2022 Kings and Barons

 Nice update from ACC Football RX.  Old articles at bottom

2022 Kings and Barons

From the Athletic, here are Stewart Mandel’s Kings & Barons (June 14, 2022), here are the updated lists. Stewart also wrote some great explanations as to why he moved teams up or down - but in recognition of his copyright, you'll have to click the link to read that (and subscribe if you haven't already done so - the Athletic is a great source of information with some of the very best writers in the business, but I must admit I don't keep up a subscription all the time, just occasionally - Hokie Mark). I've bolded the ACC teams, and added up and down indicators for teams which have moved since the last list (2017).

Emperors: Untouchably dominant

Alabama (^)

Kings: Powerful entities

Clemson

Georgia (^)

LSU

Michigan 

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma 

Texas 

USC

Who’s a new king: Georgia

Who lost their kingdoms: Florida, Florida State, Miami, Penn State

Barons: Second-tier rulers

Auburn

Florida (v)

Florida State (v)

Iowa

Miami (v)

Michigan State

Nebraska

Oregon

Penn State

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Wisconsin

Who’s a new baron: Iowa

Who lost their fiefdoms: Stanford, UCLA, Virginia Tech

Knights: Fighting for honor and glory

Arizona State

Arkansas

Baylor

BYU

Cal

Georgia Tech

Kansas State

Kentucky (^)

Louisville

Minnesota (^)

Mississippi State (^)

Missouri

North Carolina

NC State

Northwestern

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

Pittsburgh

South Carolina

Stanford (v)

TCU

Texas Tech

UCLA (v)

Utah

Virginia Tech (v)

West Virginia

Washington

Who’s a new knight: Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi State

Who lost their knighthood: Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Syracuse, Virginia

Peasants: The working class

Arizona

Boston College

Colorado (v)

Duke

Illinois (v)

Indiana

Iowa State

Kansas

Maryland (v)

Oregon State

Purdue

Rutgers

Syracuse (v)

Wake Forest

Washington State

Vanderbilt

Virginia (v)

...we’re already guaranteed to have changes to the hierarchy in version 5.0. See you in 2027. - Stewart Mandell

BOTTOM LINE:

This is the problem with ACC football - and, ultimately, why it isn't paid as much as the SEC or Big Ten - the paucity of football royalty.

SEC: 1 emporer, 2 kings (soon to be 4), 4 barons, 6 knights, 1 peasant

B1G: 2 kings (soon to be 3), 5 barons, 2 knights (soon to be 3), 5 peasants

ACC: 1 king (associated with a 2nd), 2 barons, 6 knights, 5 peasants

Pac-12: 1 baron, 5 knights*, 4 peasants

Big XII: 6 knights (soon to be 7**), 2 peasants

The SEC is soon to have 9 out of 16 at or above baron level (56%). The Big Ten will soon have 8 themselves (50%). However, the ACC only has 3 kings & barons after the demotion of Virginia Tech (only 21%). Of course, I'm not counting Notre Dame among ACC royalty.

However, the Pac-12 and Big XII are in worse condition: the Pac-12 has only 1 football royalty (Oregon), while the Big XII has none. A collection of knights and peasants won't get you king and baron money!

Rx:

The only realistic way for the ACC to improve its situation is to promote from within. That would've been much easier over the last 2 decades when conference payouts were pretty close - now, they'll have to try to do it despite a serious financial handicap. I do think that FSU and Miami are capable of returning to king status, and that Virginia Tech can return to baron. I also think Louisville, Pitt, and possibly UNC and/or NC State could also move up - but they have to start winning those P5 non-conference games with some regularity.

https://allthingsfsu.blogspot.com/2017/11/reminder-fsu-is-king.html

https://allthingsfsu.blogspot.com/2017/05/2017-update-kings-barons-knights-and.html

https://allthingsfsu.blogspot.com/2017/05/cfb-bluebloods.html

https://allthingsfsu.blogspot.com/2015/05/program-pecking-order-kings-barons.html