Clemson Sues ACC & March Madness Bracket Pool

LAST CALL FOR BRACKETS! Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. In this edition we touch on the turmoil in the ACC before turning our attention to basketball which entails rehashing Rand’s childhood trauma which seems to be a common theme around here, so without further ado, let’s get to it!

4&F March Madness Bracket Pool

The first game in the NCAA Tournament tip off at 12:15pm ET so there are roughly 2 hours left to join our bracket pool. The current pot is over $500 and you can join through ESPN’s Tournament Challenge by clicking the link here - the password is ‘Newsletter’. Feel free to invite your friends, significant other, family, dog, and family dog. Not cats, please. 

Rules: $10/bracket with unlimited entries. Venmo is preferred but we can also accept Cash App, Zelle, carrier pigeon, etc. If you can figure out a way to get us $10, we can figure out a way to get it back to you when you win it all. Payout is winner takes all with second place getting their money back. We’ll send you a reminder email on Monday morning with the details and links again.

Link: Here

Password: Newsletter

Payment: $10/bracket, unlimited entries

Rand’s Venmo: @Rand-Fisher

Tate’s Venmo: @Tate-Smillie

Clemson Sues the ACC

We’ve written a couple of times about Florida State’s ongoing legal battle with the ACC in recent weeks, focused on the ACC’s Grant of Rights agreement that ties all members to the league (via TV contracts) through 2036. On Tuesday, Clemson decided to join the fray, confirming everyone’s assumption that FSU is far from alone in being upset with its current situation. We won’t bore you with the details once again, but just as a refresher, the gist is that all ACC teams give the conference control over their TV revenue via a document called a Grant of Rights, and now the top programs in the ACC are getting scared about the annual $80M+ that SEC and Big Ten teams are making starting this year. This means that if FSU and Clemson decided to leave the ACC tomorrow, they’d be forfeiting all of their television revenue through 2036. This is, of course, not a viable option, so these schools are trying to find a way for a court to decide that the Grant of Rights document is not a binding agreement - or at least provide some wiggle room to eventually get to that point legally, and thus leave the conference for greener pa$ture$. 

If this sounds like a bunch of legal nonsense that won’t impact you in the slightest today, well, you’re right. Nothing is imminent here - FSU filed their suit in Florida, Clemson filed their suit in South Carolina, and the ACC has officially countersued both out of North Carolina. Determining jurisdiction on all of this will last months, and even that eventual decision will almost certainly be appealed for several more months. Point being: yeah, this is not yet a cause for panic. But it is certainly a cause for concern for the rest of the ACC, and honestly, for the structure of college football moving forward. We already seem to be headed for an eventual split between the haves and the have-nots in college football, and once the SEC and the Big Ten swallow up the rest of the nation’s power brands that happen to all reside in the ACC right now (and side note, the funny thing is the big brand that the SEC and Big Ten really want isn’t even these two, it’s UNC), we’ll be at the breaking point. We’ll definitely be monitoring this in the coming months.

Let’s Talk About March

Rand and I had fun discussing college football coaches/programs that we’re optimistic about in 2024, and so we began this week discussing possible topics for today’s newsletter. Should we talk about the best incoming recruits? Heisman favorites for next year? We then quickly realized that you all would be reading this within 3 hours of the first NCAA Tournament game, and would have absolutely zero interest in reading about who Rand thinks was the most exciting true freshman receiver last year (the answer is USC’s Zachariah Branch). It’s March Madness, so let’s talk March Madness.

What was your favorite NCAA Tournament National Title game ever?

Rand: Tate’s starting me off with a layup of a question and the pun is intended. The only correct answer is the 2016 Villanova-UNC game. Taking my not-so-subtle rooting interests out of it, the game was incredible. In the aftermath of the game, everyone said Marcus Paige’s game-tying, twisting three-pointer would be forgotten, but that trope has been repeated so often that we did not, in fact, forget it. I’m not even going to link it because you all know exactly what shot I’m talking about. Additionally, given the goliath nature of UNC basketball versus Nova trying to rediscover their 1980s & 90s magic, Jay Wright v Roy Williams, UNC & Nova’s long history in the NCAAT - most notably the 2009 Final Four & 2005 Sweet 16 - there were too many storylines for even Hollywood. The collective college basketball world will always have, “gives it to Jenkins, for the championship!”

Tate: Rand picking that game was as inevitable as death and taxes, but to be fair it was a classic. I’ll go with 2008’s title game between Memphis and Kansas. John Calipari’s Memphis team was one of the most talented college hoops teams ever, led by Derrick Rose. My good friend and 4th & Forever reader Waide Swain grew up cheering for the Tigers and had me absolutely locked in to Memphis hoops that entire season, so this was the most emotionally invested I’ve ever been in a NCAAT title. But Memphis could not hit a free throw to save their lives and Mario Chalmers hit that f*cking shot to send the game to OT where the Jayhawks won, breaking my 11 year old heart. Still, this was an all-timer.

What is the best college basketball game you’ve ever been to?

Tate: I can’t say I’ve traveled to tons of stadiums to view massive college basketball matchups over the years - my attendance at college basketball games is mostly reserved for being depressed at Stegeman Coliseum. But in 2013 after the Dawgs had back-to-back big wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, my dad and I did travel to Tuscaloosa to watch our Dawgs take on the Crimson Tide. This happened.

Rand: Another layup Tate, when are you going to ask me about pain & suffering? I’m using the literary device called foreshadowing there but let’s think happy thoughts first. Without a doubt, my answer is the 2009 Wake-UNC matchup in Winston-Salem.  I was in 7th grade and a ballboy for the season which equates to a glorified sweatsweeper. I sat under the basket, in front of the student section, and next to the UNC bench. UNC had Hansborough, Danny Green, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington while Wake had Ish Smith, Jeff Teague, Al-Farouq Aminu, James Johnson, and LD Williams. UNC was #3 at 14-2 while Wake was #4 at 14-0. Wake won 92-89 and before the students rushed the court I was instructed to stand behind the UNC bench to avoid getting trampled by students. What a novel piece of advice, don’t ya think Mr. Filipowski?

Pain and suffering time: What is your most painful NCAA Tournament memory?

Rand: Ah there we go, as inevitable as the sun rising, I must now talk about childhood suffering. Where do I begin? There’s the 2003 2-seed Josh Howard team that lost to 10-seed Auburn in the Second Round. Or the 2004 4-seed Chris Paul team that lost to Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, and #1 Saint Joe’s in the Sweet Sixteen. Or the 2005 2-seed Chris Paul team that got Pitsnoggled by #7 West Virginia in double overtime. Or the 2009 first round exit to Norris Cole and #13 seed Cleveland State. And how can you forget the 1939 Elite Eight loss to Ohio State? Asking me to pick one is better served in a therapist's office, not in a newsletter. Next question, please.

Tate: Well the Georgia Bulldogs have only played in three (yes, three) NCAA Tournament games in the time since I became a conscious being, so I won’t have to dig too deep into my bag of misery here. But the answer is definitely the Miracle Dawgs first round loss to Xavier in 2008. The Dawgs were coming off of a completely improbable SEC Championship win after a tornado wiped out the Georgia Dome (side note: I was literally in this tornado outside the Dome - search “tornado” in your inbox for the 4th & Forever edition where I tell this story!), and Sundiata Gaines and the boys were primed to continue their miraculous run. But the anti-UGA deep state called the refs late in the game, and the Dawgs got screwed with calls and no-calls down the stretch to lose. We have made exactly two NCAA Tournament appearances since then.

Who is your favorite NCAA Tournament Cinderella of all time?

Tate: You can’t really go wrong here, can you? Cinderella’s are what March is all about. You could go with FGCU dunking all over everybody in the 2013 tournament, you could go with Steph Curry taking over at Davidson in 2008, or Loyola-Chicago getting to the Final Four in 2018. But my favorite is, and likely always will be, the 2006 George Mason Patriots. The 11-seed Patriots beat blue-blood Michigan State in the first round, then beat Tyler Hansbrough and 3-seed North Carolina in the second round (shoutout to Rand). 9-year old Tate was going absolutely nuts. After a win against Wichita State, George Mason beat top-overall seed UConn in the Elite Eight in one of the most memorable games of all time. I was in love - this will always be my favorite Cinderella ever.

Rand: Tate cheated and named all of them but how can he leave me with Steph Curry and Davidson? Being in North Carolina during that run, you just knew you were living through a moment in history. I guess that’s the purpose of Cinderella’s but during his run, you knew it was special, and being in a basketball-crazed state made the energy palpable. They don’t count as a Cinderella and I’m cheating because Tate did it first, but the 2010 4-seed Butler coming within a Gordon Hayward rimmed-out halfcourt shot in the natty to beat Duke might’ve changed my answer to the first question…might’ve.

Who is your Cinderella pick in this year’s tournament?

Rand: Have I watched a second of Drake basketball in my life? No, but my old roommate Joe gave me a Drake pullover, and picking Cinderella’s is as inexact as guessing what flavor of fluoride Taylor Swift uses at the dentist. Speaking of, give me Colgate too.

Tate: I am still absolutely torn between Shahada Wells and McNeese State or Achor Achor and Samford, so I guess I’ll give you two. I am very upset that these two teams might have to play each other so early in the tournament, but I am very confident one of these teams will go to the Sweet 16 to give Purdue a run for their money.

Who is cutting down the nets in Phoenix on April 8th?

Rand: The smart answer is UConn because the talking heads on ESPN have been saying for months that they’re the best team in college basketball. I don’t like being smart, so I’m going for the chaos pick of Purdue. All eyes are going to be on them for every early matchup to see if they choke and lose to some nobody. But if they make it to the Final Four they’d be viewed as a 1-seed Cinderella of sorts given their incompetence in the tournament which would be a fun storyline.

Tate: UConn is inevitable.

Postseason Basketball Tournament Update

The slipper still fits! Survive & advance baby! The Deacs/Dawgs are still dancing! That’s right, The Deacs & The Dawgs both won their first round NIT matchups against App State and Xavier, respectively, yesterday. Therefore, we’re treated to a 4pm Sunday matinee of basketball between the two vicious rivals. Block your calendars, walk the dog beforehand, mow the lawn at noon, whatever you gotta do, just make sure you tune in for the only basketball game that matters on Sunday afternoon. One of us will have more on this pending the outcome.

Have a great weekend and we’ll talk to you again next week.

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Rand Fisher & Tate Smillie met a few years ago through their good buddy Dave Peljovich who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent two years of the last three years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest and currently pays rent in Atlanta but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.