[rmiller1959]

More realignment moves at the top -- what will the ripple effect be?

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.co ... ts-at-acc/

[flamesfilmguy]

along those lines.
http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2013/2 ... r-virginia

[badger74]

May just be post recruiting boredom but BIG expansion seems to be heating up again. Removing FCS games, more BIG games could signal more teams coming. I'd have UVa and UNC at the top of my list. Not excited by Ga Tech at all.

[alabama24]

Not excited by Ga Tech at all.

GA Tech makes much more sense than does UVA (It's in a major market, and there are great opportunities for recruitment) ... except for Geographical reasons... but that is thrown out the window the minute the B1G decides to go south of the Mason/Dixon line.

[FlameFanInCarolina]

I guess its time I jumped into this monster thread. Goodness knows I've read a lot of it. For me the one reason UVA makes sense going to the little 10 is from the state of Virginia side. This frees up VPI to join to SEC. A football school to a football conference makes sense and the rivalry with Tennessee should develop quickly (for years they have tried to figure out how to get that matchup at the Bristol Motor Speedway and haven't been able to make it work). Based on how Tech got in the ACC, however, they should be tied to UVA unless UVA has a good landing spot which the little 10 provides. I don't ever see the SEC taking UVA. Given the potential decline of the ACC, especially if UNC heads north, for me both UVA and VPI would both be better off leaving the ACC.

[bluedevilflame]

I have said it before and I will say it again, UNC will never leave Duke or vice versa, it would be absolute anarchy on Tobacco Road if either left the other. I understand that A&M left Texas but Duke/UNC separating is an entirely different beast and is ten times the rivalry than that is. Its hard for anyone out of the Tobacco Road orbit to truly understand what this rivalry means to not only the schools and the fans, but the state of NC as a whole. The two schools are attached at the hip academically, in research, and in athletics. Now, I'm not saying they will stay in the ACC, but if one goes to the Big Ten (or another conference for that matter) so will the other. I'm just saying what I'm saying

EDIT:
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/02/1 ... uit-alive/

This is where the rubber meets the road for anyone leaving the ACC. If this lawsuit holds up, then it is what it is. I understand that VPI is a football school, but considering the hissy fit the Virginia government had to get them into the ACC originally, I don't see them leaving anytime soon.

[alabama24]

This frees up VPI to join to SEC. A football school to a football conference makes sense and the rivalry with Tennessee should develop quickly

+1

[Wilberforce91]

I have said it before and I will say it again, UNC will never leave Duke or vice versa, it would be absolute anarchy on Tobacco Road if either left the other. I understand that A&M left Texas but Duke/UNC separating is an entirely different beast and is ten times the rivalry than that is. Its hard for anyone out of the Tobacco Road orbit to truly understand what this rivalry means to not only the schools and the fans, but the state of NC as a whole. The two schools are attached at the hip academically, in research, and in athletics. Now, I'm not saying they will stay in the ACC, but if one goes to the Big Ten (or another conference for that matter) so will the other. I'm just saying what I'm saying

EDIT:
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/02/1 ... uit-alive/

This is where the rubber meets the road for anyone leaving the ACC. If this lawsuit holds up, then it is what it is. I understand that VPI is a football school, but considering the hissy fit the Virginia government had to get them into the ACC originally, I don't see them leaving anytime soon.

+1. This is one of the few things you'll see a Duke fan and Carolina fan agree upon.

[logic]

27 million annual payout from the B1G could change all that.

[bluedevilflame]

I'm not saying that a conference move isn't possible, I'm saying that they won't split mark my word.

[Sly Fox]

Oh you naive Carolinans. Texas-Texas A&M was nowhere near the rivalry of Carolina-Duke, eh?

I will be surprised if this doesn't happen in the next 12 months. If UNC does go to the B1G then there is no reason that the Devils & Heels can't continue their hoops series. Now name another sport where that rivalry matters to anyone outside of close friends & family.

And I seriously doubt the legislative maneuverings that brought VT into the ACC will play any significant role in UVa's decision as to whether they join the B1G. VT will be just fine in the SEC. The same can be said for NC State. Wake & Duke will fit in just fine with the hoops-minded leftovers of the ACC.

As for the Sun Belt ...

SBC to discuss future
Posted on February 20, 2013 by Chad Bishop

The Sun Belt Conference and presidents and athletic directors of its member schools will meet March 9 and discuss future conference membership during the league’s annual basketball tournament in Hot Springs, Ark., according to sources.

Click Here for Full Story

[NotAJerry]

B1G is the one league that had research cooperation programs among member schools. I don't even know if they do that anymore, but they did 10 or so years ago. But other than that, it's all fictitious.

Not true. The B1G was furious when Nebraska lost AAU status and would have taken Missouri instead if they had known it was going to happen. Rutgers and UMD both have that status as well. UNC, UVA and GA Tech, the next 3 being discussed for the B1G all have that status. It's a defining mark of the B1G as a conference.

The Pac-12 chose Colorado and Utah in large part because of their academic quality and agreement on basic academic philosophy (one of the reasons Utah got in over BYU). Not everyone takes that approach, but those two conferences certainly do.

[jbock13]

I get the feeling that NAJ is somewhat of fan of the Big Ten.

[Purple Haize]

I get the feeling that NAJ is somewhat of fan of the Big Ten.

He wouldn't be if he knew I was as well!

Indiana ! Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!

[LUconn]

B1G is the one league that had research cooperation programs among member schools. I don't even know if they do that anymore, but they did 10 or so years ago. But other than that, it's all fictitious.

Not true. The B1G was furious when Nebraska lost AAU status and would have taken Missouri instead if they had known it was going to happen. Rutgers and UMD both have that status as well. UNC, UVA and GA Tech, the next 3 being discussed for the B1G all have that status. It's a defining mark of the B1G as a conference.

The Pac-12 chose Colorado and Utah in large part because of their academic quality and agreement on basic academic philosophy (one of the reasons Utah got in over BYU). Not everyone takes that approach, but those two conferences certainly do.

How does any of that make what I said "Not true"? Presidents want to make academics look like they matter. It's the whole "student athlete" sham to make this whole thing seem somehow noble. It's not like after every game, the rocket scientist basketball players get together with the team they just played and share research notes in their pursuit to cure cancer. They just play sports with each other. There is no academic association other than the B1G one that I mentioned. Or do you pretend that a player at Duke has a harder time staying eligible than a player at Radford, as if there isn't a 3 year sociology cake walk at the former. Or African American Studies at UNC. You are getting hoodwinked if you're buying into it.

[bluedevilflame]

I'm not naive, I just know facts. When was the last time A&M/Texas was mentioned in the same breath as Yankees/Red Sox or Celtics/Lakers? When was the last poll that had A&M/Texas as the top rivalry of all time? I've seen countless over the years having Duke/UNC at the top, it's not just college basketball it IS college basketball and Duke's program hauls in more cash than ALOT of football programs. To bundle Wake with Duke is just wrong, Duke is ten times the institution that Wake is and has a lot more history and tradition (and cash) then they ever will. If you think for one second that the B1G ten wouldn't be interested in a school that ranks as high as any Ivy League school academically and can sell out arenas in NYC, NJ, Philly, Atlanta, virtually anywhere they go, then further research needs to be done on your part. Two schools with almost 100 years of history less than 10 miles apart is something no other rivalry has. As far as Duke football, made a bowl game this year and old sold more tix than every other ACC team, including FSU and Clemson. Duke will never be a conferences leftovers and both UNC and Duke know how attached they are.

http://espn.go.com/endofcentury/s/other ... lries.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina–Duke_rivalry

[Sly Fox]

When was the last time A&M/Texas was mentioned in the same breath as Yankees/Red Sox or Celtics/Lakers? When was the last poll that had A&M/Texas as the top rivalry of all time?

For the past 125 years alongside Ohio State/Michigan. And there is no chance the B1G has any interested in Duke unless they bring half of the ACC along with them. We get it, Duke-UNC is a great hoops rivalry. But it doesn't attract any more attention nationally than a UT/A&M football rivalry. And factor in that the Texas schools had the same legislative barriers as the carolina schools to split up and it still happened. Time have changed and traditional rivalries don't have the value in realignment that they experienced just a few years ago.

[Sly Fox]

The Big East has signed a TV contract but it is not the numbers they had hoped to obtain ...

‏@McMurphyESPN

Big East deal w/ESPN is $10M for 2013-14 hoops only; $20M for 2014-20 for football/hoops; CBS also worth at least $2M/year in '14

This clears up one corner of the realignment picture and the outcome of the Maryland lawsuits will likely provide the next major development that will determine where realignment heads next.

[FlameFanInCarolina]

Sly,
I generally appreciate your input and posts, especially on this topic. On the discussion of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry you are clearly jaded by living in Texas. On a national level the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry has always gotten much more exposure and attention. Growing up in Lynchburg, I never knew the Texas-Texas A&M game was a big deal until I saw the movie The Greatest Little Whorehouse in Texas when I was in my upper teens. I had enjoyed the Texas/Oklahoma game for years by then. It has always been a nationally televised game at noon for decades. On a NATIONAL level Duke/UNC is a much bigger deal as a basketball rivlary than Texas-Texas A&M in football. I don't know that the average fan would list that in their top ten college football rivalries. Certainly behind Michigan/OSU, Alabama/Auburn, and Texas/Oklahoma.

BTW I do agree with you that we are in a different era financially and if the state of North Carolina determines it will take more money into the school coffers (including the impact on NC State) by UNC heading north it will happen. Historically a lot of great rivalries are state schools that are not in the same conference.

[flamehunter]

And I suppose you are not jaded by living in NC?

[Purple Haize]

Saying Texas A and M / Texas rivalry is bigger then Texas / Oklahoma on a national scale is skewed thinking. It's like being from Indiana and saying the IU / Purdue rivalry is bigger nationally than the IU / Kentucky rivalry (even though those cowards couldn't take the heat and cancelled)
Duke / Carolina IS a National, or at least East of the Rockies, rivalry

[JK37]

The Big East has signed a TV contract but it is not the numbers they had hoped to obtain ...

‏@McMurphyESPN

Big East deal w/ESPN is $10M for 2013-14 hoops only; $20M for 2014-20 for football/hoops; CBS also worth at least $2M/year in '14

This clears up one corner of the realignment picture and the outcome of the Maryland lawsuits will likely provide the next major development that will determine where realignment heads next.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I knew the deal would be small by industry standards, but am I off for viewing this as utterly paltry?

[LUconn]

Duke / Carolina IS a National, or at least East of the Rockies, rivalry

Not true. I grew up in Connecticut and we didn't give a donkey about Duke/UNC. ESPN is pushing that narrative. Remember that one year where they had it on 3 or 4 different ESPNs from different camera angles? One of which was just pointed at the student section the whole time. Talk about over saturating.

[alabama24]

you are clearly jaded by living in Texas

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

[Purple Haize]

Duke / Carolina IS a National, or at least East of the Rockies, rivalry

Not true. I grew up in Connecticut and we didn't give a donkey about Duke/UNC. ESPN is pushing that narrative. Remember that one year where they had it on 3 or 4 different ESPNs from different camera angles? One of which was just pointed at the student section the whole time. Talk about over saturating.

I grew up in the heart of Big 10 country and I knew all about it