Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[hank970]

The reason the ACC doesnt value basketball is primarily because of the southern football first schools and their complete dominance over the entire conference. When they leave that issue goes out the door but they will quite possibly liquidate the ACC on the way out. It's funny how the programs that hold everyone else's nuts to the fire are the ones with a foot out the door and zero future commitment ... see pac12

I can't decide if I'd be happier with UConn getting an offer to join the ACC or if greater joy would come from watching the ACC completely implode, even at our peril

Not so. FSU and Clemson currently may have more prominent football programs than the rest of the ACC-at-large, but they don't dominate the conference in any other way. The charter North Carolina institutions, most of which (and maybe all) are traditionally basketball-first schools, are the ones that pull the strings. That's why FSU and Clemson want out -- that, and dreams of P2 money.

Football may generate higher revenues, but any conference worth its salt is going to want member institutions to excel at both football and basketball. The two so-called money sports aren't mutually exclusive. Toward that end, we're seeing the football-first southern P2 schools like Alabama starting to put more emphasis on hoops. Will they succeed? A lot depends on what coaches they can attract and keep. When you have money to burn, that's a lot easier.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Something that may have gone unnoticed by a few, and will be a hit to Duke overall, was the announcement that 28 year president of CBS Sports (and Duke alumnus) Sean McManus is retiring (they announced this would be his last NCAA tournament, at some point this spring he will be done).

Duke basketball received a considerable amount of favorable exposure (I can get into some details later) that many questioned as excessive favoritism during his time there.