North Carolina and Virginia, only southern states without SEC Teams (Clemson, conference)
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Then again, Missouri (a Mid-Western state) is in the SEC
And many always considered Arkansas as an anamoly in the SEC, in that it was in the far western reaches of the SEC footprint and according to many, more in the southwest than the true south. And it used to be part of the old Southwest Conference before it joined the SEC. Then again, as others mentioned, these days, you can throw geography out the window.
None of this has anything to do with North Carolina or Virginia.
The big NC schools were in the Southern Conference, and set out to form their own conference since the SoCon banned post season play. Thus, the ACC was born. Virginia was independent and the ACC invited them. VA Tech was never admitted to the ACC because they didn't want them. Not until VA Tech become a Big East power and the ACC poached them.
The Southern Conference was just ridiculously big too. In its final year you had four teams named coconference champions.
The Big 10 looking at southern schools? That's hard to imagine from a Mid-Western/Northeastern conference. I guess I'm coming at this from a geographical standpoint, but if you look at a map of all the SEC schools, the absence of NC and VA is pretty noticeable. Then again, Missouri (a Mid-Western state) is in the SEC and Notre Dame (A Mid-Western school MILES away from the Atlantic Coast) is playing basketball in the ACC so I don't know, a bit bizarre in my opinion. I doubt any NC or VA schools will make the switch over because those two states are BIG TIME ACC country, but I was just curious.
The Big Ten would take UNC and UVA in a heartbeat. So would the SEC. Anyone would.
I doubt it happens though. Maybe if the Big Ten and SEC pass the ACC so much in money the ACC have to move. Say the next Big Ten tv deals add up to $40 million per year per team (a real possibility) and the ACC stays around $20 million. The ACC schools may feel compelled to make a move in order to stay competitive.
I doubt there are anymore major moves among the Big 5 conferences for 10 years or so. Unless the
Big 12 adds a couple teams. Probably BYU and Cincinnati if they do.
I also think the Big Ten's main target is UNC. Then UVA. They waited 20 years after adding Penn State before getting Neb/Rutgers/Maryland. They will wait 10-15 more for UNC if they think that's what it takes.
The Big Ten would take UNC and UVA in a heartbeat. So would the SEC. Anyone would.
I doubt it happens though. Maybe if the Big Ten and SEC pass the ACC so much in money the ACC have to move. Say the next Big Ten tv deals add up to $40 million per year per team (a real possibility) and the ACC stays around $20 million. The ACC schools may feel compelled to make a move in order to stay competitive.
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No conference will touch any of the ACC teams any longer. Not only does the ACC have the ridiculous exit fee of $50 million dollars but they also give up all tv rights for at least a decade if not longer.
With the SEC Network, our per team revenues are supposed to increase by $20 million a year.
The only reason why the SEC would want to nab the Virginia or NC schools is to bolster its academic reputation, but after adding Texas A&M (a very good get) and Mizzou (not A&M good, but respectable) I think they're content to stand pat for a while. They already have a footprint in arguably the most football-crazy state in the country (Texas) and already dominate two other huge ones in Florida and Georgia (in the next 20 years, I fully expect GA to surpass Florida, California and Texas for the honor for having the best high school football talent in the country).
Another reason why they're good where they're at is because the Big Ten is looking at those same schools, especially UNC (commish Delany is a UNC grad) and the VA schools. Even though the SEC has more football clout, they know they likely have little chance of outbidding the B1G because UVA and UNC will likely align with the more academic-oriented conference, and the B1G is a better basketball conference than they are at football, at least lately.
You expect that GA to pass Texas, Florida, and California for most talented state? I'm not expecting that.
The interesting thing is that South Carolina was always a more basketball-oriented school. They even won the conference outright the year before departing the ACC.
It has dawned on me that NC and VA are the only southern states without SEC teams, even Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas have an SEC team! Is there some historical reason why this is the case, or is it that these two states have always been big ACC powerhouses? I know South Carolina was once part of the ACC, but they joined the SEC forty years or so ago.
North Carolina and Virginia could have an SEC team soon enough. As Maryland recently demonstrated, the only thing that matters in this game is money.
As for North Carolina, who could the SEC get? UNC, Duke, and NC State aren't leaving each other and the SEC does not want Wake Forest.
What conference would want Wake? None.
If all this CR stuff goes down as planned, Wake, Northwestern, Vandy, and several other schools should be on their knees thanking their benefactors as none of them deserve to be in a P5 conference while some other more deserving schools get tossed to the sidelines.
Not by recent gridiron or hoops achievements, not by endowments, not by budgets, not by any meaningful metric other than they happened to have a chair when the music stopped.
I understand the desire to create a P5. But it might behoove the powers that be to get the right schools into those five conferences - ones with high budgets, a record of achievement and the opportunity for significant carriage fee income.
No ACC school will jump ship now with the 50 million exit fee and the schools not owning their tv rights.
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