Ranking which ACC schools are most viable to join a “super conference”
By John Scimeca
Ever since summer 2021, when OU and Texas announced their impending departure from the Big 12 to the SEC, the conference realignment wheels are turning rapidly once again.
This summer, the earth-shattering news was the defection of the Pac-12’s two most prized programs, UCLA and USC, leaving the league to soon join forces with the Big Ten.
By 2025 at the latest, both the Big Ten and the SEC will have 16 teams and may be considered college football’s “super conferences” due to the brand value, the ticket revenue, the fan support, and the resources of each athletic (namely, football) program.
With the conference realignment wheels spinning, which ACC schools are most likely to leave the league to form a new super conference?
It’s widely known that Oregon and Washington would leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten if they were invited. Notre Dame, despite the increased commentary and buzz lately, still fiercely clings to its independence.
The Fighting Irish have done quite well even in today’s conference-centric environment as the (semi) non-affiliated power program — they play several ACC football teams per year and the rest of their sports teams participate in the league.
Which dominoes are left to fall in the increasingly bipolar “super conference” world of college football? The wealthiest and most powerful ACC members.
And it’s only a matter of time before several of these schools join either the Big Ten or the SEC.
Yes, the ACC media rights deal lasts until 2036 in a very real and legally binding sense. But something tells me that lawyers will get involved and/or some kind of lucrative buyout will take place. It might not be pretty, but it’s hard to see everything standing pat for the next 14 years on behalf of the ACC Network.
What looks like a realistic scenario is three current ACC football teams + Notre Dame would join either the Big Ten or the SEC. If the Irish stay independent, it would be four ACC teams to make it an even number.
The driving force behind teams changing conferences today — including the aftershocks of OU and Texas like the Big 12 adding four more teams, etc. — is the financial benefit that schools can get from new media rights deals from giants like ESPN and FOX Sports. In the NIL world of college athletics with an open transfer portal, it’s “sink or swim” for all of the nation’s top football programs. You have to keep up with your opponents, or you’ll quickly fall behind.
Like it or not, the super conference era of college football is here. If you had the opportunity to poach four ACC members (excluding Notre Dame, of course), which ones would you choose?
Here’s a rundown of how each ACC member stands in terms of attractiveness in the latest round of conference realignment: