u/nysportsfan95

For this, early (games 1-4), mid-season (games 5-8) and late-season (games 9-12) is how I’d consider it. This is what I’d argue for Syracuse:

Early: California (Game 2) — Feels like a crucial toss-up game to start ACC play. I think this game could tell a lot early about both teams’ seasons and I think Syracuse needs to win this one to get back to a bowl game.

Mid-season: Louisville (Game 6) — This mid-season stretch has a bunch of key games on paper for the Orange, including home games against Louisville and SMU, plus road games at Virginia and UNC. I feel like Syracuse needs to win a home game around this point to stay in bowl contention, and this one against the Cardinals comes at a point that could sort of determine how good the Orange really are.

Late-season: Clemson (Game 9) — This game could be really important for both the Orange and Tigers. I don’t think Dabo Swinney will let the Tigers forget how Syracuse beat them in Death Valley last season, and the Orange have to be ready for a potentially recharged Clemson squad. I think this is a game both teams could view as “must-wins” to reach postseason play.

What do you think for your team?

My wife and I are looking for potential places to hold a party for our baby’s first birthday in October. Does anyone know of any good spots in particular?

We’re in northern Westchester but we’re open to different towns throughout the county since we have family all over the county and coming up from New Jersey. Ultimately, it’d probably be around 25 people from our families and close friends, so not a huge crowd, but a little too big to host at our own place. There wouldn’t really be any kids there either — maybe 3 total including our own. We’re trying not to spend over $1,000 if possible. If anyone has any suggestions, that’d be greatly appreciated!

There’s been plenty of chatter about a potential extension for MPJ as he enters the last year of his current contract, and I’m curious what kind of extension he and the Nets may ultimately agree to.

It feels like the Nets are gearing up to be big spenders over the next few summers — they’ll have a ton of cap space, there will be a lot of All-Star free agent players and young guys like Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. should show positive development signs. They should be a franchise poised to take the next step by then.

MPJ has fit well with the Nets since he came here — he’s in the prime years of his career, he has bonded well with the young guys and stayed decently healthy (I do think he was held out of some games for the tank — not necessarily his fault). He’s shown he can be a strong player on a championship team and play next to a superstar talent in Denver, so I’m not concerned about him not being in a top-dog role. But for the Nets, they’ll have to weigh whether it makes sense to keep their cap space and try to re-sign him as an over-the-cap team with his Bird rights, or to do some type of an extension now to have him in place already before trying to get a max-level free agent on board.

What does everyone else think?

Thought this was an interesting look into the ACC’s relationship with ND football.

I think they’re in an okay place — it’ll never be perfect but I think both sides realize they need the other in this imperfect relationship, in some form or fashion. The ACC needs ND to boost SOS and marquee game inventory, while ND needs the ACC to ensure guaranteed P4 games on its schedule plus a stable home for its other sports.

Please don’t downvote. Genuine question I’d like to see discussion on.

The Nets made the correct move going from New Jersey to Brooklyn — that’s really not even a question. I grew up in NJ and loved having the Nets there, but for the long-term prospects, moving to Brooklyn was absolutely the correct financial and on-court decision. Look at how much the franchise is valued at, the kinds of events Barclays Center pulls, etc.

I think ‘Brooklyn’ was different in the beginning and it worked at first. It felt hip and new at the time of the move, the team made a few exciting trades to get fans interested. The herringbone court was spectacularly unique. The black-and-white color scheme was a fresh, minimalist look. The coogi jerseys were a hit. It brought back pro sports into an area that had been barren without it since the Dodgers moved to LA. I think the ‘Brooklyn’ branding really succeeded all the way through the KD era — it was something I think he personally really liked about the Nets and embraced as being different compared to the Knicks.

But in the wake of the Knicks’ rise and NBA title win, I’m wondering if the Nets pigeonholed themselves by not going back to the New York Nets, which they were with Dr. J on the team and during their ABA title runs. You see how much New York as a whole has rallied around the Knicks during this run — from the five boroughs to Westchester to Long Island and further all throughout the state. The Nets have only in recent years really kind of re-embraced their New Jersey history and had sort of alienated plenty of New Jersey-based fans early on by not so subtle efforts to brand the franchise’s “beginning” in 2012. And by branding as ‘Brooklyn,’ I feel like that in effect kind of alienates people who live in other boroughs and parts of New York. Like, why would new basketball fans from Harlem or Astoria or the Bronx choose to fully support a team who represents a specific borough where they don’t live, and not their city or state? Did the Nets do it in part to avoid a legal situation with Dolan and the Knicks, something I could totally have imagined happening? I’m starting to feel like the ‘Brooklyn’ brand hasn’t aged well — but I realize I could be totally overthinking this given the current realities of the Knicks and Nets.

The Knicks are the Knicks — the Nets will never have the kind of passionate, diehard fanbase they’ve built over so many years. But I can’t help but wonder if they’ve missed out on potential new fans by branding so hyperlocal. Brooklyn is unique and it is incredibly famous, but New York is arguably the most well-known city in the world. All the other major pro teams here are ‘New York’ but them. I feel like people who don’t really have a connection to Brooklyn wouldn’t be interested in rooting for the Nets outside of casually rooting for individual stars on the team — yet fans immediately gravitate toward the Yankees or Knicks not only for their tradition, but because they know and revere New York as an iconic destination and mecca. Planting the organization in Brooklyn was an undoubtedly smart move and the Nets have a much greater mix of casual basketball enjoyers with a likely smaller ratio of passionate fans today, but I wonder if maybe ‘Brooklyn’ as a brand would have been better as kind of an alternate jersey/logo/symbol instead of the main thing and having been renamed ‘New York’ back in 2012 instead?

There’s been a lot of chatter here about the future of the ACC and comparisons to the Big 12 of late, and what realignment could look like over the next several years.

I thought this article provided a fascinating look into the Big 12’s finances, and it shows how the money its programs are making over the course of its new media deal is still going to be less than what ACC programs make per season because of all the mouths it has to feed.

It illustrates the key propositions of expansion — add the right kind of schools who can provide real value, and your conference is for the better. But adding programs for the sake of adding programs can bite back in the long run, as the Big 12 has now learned.

If your coach has been with your program for at least a little bit, what’s been their signature win so far that’s given them individually or your program as a whole more recognition on the national stage?

If it’s your coach’s first year with your program, this could be a win with their prior team that catapulted them into the spotlight as a major candidate.

For Syracuse, this one’s easy — Fran Brown’s win over Miami to end the 2024 regular season. It was an ESPN game, all Miami needed to do was win to make it to the ACC Championship Game (and likely the CFP) with a Heisman QB in Cam Ward, but Syracuse made a huge comeback and knocked off the Hurricanes. That was a big win for the Orange and their rookie head coach on that stage, which got them into the CFP rankings as they finished with a 10-win season.

Early season highlights:

From Weeks 0-3, the ACC will have conference members featured in three ABC games and ten ESPN games, as well as a couple ESPN2 games.

The two Week 0 international games featuring three ACC teams (UNC, UVA, NC State) will both be on ESPN.

The ACC will be featured in primetime on ABC & ESPN for five straight nights in Week 1. It starts with GT hosting Colorado on Thursday, Stanford hosting Miami on Friday, Clemson visiting LSU on Saturday, Louisville facing Ole Miss on Sunday and FSU hosting SMU on Labor Day Monday.

The ACC will have three conference matchups across three straight days in Week 3 on ESPN, including Pitt hosting Syracuse on Thursday, Miami visiting Wake on Friday and Clemson hosting UNC on Saturday.

The ACC will also have two late-night ESPN games in Week 4, with Cal hosting Clemson on Friday and Stanford hosting GT on Saturday.

Friday, Sept. 4
Miami at Stanford

Friday, Sept. 11
Rutgers at Boston College
Villanova at Louisville
Richmond at NC State
Norfolk State at Virginia

Friday, Sept. 18
Miami at Wake Forest

Friday, Sept. 25
Clemson at California

Friday, Oct. 2
Pitt at Virginia Tech

Friday, Oct. 9
Florida State at Louisville

Friday, Oct. 23
Duke at Virginia
NC State at Stanford

Friday, Nov. 6
Virginia Tech at SMU

Friday, Nov. 13
Florida State at Pitt

Friday, Nov. 20
Clemson at Duke

Friday, Nov. 27
Florida at Florida State

Also of note: Syracuse, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are the only ACC teams who will not play a Friday game this season.

According to the release: “The CW will air 14 regular season football games, 30 men’s basketball games, and 10 women’s basketball games each season.”

Seems like a good deal for the ACC. More games airing on OTA TV that’s seen increasing viewership year-over-year, and should help out some schools in securing more revenue.