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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Alabama-Duke for Dome almost done
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amelia Island, Fla.-Some sights and sounds from the ACC Spring Meetings, which continue here today. Warning: I know this is a football blog, but a couple of basketball notes just might sneak in here.
1. Alabama-Duke at Dome almost done: Just talked to Joe Alleva, the outgoing athletics director at Duke who is headed to LSU this summer. Alleva told me that before he leaves Duke he hopes to sign a contract to play a football game with Alabama in the Georgia Dome in 2010. Duke has a home game with the Crimson Tide that year and the Atlanta Sports Council has pitched moving the game to the Georgia Dome for more money and recruiting exposure. Alleva said that new head coach David Cutcliffe, an Alabama grad, has signed off on the idea. “It just makes sense for Duke,” Alleva said.
2. Jags predicts big things for Ryan: I had a chance to visit with second-year Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski, a former assistant with the Falcons. Jagodzinski, who led the Eagles to the ACC championship game in his first season, said that just sold his home in Gwinnett County. Then he asked me how his former quarterback, Matt Ryan, was being received in Atlanta. When I told him the reception had been good, his face lit up. He then said that Ryan will make the Falcons and their fans glad they used the No. 3 draft pick on him. “I only coached him for a year but I’m here to tell you, this guy is special,” Jagodzinski said. “The people in Atlanta are going to love him. On top of being a good guy, Matt knows how to play the game. He’s going to be a very good pro.”
3. Georgia Dome is good to go: A group representing the Georgia Dome and the Atlanta Sports Council met Monday with the ACC’s athletics directors. The purpose of the meeting was to update the league on the status of the Georgia Dome since the tornado hit during the SEC Tournament last March. The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament will come back the Georgia Dome next March. “We feel very good about the Georgia Dome both inside and out,” said Carl Adkins, the general manager. “I think the ACC is looking forward to getting back to Atlanta.” They should be. The ACC Tournament set an all-time average attendance record (36,505) when it was first held at the Dome in 2001. There were over 40,000 for the Saturday semifinals.
4. Cutcliffe says Duke can win: Cutcliffe didn’t play golf with his fellow coaches on Monday. When you’re the new head coach at Duke, there is just too much to do. The former head coach at Ole Miss and OC at Tennessee said it is “absolutely possible” to assemble enough players at Duke to compete for an ACC championship. Changing the football culture at Duke, he conceded, will be the biggest challenge. “There is a lot of apathy and expectation of losing that is entrenched,” Cutcliffe said. “But it is our job to change that. We’re going to be given the tools to do it.” The big commitment came in salaries for assistant coaches. Cutcliffe was given a $2 million budget to hire his staff. That’s in the top third of the ACC.
5. Basketball coaches not happy: The ACC was rated as the No. 1 conference in the RPI and the end of last season. But when the NCAA invitations came out, the ACC got only four bids for the second time in three years. There is talk here of expanding the conference schedule from 16 to 18 games in order to take advantage of the conference rating. That’s not going to happen. The problem, according to several coaches that I talked to on Monday, is that the NCAA selection committee says that it doesn’t take conference affiliation into consideration when awarding at-large bids.
Commissioner John Swofford has written a letter SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the incoming chairman of the men’s basketball committee, suggesting that conference affiliation SHOULD be a consideration of the committee. “If we have the No. 1 conference and 60 percent of our schedule is in the league, how can that NOT be a factor?” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt asked.
The ACC is particularly upset that Virginia Tech (19-13) got left out of the field after almost beating North Carolina, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, in the ACC Tournament. Tyler Hansbrough made a shot with .8 second left to give the Tar Heels a 68-66 victory.
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