The dome domain

Interesting thread on the WEZ board about what the ACC has to do to become legitimate in football again.

(One could make a good argument that the term "again" should be excluded. When, after all, is the last time the ACC was a power in football?)

The obvious answers are: Florida State and Miami becoming powers again ... Landing an at-large BCS bid for the first time ever ... Having better showings in BCS games ... Putting someone in the BCS title game for the first time since 2000 ... Having better showings in high-profile non-conference matchups ... Hiring better coaches ... and so on.

The following solution is a bit whimsical -- maybe a lot whimsical -- and doesn't directly address the reasons the ACC's stature has been far smaller than the Greensboro braintrust envisioned when it opted to expand from nine to 12 teams and play a championship game.

But hear me out for a moment.

The ACC needs a dome.

Seriously.

I had this revelation while watching the Cotton Bowl between LSU and Texas A&M at Cowboys Stadium.

Had the game taken place at the old Cotton Bowl (outdoors), it's not as though the place would've been a ghost town. Joint woulda been packed, no doubt. But there's no way it would've packed the electricity that was present that night at Cowboys Stadium.

That's the thing about dome college football games that occur during the postseason, whether they be bowl games or conference title games. The buzz and intensity are magnified so much more.

It's akin to the difference between a noon game and a night game at Death Valley. Clemson fans are well-versed in that contrast.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the best non-BCS bowl, and it's not even close. A big part of it is great matchups, but the game's place in the Georgia Dome is also a major part of the equation.

I remember being there when Clemson dusted Tennessee at the end of the 2003 season.

I remember being there when Auburn nipped Clemson in overtime at the end of the 2007 season.

And I remember being there when Alabama smashed Clemson to open the 2008 season.

On all three occasions, the joint felt as if it was about to lift off the ground in the moments preceding kickoff. Do you get the same kind of buzz if the game is outdoors in Atlanta? I say heck no.

Charlotte's first ACC title game featured a compelling matchup in Virginia Tech versus Florida State. And it was actually a pretty exciting game before the Hokies pulled away.

But good gosh, the elements at Bank of America Stadium significantly detracted from the atmosphere. It was cold, rainy and nasty.

What if that game had been played in a dome? You get more people, probably a sellout, by taking frostbite out of the equation. You get a much better vibe that would come across on TV and attract more viewers.

The SEC has done so much right in becoming the model that others (including the ACC) try to emulate. Putting the title game in Atlanta was a big part of that because of the city's central location.

And yeah, it helps to have powerful, BCS title-contending teams squaring off in the game every year.

But don't underestimate the power of a dome.

The ACC should consider tapping into that power somehow, some way.

LW