has been struggling ever since their ACC Championship. But Wake Forest isn't ever going to recruit the same type recruits that FSU and Miami get. Neither is Duke, BC or UVA.

 

[TexasExes98]

Oh well we have beaten Duke 13 out of the last 14. Beaten UNC 3 of the last 4. With NCSU we have beaten them six of the past nine.

Also out of the state of North Carolina we are the only team to win a conference championship in the last twenty years.

Also lets not act like Louisiana Monroe is a horrid team, they will be a bowl team this year.

You can be a horrid team and still make a bowl game. You only need to win 6 games to be bowl eligible now a days.....

 

[Cobrabit]

As everyone mentioned, Wake has more problems than just conference affiliation. When you are the smallest school in the FBS, you automatically are behind financially. This affects the ability to upgrade facilities, which in turn dramatically affects recruiting. Elite recruits want to play in front of a lot of people, both in the stands and on TV to promote them for the NFL. Trust me, I know what it's like to be happy pulling in 3 or maybe 4 star recruits and I think Grobe is a hell of a coach and is able to do the best he can with what he has to work with. But let's face it, Wake will never win a NC in football at this level. Hell, my Hokies still haven't and may never will with dramatically different recruiting compared to Wake. We still can't compete with FSU, Clemson, Miami, and even UNC for recruits just in the ACC, let alone the country.

While you think "dropping" to another conference that you think may be easier to win, it will actually have an even worse effect on your budget and recruiting. With TV deals and bowl game tie-ins, Wake is able to get their share of the money that the other higher profile ACC teams earn. Outside of alumni or local people in North Carolina, who would want to see a WF vs. Duke game on TV? Wake gets on TV because they play the bigger name schools within the ACC. Recruits want to be on TV and show what they can do against better competition.

Wake is lucky to be a part of the ACC at this time as a charter member. They were one of the first seven ACC schools and out of that original group, only five will be in the ACC next year (South Carolina left in '71 and Maryland at the end of this season). If Wake were not currently in the ACC now and wanted in, they pretty much would stand no chance to get in with the state of conference realignment.

I really like Wake and Grobe, but to be considered anything more than a spoiler team is pretty much zero (outside of the aforementioned ACC Championship you won recently).

It all comes down to money and even though you may be able to compete for a conference championship in a smaller conference, you would lose a ton of it.