Tampa Makes A Play For ACC Championship Game

When the ACC expanded to 12 teams and set up a championship game, the league had images of Miami and Florida State facing off each year to a huge TV audience and a raucous crowd in Jacksonville. After the first two seasons, it's obvious that plan was terribly shortsighted and flawed. Throw in the fact that the Gator Bowl is also hosted in Jacksonville and is the second highest payout bowl affiliated with the ACC, and it's easy to see their disinterest in taking the loser of the ACC Championship Game less than a month later. Last year's championship game was held in the chilly rain between Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in front of a poor crowd, and then Georgia Tech made the return trip to face West Virginia on New Year's Day. All in all, not the scenario the ACC, Jacksonville or the Gator Bowl had in mind originally.

Well, it appears that change might be on the way. The Jacksonville Financial News & Daily Record is reporting that Tampa is preparing to make a serious push to host the ACC Championship Game starting in 2008. Tampa really made little effort to host the game the first time around, but it appears that the success of the ACC Basketball Tournament in Tampa this past spring has convinced the powers that be that a continued relationship with the ACC is worth pursuing. In fact, it's a little surprising that Jacksonville with their long running ties to the SEC was the initial Florida city that pushed the hardest for the ACC, but evidently Tampa has finally recognized the opportunity available with the ACC.

If a deal gets worked out for Tampa to host the game, it would be a big step for the ACC and fix several of the problems surrounding the current championship game structure. Raymond James is a slightly smaller stadium than the one in Jacksonville, and there should be more local interest - all things that will help sell out the game easier. Tampa in general should have nicer weather around the time of the game, something which will make it a more popular destination for fans from programs outside of Florida. Finally, it fixes the "championship game site must host the loser 3 weeks later" problem that currently exists with the Gator Bowl.

Hopefully, in 2008 we'll be watching the ACC Championship Game from sunny Raymond James Stadium. Maybe the ACC can actually get it right this time.