Terps Sports

No doubt this would be my preference.

If FSU left, I don't think UNC would have a problem walking away from Duke. However, would the Big10 and SEC (or maybe also Big12) have to tacitly and simultaneously cooperate with one another with the agreement that they would each take one school from NC and VA? They would also need to agree on who takes who. UNC is obviously the biggest prize among the four, especially to the Big10 since it doesn't have any prescence in NC.

The bottom line is if FSU did leave, they would all be worse off because the ACC's future negotiating power would be shit. They would all get a better deal if they left no matter where it was they were going. Hopefully, this point is not lost on anyone involved in this decision, and they would all land on their feet. UVA is the only one I would think that may even be iffy.

Here's a thought exercise : what would Delany do if UNC said 'yes, but only if you invite Duke too'. This would violate the first commandment of conference expansion 'thou shalt not overlap thy media markets'. Of course it could be argued that Duke and UNC's national following is large enough to overcome that principle. Then again it would also mean ingesting a truly putrid football program.

even in our current respective states, I would never, never, never, ever trade football programs.

Michigan fan here. Welcome to the B10. From our end, all the reliable chatter is that there is zero chance the B10 will stop at 14. It's only a question of who we add and when we do it. Below is the list of potential candidates generally being tossed around. Some are obviously far less likely than others, but with the way realignment has gone the past few years I wouldn't count any of them out.

Simple question. Out of just the ACC schools listed below, in UMD's opinion (a) who should we want and (b) who is most likely to be receptive to an offer.

1. Texas*
2. Notre Dame* - not AAU
3. UNC
4. Duke
5. Miami - not AAU
6. GT
7. UVA
8. BC - not AAU
9. Syracuse - not AAU (recently kicked out)
10. NCSt - not AAU
11. VT - not AAU
12. KU

* Extremely unlikely.

UNC might be able to swallow hard and pick the SEC over the Big 10, but I can't see any way UVA would ever make that selection if they had a choice in the matter.

I don't see why Duke would be all that tied in with UNC. They're a small private school and they'd schedule each other in basketball regardless.

The NC State thing is tricky, but you have to figure there's a very good shot they land on their feet in the SEC, although I'm not sure how much communication there would be between the conferences about that matter.

Duke definitely ends up in the BOD ACC/Big East leftovers conference. But that's not the worst thing from a basketball standpoint and lord knows they couldn't care less about football

Duke
Wake
Syracuse
UConn
Georgetown
Villanova
Temple
St. John's
Notre Dame (basketball)
etc...

Another question is, How tied is the Big Ten to the geographical proximity issue? I'm guessing that, in the current state of college athletics, the Big Ten would place a smaller value on whether a new member is within a neighboring state to the state of an existing member; with that said, if the Big Ten wants to maintain that position, how could they invite UNC without having UVA?

No. Delany loves "brands" and Duke is a national brand. I think he would take the pair of UNC/Duke in a second, but if they are going to hold out until the bitter end to see if the ACC can be saved I'm not sure he will wait that long. The B10 has been jerked around a couple times by ND and I don't think he is going to wait around if there is a chance we are not going to get them and be left with scraps. In that case, I think he will grab Syracuse before they formally join the ACC. Once he does that, we will be down to one spot and UNC/Duke will not be an option without going to 18 (which I don't think Delany wants to do).

I legitimately think UNC would love to join the SEC to have Kentucky as its rival and just schedule duke every year. Win win for them.

Except that the UNC faculty and president would gag over an association with such a suck-a$$ academic conference as the SEC. I think UNC will hang in until the roof falls in to stay in the ACC. They are part of the Carolina mafia who control the show. Going anywhere else makes them second fiddle, but if they do, I think they would go to the B10 before any other conference, just to stay with a higher level of academics.

The sadist streak in me wants the Big 10 to pick up Ga Tech and UVa. Both AAU.

Then the real fun starts:

UNC, Duke, Va Tech and NC State fighting to get the last two SEC slots and avoid the Big 12/Big East.

FSU, Miami and Clemson running for the Big 12 to avoid the Big East.

WF, Pitt, Syracuse, and BC raise ACC exit fee to $ 1 Billion retroactively.

Question for the Big Tenners - IF the B10 does indeed bring in UVA and UNC, what do you think the odds are of seeing the conference tourney ever coming to DC, at least a few times? I realize it's not in "Big Ten country" but it's still a destination city that everyone should want to visit.

Also remember you can gamble in Maryland. We're basically Vegas now.