The Pete Bevacqua Thread

IrishLax

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I'm also not going to criticize Pete right now but this is where "Savvy Jack" never even let shit get to this point. He was always 2-3 moves ahead of some of these other conference commissioners and was extremely political. No way to know right now whether Pete is overpalying or underplaying is hand but if all the conferences decide to collude to be like "fuck Notre Dame" it only takes four of them to pull it off. And it's what ESPN would prefer, and ESPN runs two of the conferences.
 

irish2104

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If this collusion stuff is true I would say wild but I am not surprised in the least... the craziest thing.. absolute wildest craziest thing in my mind is we had absolutely EVERY game and even score go against us for like 6 weeks or whatever it was... I mean 1 f******* game goes are way and none of this mess happens.. Miami and ND get in.. SEC gets 4 and everyone is happy.. the ACC should of just changed there championchip games rules... now there over the barrel
 

irish2104

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I agree 1000 I don't think Jack would of ever let the ACC or ESPN pull any of this BS.... and no response?? It just looks weak like well if we F*** then out of the playoff what are they going to do?? Nothing.. and now we are threatening possibly to blow up the entire playoff structure and power structure...
 

jprue24

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Rumor is that basically the following is happening:
1. ACC has no leverage, despite what they may pretend, and if they can't hold ND to GoR and they leave it apparently fucks up the terms of their TV deal and could open an insane can of worms.

2. There are limited concessions that the ACC can actually make because the damage is done, and I have heard like 500x different rumors and what the "ask" is to stay in the ACC and none of it really makes much sense to me. ACC also can't bend over backwards to apologize to ND from a political standpoint it would look feckless and weak. The one "ask" that makes sense is stuff to do with future representation / lobbying for the playoffs.

3. To that end, apparently what is getting kicked around with playoff expansion is going to 16-24 teams with 3x AQs from the ACC and having a provision that ND qualifies for one of the ACC AQ spots if one of the three highest ranked. I guess part of the situation is that we can come up with a million ways to get ~4x P4 games if we really need to + we take 0% of the ACC football revenue and the idea would be to formalize the relationship more. Who the fuck knows if this is true.

4. Because of other shenanigans -- which are all but confirmed at this point about collusion between the 4x SEC lobbyists on the committee + the ACC "charity spot" after Duke won -- ESPN has been putting on the full court negative PR press. Why? Because if the stuff does leak, they want ND to be least sympathetic as possible. So then "oh ND is still whining about this" instead of "oh shit we just got caught doing corruption." Reportedly they may go to a transparent selection system closer to the BCS moving forward starting as soon as next year.
It's so easy to understand their logic to exclude ND because of the payouts. The amount of schools who benefit at ND's, and ND only, expense. "tHeY jUs GoT tWeNtY mIlLiOnS. iT oUr TuRn Fo MoNeYs"
 

DomeFieldAdvantage

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You are talking about a flaw within the current system. Tulane and JMU got in legitimately according to the current rules.

Corruption is the big problem. That needs to be addressed well before fixing any flaws. And yes, both need to be fixed, but if no one is railing about the corrupt process, it won't matter what new qualification rules they come up with. A corrupt committee will continue to find a way to put in whoever they want.
That's a bingo!

Expansion gives us a little more wiggle room, but unless the selection system is fixed, the bubble will always be where corrupt actors can make their mark. All expansion does is move the bubble, not fix the corruption. Arguably, it could make it worse by creating a bigger set of bubble teams because there is more separation at the top and less the further down you go.
 

NDPhilly

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Rumor is that basically the following is happening:
1. ACC has no leverage, despite what they may pretend, and if they can't hold ND to GoR and they leave it apparently fucks up the terms of their TV deal and could open an insane can of worms.

2. There are limited concessions that the ACC can actually make because the damage is done, and I have heard like 500x different rumors and what the "ask" is to stay in the ACC and none of it really makes much sense to me. ACC also can't bend over backwards to apologize to ND from a political standpoint it would look feckless and weak. The one "ask" that makes sense is stuff to do with future representation / lobbying for the playoffs.

3. To that end, apparently what is getting kicked around with playoff expansion is going to 16-24 teams with 3x AQs from the ACC and having a provision that ND qualifies for one of the ACC AQ spots if one of the three highest ranked. I guess part of the situation is that we can come up with a million ways to get ~4x P4 games if we really need to + we take 0% of the ACC football revenue and the idea would be to formalize the relationship more. Who the fuck knows if this is true.

4. Because of other shenanigans -- which are all but confirmed at this point about collusion between the 4x SEC lobbyists on the committee + the ACC "charity spot" after Duke won -- ESPN has been putting on the full court negative PR press. Why? Because if the stuff does leak, they want ND to be least sympathetic as possible. So then "oh ND is still whining about this" instead of "oh shit we just got caught doing corruption." Reportedly they may go to a transparent selection system closer to the BCS moving forward starting as soon as next year.

Even if we can secure a AQ, it just feels like Pete’s warpath tracks more with someone who has made a decision to leave. And I can’t imagine he’d be naive enough to act like this without another path secured.

We’ll see, going to be an eventful offseason for sure.
 

IrishinSyria

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You sound like a troll yourself. What I meant was that Alabama, deserving or not, was deemed ahead of both N.D. and Miami, so the decision came down to the latter two schools in the committee's view.
And I guess what we’re saying is that this would be a very different conversation if the ACC had spent last week lobbying against Alabama instead of us.
 

Bantry19

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So the conferences are going trying to strong arm ND, aren’t they?

Bold strategy cotton.

Me thinks Mr Big Shot realizes the ACC is toast and the Big 12 is not too far behind.

ND to Big 10 for better or worse. Either as a full conference member or with a similar scheduling deal. Just an uneducated hunch, but thinking ND going scorched earth is the domino falling that brings on super conferences.

ACC is done.
 

tirishman505

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I do wonder how much first Swarbrick and now Pete have gone to bat for the ACC in these backroom discussions, and how much that is playing to ND's reaction here. I'm constantly hearing about ND's outsized influence on non-ND podcasts, specifically referencing that when the power brokers get together, it's 1 AD from each conference + ND. If the ACC played their cards right, they could essentially have 2 votes on nearly every issue. "What's good for the ACC is good for ND" and all of that. Maybe they didn't need it when we first joined and they had won 3 titles in 6 years but they sure as **** could use a friend now.
 

MNIrishman

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Rumor is that basically the following is happening:
1. ACC has no leverage, despite what they may pretend, and if they can't hold ND to GoR and they leave it apparently fucks up the terms of their TV deal and could open an insane can of worms.

2. There are limited concessions that the ACC can actually make because the damage is done, and I have heard like 500x different rumors and what the "ask" is to stay in the ACC and none of it really makes much sense to me. ACC also can't bend over backwards to apologize to ND from a political standpoint it would look feckless and weak. The one "ask" that makes sense is stuff to do with future representation / lobbying for the playoffs.

3. To that end, apparently what is getting kicked around with playoff expansion is going to 16-24 teams with 3x AQs from the ACC and having a provision that ND qualifies for one of the ACC AQ spots if one of the three highest ranked. I guess part of the situation is that we can come up with a million ways to get ~4x P4 games if we really need to + we take 0% of the ACC football revenue and the idea would be to formalize the relationship more. Who the fuck knows if this is true.

4. Because of other shenanigans -- which are all but confirmed at this point about collusion between the 4x SEC lobbyists on the committee + the ACC "charity spot" after Duke won -- ESPN has been putting on the full court negative PR press. Why? Because if the stuff does leak, they want ND to be least sympathetic as possible. So then "oh ND is still whining about this" instead of "oh shit we just got caught doing corruption." Reportedly they may go to a transparent selection system closer to the BCS moving forward starting as soon as next year.
I really hate the AQ idea. The whole concept. Conferences just suck. Especially the SEC for accelerating the destruction of the sport.
 

Irish#1

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Even if we can secure a AQ, it just feels like Pete’s warpath tracks more with someone who has made a decision to leave. And I can’t imagine he’d be naive enough to act like this without another path secured.

We’ll see, going to be an eventful offseason for sure.
Since we’re not in the playoffs, Pete knew we needed something to talk about.
 

BoredIrish

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Stanford and Cal are in the ACC because of ND. I dont think that much is even up for debate. So clearly ND has some weight in that room.

The ACC is damaged goods. Clemson and FSU wanted out because they were sick of the rest of the conference dragging them down. Meanwhile the rest of the conference has gotten worse and Clemson and FSU arent even any good anymore. Its easy to dismiss this as being cyclical, but there are fundamental differences now between the money available to ACC teams vs the SEC and BIG... so the problem is only going to get worse.

With NIL and the portal, the BIG 12 and ACC are future feeder leagues.
 

stlnd01

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I do wonder how much first Swarbrick and now Pete have gone to bat for the ACC in these backroom discussions, and how much that is playing to ND's reaction here. I'm constantly hearing about ND's outsized influence on non-ND podcasts, specifically referencing that when the power brokers get together, it's 1 AD from each conference + ND. If the ACC played their cards right, they could essentially have 2 votes on nearly every issue. "What's good for the ACC is good for ND" and all of that. Maybe they didn't need it when we first joined and they had won 3 titles in 6 years but they sure as **** could use a friend now.
If nothing else, Stanford, and by extension Cal, owe their ACC life raft to us. BC, Pitt, Syracuse - they played us long before they joined the ACC, and they know how many more tickets they sell when we come to town. Clemson seems to get the value of having a marquee opponent on the schedule. Miami and Florida State understand the historical lore. I suspect SMU can't wait to play Notre Dame.

Maybe the old line Tobacco Road basketball schools don't really care about us one way or the other, but at this point they're kind of the minority in that conference. We're a big asset to the rest of them.
 

IrishLax

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Me thinks Mr Big Shot realizes the ACC is toast and the Big 12 is not too far behind.

ND to Big 10 for better or worse. Either as a full conference member or with a similar scheduling deal. Just an uneducated hunch, but thinking ND going scorched earth is the domino falling that brings on super conferences.

ACC is done.
 

FDNYIrish1

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Is it pure coincidence that Ivan Maisel will be on campus this weekend? May be able to shed some light on what was going on behind closed doors with the committee
 

FWIrish4

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Is it pure coincidence that Ivan Maisel will be on campus this weekend? May be able to shed some light on what was going on behind closed doors with the committee
I was thinking about this more, along with Dan Patrick having a source that he couldn’t divulge more of the info he received.

Are committee members bound by an NDA? They turn over most of the committee heading into next year, right? What stops a member from just spilling the beans if they’re not going to be a part of it anymore?
 

IrishTusker

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Is it pure coincidence that Ivan Maisel will be on campus this weekend? May be able to shed some light on what was going on behind closed doors with the committee
It's also amazing that he was recused from voting on ND because he wrote a book about Frank Leahy. I doubt sales would go up or down much depending on whether ND made the playoff. Meanwhile, multiple ADs see their institutions benefit financially by excluding ND. If Maisel's standard applied across the committee, would there be anyone left?

Also, I assume they had to sign NDAs.
 

AvesEvo

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I'm also not going to criticize Pete right now but this is where "Savvy Jack" never even let shit get to this point. He was always 2-3 moves ahead of some of these other conference commissioners and was extremely political. No way to know right now whether Pete is overpalying or underplaying is hand but if all the conferences decide to collude to be like "fuck Notre Dame" it only takes four of them to pull it off. And it's what ESPN would prefer, and ESPN runs two of the conferences.
I would think Swarbrick would be advising Pete through this.
 

jprue24

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I have never seen one team so wildly hated on. I Believe that we’ve Officially entered the villain stage. Lol
They used to call my favorite baseball team the "Evil Empire" and blamed everything wrong in baseball on their commitment to funding a winning team.

It was terrible
 

sfk324

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Georgia Tech fan here and my first post on this board. First of all, I want to say congratulations to Notre Dame on a fine season, and to say I have great respect for your storied history in college football. But what I can't understand is why on earth your resentment should be directed toward the ACC, which understandably stood up for its own. It seems to me it should be directed toward the crafters of the playoff, whose criteria led to the inclusion of Tulane and James Madison. Those two should be replaced by the Irish and BYU, if we're talking about the 12 best teams in the country.

Also, I would like to express my dismay that the Irish declined an invitation to play in the Pop Tarts Bowl against BYU, which would have been quite fitting and would have generated a great deal of interest nationwide as a game between two deserving teams left out of the playoff. However, I am glad my Yellow Jackets are playing against BYU instead, though it will be a difficult game for us to win.

That you are not a full member of the ACC in football is what cost you a trip to the CFP, because few will disagree that N.D. would have waxed either one of the participants in the ACC title game. And, as you all know, a win over Miami would have gotten you in easily. To sum up, it's clear to me that two groups of people are responsible for Notre Dame missing the playoffs, as follows:

The committee that crafted the playoff criteria, and
The Notre Dame football team.

It is not the fault of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
That's a lot of words when "I'm a clueless fuckwit" would have sufficed.
 

TNUtoNotreDame

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Georgia Tech fan here and my first post on this board. First of all, I want to say congratulations to Notre Dame on a fine season, and to say I have great respect for your storied history in college football. But what I can't understand is why on earth your resentment should be directed toward the ACC, which understandably stood up for its own. It seems to me it should be directed toward the crafters of the playoff, whose criteria led to the inclusion of Tulane and James Madison. Those two should be replaced by the Irish and BYU, if we're talking about the 12 best teams in the country.

Also, I would like to express my dismay that the Irish declined an invitation to play in the Pop Tarts Bowl against BYU, which would have been quite fitting and would have generated a great deal of interest nationwide as a game between two deserving teams left out of the playoff. However, I am glad my Yellow Jackets are playing against BYU instead, though it will be a difficult game for us to win.

That you are not a full member of the ACC in football is what cost you a trip to the CFP, because few will disagree that N.D. would have waxed either one of the participants in the ACC title game. And, as you all know, a win over Miami would have gotten you in easily. To sum up, it's clear to me that two groups of people are responsible for Notre Dame missing the playoffs, as follows:

The committee that crafted the playoff criteria, and
The Notre Dame football team.

It is not the fault of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
I am honored you quoted me to make a post that was that long that I did not read. I would say welcome but the fact is you’re not welcome.
 

IRISHDODGER

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So the conferences are going trying to strong arm ND, aren’t they?

Bold strategy cotton.

So now he can transfer his pettiness over OU & UT leaving his conference for the SEC & be petty about ND.

I think they make pills for that.
 
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