ACC Football: Top 5 expansion candidates for the conference

ACC football has been ahead of the curve when it comes to expansion, but has also lost teams. Who would the conference target in a new wave of realignment?

Over the past few days, we began to look at realignment from the standpoint of the SEC and the Big Ten. And in that look, ACC schools were high on the wish list for each of those leagues to poach. If and when realignment comes next, the ACC will be working from a position with both strengths and weaknesses.

The ACC was one of the first conferences to grow to 14 teams. But it also lost charter member Maryland to the Big Ten in the last go of realignment in college football. The ACC has been home to several recent national champions. But they don’t pay out as much as the other Power Five conferences, and the quality of their teams makes their members especially attractive to other leagues.

Whenever the next round of realignment transpires in the FBS ranks, who might the ACC target most in order to strengthen their position instead of merely treading water? Here are five prime targets that would offer the ACC real growth potential for the conference.