If The U and FSU were back to the late 90’s early 2000’s level of talent and play the ACC would be looked at so much differently. In theory, when the ACC expanded they would’ve had quality teams of Miami, FSU, VT and Clemson. All of those teams have played for or won Titles the past 25 years. But… only Clemson is good and I’m not sure which direction they’re trending .
Yes. They finished in the top 5 every single year from 1987 to 2000. There is no telling how many titles Bowden would have won with a 4 or 12 team playoff in those days.
I think with football being so big and college basketball really being far away from what it once was, there are so many more storied football rivalries that take center stage. The Big East used to be amazing with Syracuse, St John’s, Georgetown, UConn. Those rivalries were all fun to watch and the Big East tournament played in Madison Square Garden on a Saturday night was far, far and away the best in college basketball . Iverson vs Ray Allen was must watch basketball. This is coming from a guy who has been to tons of ACC tournament games in Greensboro, Charlotte and Atlanta. Those games deliver at times too, but MSG back in the 80’s and 90’s was a much better product than anything we have today.
Elko has certainly been impressive. First at Duke. And A&M and SEC play did not seem to initmidate him at all. Instant & vast improvement over Jimbo. For whatever reasons, Jimbo never cleared the hurdle to be that HOF coach everyone (mainly the pundits) always thought he was (going to be). Elko might actaully give A&M an identity.
Jimbo never evolved his offense. I think that was his biggest problem. There were also huge cultural problems within the team, but stuff like that is a chicken or the egg thing that is difficult to figure out from the outside. Did they lose because they had cultural problems, or did they have cultural problems because they were losing?
Which was also his biggest mystery since he was billed as an Offensive mind when OC at LSU and even at FSU as HC. Maybe he was for the time, but Fulmered himself as the game evolved. I remember when the LSU base was expecting him to follow Saban as HC there, then he bolted for FSU to get an earlier start.
Possibly had too much Fulmer in him and never turned it over to an OC. As busts go, he is a big one for HC's in my book. Not that he didn't field good teams, but he never achieved what he should/could as a HC. He never left an empty bucket on the field at the end of a season. Maybe he was trash behind the scenes in the locker room or something.
