What’s it worth to shut up a supposed partner?

That’s not rhetorical. It’s a real question the ACC must consider — especially now, after news broke late Tuesday night that the league and its noisiest two schools, Florida State and Clemson, are discussing a proposal wherein both universities would drop their lawsuits against the conference. All the ACC has to do to make that so?

Oh, you know. Nothing too wild. Just adjust its revenue formula (again), embrace another unequal distribution model and funnel as many dollars as possible to its schools 1) with the biggest brand values and 2) that drive the most television viewership …

Aka, the two schools actively suing the league.

During a regularly scheduled meeting of ACC presidents and chancellors on Tuesday, there were discussions (among other topics) about alternate revenue models, a person briefed on the meeting confirmed. Hours after that meeting, ESPN and Yahoo! Sports both reported that FSU and Clemson would be open to staying in the league if financial adjustments — more like concessions — are made. Gee, how kind of them.

Then there’s the second part to Clemson and FSU’s supposed pitch, reported by ESPN: potentially shortening the league’s grant of rights, possibly to 2030, which aligns with the expiration…

On Jan. 19, two days after he became the most coveted football player in the NCAA’s transfer portal, and mere hours after he welcomed Ohio State coaches for a recruiting visit, Caleb Downs announced his change-of-address plans. The freshman safety who’d earned second-team All-America honors at Alabama committed to the Buckeyes. Not long after, Downs and his father began relocating to Columbus.

Getting there was simple enough. Getting around was another matter.

Some wheels needed to be put in motion.

“I get a call from someone on the coaching staff and they said, ‘Hey, I’m here with Caleb and his dad now. Are you looking to add somebody else to your team?’” says Rick Ricart, the CEO and owner of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus. “Would you be willing to do a car deal for him?’”

For decades, these were shifty conversations. Local car dealerships had long been conduits for the whispered inducements coaches or boosters promised talented players. When discovered, scandal erupted. Repercussions were often stark. Then came the seismic summer of 2021, when changes to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allowed college athletes to earn money without fear of NCAA sanctions.

Car dealers nationwide quickly exchanged leases and keys for players boasting about their new…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

During the season in this space, we often like to begin with a bit of pop culture or history or some other random bit of nonsense unrelated to college basketball. So, uh, is it OK if we just do that for the entirety of this final installment?

Because we’re going to be totally transparent here. For the first time in six years of making mock brackets for The Athletic, we go into Selection Sunday with no earthly idea of what the selection committee is going to do. Oh, sure, there are always small surprises, but for the most part, the field is obvious except for maybe one slot.

Not this year. After one of the wildest Championship Week Saturdays we can remember, which included two power-conference bid thieves and a still-hard-to-believe outcome in the American, we find ourselves utterly confused by the bubble. And whether North Carolina will hold on to that final No. 1 seed or if surging Iowa State will take it. At least we’re not alone:

Been doing this since 2006. It’s never been this hard for the committee, not only because of how close so many of these teams are, but because of the…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

Bracket Watch HQ is also home to a 5-year-old, who has recently discovered a new favorite song. Which means we’ve been forced to listen to it on an endless Spotify loop:

Yes, for those of you without children or an aversion to cartoons, that’s Reel 2 Real’s relentlessly dumb but inescapably catchy 1993 hit “I Like to Move It,” remade for the “Madagascar” movie franchise. You’re welcome for the earworm.

It also reminds us that things are always changing and growing in unexpected ways. Take the NCAA Tournament, for example (segue alert!). Dana O’Neil reported this week that tournament expansion remains a very likely outcome, but the field would only grow by a modest four to eight teams. Perhaps we’ve reached the acceptance stage of our grief, but we can move forward with a few more play-in games if that’s what it takes to keep the barbarians at the gate.

It’s also time for teams to make their moves in our latest mock bracket, now just nine days from Selection Sunday. Conference tournaments have begun, and the power conferences get going with their postseasons next…

By David Ubben, Chris Vannini and Brendan Marks

The CW Network announced on Thursday that it has secured the rights to 50 ACC football and basketball games each season through 2026-27. Here’s what you need to know:

• The first ACC football game that will air on The CW on Sept. 9 will feature Pittsburgh in a nonconference game against Cincinnati.
• The CW will broadcast 13 football games, 28 men’s basketball games and nine women’s basketball games.
• The basketball games will be broadcast in December, January and February with men’s basketball doubleheaders each Saturday and women’s basketball games on Sundays.

The CW Network has secured exclusive broadcast rights to 50 ACC college football and basketball games each season through 2026-27.@TheCW acquired the rights to these live games from Raycom Sports who sublicenses the rights from ESPN.

𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘: https://t.co/B1wBQSR9I8 pic.twitter.com/oAZWpwL1f4

— The ACC (@theACC) July 13, 2023

What did the ACC say about the deal?

“We are thrilled to be adding The CW to our weekly television lineup for ACC football and basketball games,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said. “The CW’s national distribution will directly benefit our student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans. We appreciate ESPN and Raycom working together…

The ACC’s annual spring meetings are underway in Amelia Island, Fla., and are expected to end by midday Wednesday. It’s the first time the league’s top administrators will gather in person since Florida State athletic director Michael Alford publicly lambasted the ACC’s current equal revenue sharing model and said “something has to change,” because FSU could not compete nationally if it falls $30 million behind its peers in the SEC and Big Ten on an annual basis.

Those comments, made in front of his board of trustees back in February, made waves nationally and were followed up by similar calls for consideration of uneven revenue sharing from his counterparts at Clemson, Miami and North Carolina.

GO DEEPER

Could the ACC ever adopt an unequal revenue sharing model?

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has acknowledged the league’s position relative to the SEC and the Big Ten and has hired outside help to find new revenue streams for a conference locked in to its media rights deal through 2036. What it would cost to try to get out of the ACC before that time is unclear; the exit fee alone is $120 million and there is also the issue of breaking the ACC’s grant of rights, which has not been challenged to date and is presumed to be airtight by most.

Lawyers for a subset of…

The ACC and commissioner Jim Phillips have agreed to a contract extension, a conference source confirmed to The Athletic. An extension had been in the works between the two parties for at least a few weeks. ESPN first reported the news. Here’s what you need to know:

• Phillips is entering his third year at the helm of the conference after a long run as athletic director at Northwestern. He has served on several influential NCAA committees, including the NCAA Board of Directors, Board of Governors and Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee.
• The ACC’s current grant of rights contract ties its members together through 2035-36, but recent discussions over how to generate additional revenue or divide it differently among ACC schools have left the conference focused increasingly on its future.
• Phillips was tabbed to replace John Swofford atop the ACC during a period of significant turnover among Power 5 commissioners; the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 also introduced new leaders between 2020 and 2022. The SEC’s Greg Sankey is the longest-tenured P5 commissioner, having held the role since June 2015.

What it means for the Big Ten

The news of Phillips’ extension is quite notable from a timing standpoint. The Big Ten is in the final stages of its search for a new…

March Madness may end up April Anarchy, at least in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament that wraps up without any of the sport’s blueblood programs vying to cut down the nets at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

That could lead to some dismal TV viewership numbers.

And on the women’s side, the most anticipated game may not be the championship but Friday’s semifinal that pits defending champion South Carolina against Iowa in a showdown between two of college basketball’s best players in either tournament — the Gamecocks’ Aliyah Boston versus the Hawkeyes’ Caitlin Clark at 9 p.m. on ESPN from American Airlines Center in Dallas.

That could lead to some not-dismal TV viewership numbers.

The other women’s semifinal is Final Four newcomer Virginia Tech against LSU at 7 p.m. Friday, also on ESPN, with the final scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC.

The men’s semifinals pit Florida Atlantic and San Diego State at 6:09 p.m. Saturday followed by UConn and Miami (Fla.) at 8:49 p.m., with the winners meeting at 9:20 p.m. Monday.

Other than Connecticut, the men’s teams are all in their first Final Four and all games are on CBS. This is also the first men’s Final Four without a No. 1 seed since 2011.

So how will the TV ratings fare, without any of the men’s patrician programs…

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jim Larrañaga had just finished posing for pictures with the Miami cheerleaders and was answering questions from media at half court, on his way to his second Final Four, when Liz Larrañaga ran up and tugged on his shirt. “You gotta listen,” Liz, his wife of nearly 52 years, said. “You like that song.”

Queen’s “We are the Champions” played over the loudspeaker at T-Mobile Center, and Larrañaga paused right as the chorus played. He was informed that at 73 he could be the oldest coach to ever win a national championship. “I’m not that old,” he shot back.

He started this journey 51 years ago as an assistant at Davidson, moving his way up the ranks and not even appearing in an NCAA Tournament until he was 49. The three dominant coaches of his generation — Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim — have all retired in the last two years. Is he next?

“I think he’ll do it until he just can’t do it,” said Liz, with the freshly-cut net draped around her neck. “I’m not going to let him retire. This is what he loves.”

No one should drive him away either. The game can pass people by, but not Larrañaga. He proved on Sunday in an 88-81 win over Texas in the Midwest Regional final that he absolutely still has it, making a few…

Three large blocks of bold and italicized text greet you within the pages of the NCAA’s decision in the infractions case concerning recruiting violations around Miami’s women’s basketball program.

Yes, the NCAA found violations, headlined by the winningest head coach in program history (Katie Meier) facilitating impermissible contact between two prospective athletes (Fresno State transfers Haley and Hanna Cavinder) and a well-known Hurricanes booster (John Ruiz).

The penalties are rather minor: One year of probation. Tens of thousands of dollars. A handful of lost official visits, and some lost in-person recruiting days.

But the case was resolved with no penalties for the players involved. And no penalties for the booster with deep pockets who met with those players before they ultimately committed to the Hurricanes, either.

That last bit is what fans and administrators alike will focus on as they sift through the news of the Division I Committee on Infractions’ first NIL-adjacent decision to be resolved since relaxed NIL rules ushered in a new era of college sports. Many will feel that the light penalty will amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

This is what compelled the Committee on Infractions to include the bolded and italicized passage. The three-person…