Wede01, some FIFY's on your post
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Maryland's departure as a founding member of the ACC is extremely significant because it proves that being the b*tch in the All Carolina Conference is no fun.
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The Big Ten will believe they are the most powerful and wealthy conference in the nation, the Big 12 will be the most pretentious in football, and the SEC will be the kicking a$$ and taking names
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Now on your post
Nebraska has been trying to get in the B1G for a century and on at least the third try they succeeded so good for them
Colorado has been a PAC like school for at least a generation so real big surprise there
A&M was in the pre SEC 100 years ago so they are just going back to where they were
Missouri to the SEC was the only real shocker but that was probably because the B1G thought they were better than the Tigers. Hopefully the Tigers will prosper in the SEC and be Michael Corleone and will "visit them soon" for some payback.
As for Slive signing the deal with the B12 I think it was a basic response to 2 issues :
#1) Negated the value of the Rose Bowl in future BCS structures overnight
#2) Paid Swofford back for not supporting last year when he said he would. I still feel the original "Champions Bowl" was to have been an ACC vs SEC deal as ESPN owned both and would have no need to allow FOX a piece of the action.
On the North Carolina and Virginia deal I agree getting those markets would be attractive but neither state has a bona fide football school. Therefore, I can see these possible scenarios to get the SEC to 16 :
#1 add UNC and Oklahoma = brand sweep
#2 add UNC and Virginia = academic sweep
#3 add UNC and Virginia Tech = market sweep
The problem is with each additional addition it means more cost and less incremental value. Look at the history of realignment and what it meant based on value
8 teams = regional teams
12 teams = bonus money from CCG (about 2 million extra per school) which means you have more revenue and fewer mouths
16 teams = 2 divisions or 4 pods and workable "playoffs"
After that you really think about the value of the remaining teams against the value of existing teams.
Alabama with a national franchise and 100,000 seating is worth more than Duke with terrible football and 30,000 seating. If academics really mattered then the B1G would be adding Harvard and Yale but they are not. At a certain point you have the laws of diminishing returns and more teams just waters down the product. Past say 4 conferences of 16 you are really looking at just 2 conferences of 24 (48 teams) or 32 (64 teams) and everybody else is just outside the upscale food join eating "wish sandwiches" from the other side of the glass.
Now on to your realignments
1. Big Ten adds Ga Tech, Virginia, and possibly UNC and Duke. All are AAU schools with a high reputation in research and academia. It would also give Delaney a continuous market from Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Ohio, Pittsburgh, and New York all the way through DC, Raleigh, and Atlanta.Georgia owns GA and the SEC dominates the alumni base of Atlanta followed by the ACC. Making an island in another countries territory is never a good idea and I am old enough to remember the Berlin Airlift. Georgia Tech may look good in the B1G on paper but ask the guys at the corner store playing checkers and you get a feeling it will be a long term failure.
I can see Duke as addition #15 and possibly UVA as #16 as both are private schools (yeah technically UVA is public but if you spent any time there you know the real score) and have less southern loyalty. I think UNC to the B1G is a pipe dream the way the B1G dreams of adding tu to the fold. No matter how much the B1G may covet these schools they will not get them. Gollum lost "precious" to a Hobbit and got burned in fire. Buffalo Bill got shot for what he coveted and the Bible take the issue so seriously it made the Top 10 in the pre Letterman days.
2. Big XII adds Clemson and FSU, instantly legitimizing it’s football prowess again, and I don’t think they stop there. This might be a stretch, but with the demise of the ACC, I can see bids for Notre Dame and BYU to follow, allowing those schools to retain their current TV rights while giving them a BCS conference to play in (it will be vital to belong to one of the four BCS conferences as we move toward a playoff system). Though hard to swallow, if this happened, the Big 12 would become the ultimate football conference with the two most renown programs plus OU, FSU, BYU, and Clemson. What recruit would turn down an opportunity to play those teams?Seriously, when was the last time Clemson was relevant? The Fridge is at least AARP age and is probably fast approaching drawing those Social Security checks. With 2 decades in the SEC the Cocks have moved from the back seat to the drivers seat in the state of SC and why would you want #2 if you are trying to be #1? tu never plays well with others and Bowden is gone from Tallahassee so what is the true future of FSU? Adding these 2 teams does not fix the issue of ditching the old teams. Until this happens the B12 will be a former shell of the past with 3 top schools in Oklahoma, Nebraska, and tu. FSU + Clemson < Nebraska by itself.
3. SEC adds NC State and Va Tech, expanding their dominance to all the southern states and the valuable DC market. UNC and UVA would be the preferred choice, but I think they won’t be persuaded once the Big Ten moves south. The SEC would, therefore, retain the position of being the most homogeneous, stable conference, with the potential to add Pitt and Cincinatti for additional media coverage.I get tired of folks always seeing the SEC adding the #2 schools and frankly it perplexes me. Right now the SEC is the belle of the ball and you have her dancing with the wallflowers instead of the serious suitors? Slive taking sloppy seconds from Delany seems like utter foolishness and the folks usually spouting this are B1G alumni who have never been to the south for a football game. Sure they had to make lemonade from lemons back when they added Arkansas and South Carolina but that was when they were much weaker and did not have unbroken string of MNC's that is nearing a decade.
Think about that for a second! We are fast entering an age where kids will not have a conscious thought of a MNC won by a team not from the SEC. What is less obvious is the SEC is dominating all the other major sports as well (maybe not hockey but who watches hockey anymore?) so why do folks assume Slive will just roll over and not take the best of the best this go round? This is the S - E - C by god and try to keep that at the front of your mind before acting like we will sit around for the scraps this time. I said in the adds past 12 Slive would concentrate on academics and he added 2 AAU schools. My guess is if 16 is the next number they will be top brands, academic schools, and solid markets. Call me skeptical if the SEC adds NCST and VT after adding A&M and Missouri.
I appreciate you took the time to post but the SEC is for winners and your scenarios for the SEC need to be viewed from strength and not weakness. Slive may look old and slow but don't let that lull you into thinking he will will just lay down and die when he is on the verge of cementing his legacy. I have said on here many times I would love VT in the SEC but I am old school and this is the modern age of business and commerce. If the SEC goes to 16 I fully expect and out of the park home run.