The ACC owes Fox a Christmas card this year.

A little competitive bidding pays off for the ACC at TV contract renewal time.

ESPN won the TV rights to ACC football and basketball in a bidding competition with Fox Sports that was surprisingly close, industry sources say, and as a result made the conference several million more dollars.

The back-and-forth bidding, which reached its final stages last week at the league’s spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., drove up ESPN’s rights fee from initial projections of about $120 million a year to $155 million, sources said, providing the ACC with more than double the revenue it was receiving from its previous football and basketball contracts.

Nice, even if that isn’t up to SEC standards.

… That annual figure of $155 million dwarfs the average of $67 million the league was getting from its previous media deals, which expire at the end of the 2010-11 season, but falls well short of the $205 million a year that the SEC gets from its new 15-year deals with CBS and ESPN.

Maybe Georgia Tech can afford to buy out Paul Hewitt’s contract now.

Profiles in Big XII leadership

Maybe it’s just me, but threatening fellow institutions with hollow warnings like “if any member decided to leave, they would regret it later on” seems kind of counter-productive to maintaining a cohesive conference.

Then again, Boren has never impressed me as being one of the sharper tools in the shed.

Getting out of the ditch in 2010

Mr. Hale cut me off at the pass with his “hot seat” post this morning – it was a subject I was set on exploring this week, but he’s done such a good job locating the sources of the discontent that I’ll just refer you to it.

That being said, his summary begs a response.

So here’s my question: Have all the offseason moves left you with as much confidence in Richt as you ever had? Or did two years of stubborn insistence on a largely unsuccessful approach shake your belief?

Or perhaps more to the point — will you stick by Richt if Georgia finishes 8-5 again this year, but does it with a more fundamentally sound D, a better approach to kickoffs and a duo at tailback that understands how to play the position?

Barring a rash of injuries (and at certain key positions, it might not even take that much), an 8-5 result this season isn’t going to sit well with me.  I say that primarily for two reasons.  First, the schedule is considerably more favorable than last year’s.  And second, if last year’s team could win eight games despite a minus-16 in turnover margin, I expect better results if the turnover situation improves.  Which it should…

What say you?

So, just how badly did Tommy Tuberville want that Texas Tech job?

Based on what’s in his contract (h/t Coaches Hot Seat Blog), pretty damned badly.  He’s making much less money than Leach was earning, not to mention even that much less than what he was being paid at his Auburn gig.

Kiffin watch: It’s not like he was marrying UT, you know.

You read stuff like this part of an interview with Junior and you can’t help but wonder how oblivious Mike Hamilton had to be when he made the hire in the first place.

ANDREA KREMER: When you came into Knoxville, the first thing that you preached was loyalty and togetherness.  Now you’re leaving a year later and there’s no loyalty and you’re about to break up togetherness.

LANE KIFFIN:  I never once told any of those players I would be there forever.  I never made the statement, ‘I’m coming here, this is my dream job, I’m never leaving.’ I never made those statements.

AK: Do you think that made them feel better?

LK: No, but it’s part of the business. You know, and as they get older they understand.  That’s why they put buyouts in contracts, you know.

By the way, based on what HBO is reporting, it’s hard to say that Southern Cal has any more of a clue than did Tennessee.