Conference Expansion Part 2

The other day I posted part one of the two part segment on conference expansion and it's effect on Florida State and the ACC. Today, I will discuss what the effect would be on FSU and the ACC if one of it's members left the conference to join a conference like the SEC. In part one I mentioned that Clemson would be the most likely team to leave the ACC for the SEC; However, whether the team(s) that left were Clemson, Virginia Tech, or Miami, the resulting effect would still be similar.

If any of the above teams were to leave the ACC, it would hurt the image of the conference even more than the rather weak image the conference currently perceives. The ACC is usually known as the 5th best BCS conference in the nation and there are only 6 BCS conferences. (Note: I disagree that it's the 5th best, but that topic will be brought up in a later post on conferences). Therefore, losing one of the top football schools in the conference would be a huge blow, and if Florida State somehow became a team that left the ACC, the conference would have a hard time receiving any more recognition.

For this post, assume a team that isn't Florida State leaves the ACC. If this happens, which schools would be most likely to JOIN the ACC? Here are some names that have been mentioned as potential ACC teams in the future if an event like this were to happen.

-West Virginia
-Rutgers
-Pittsburgh
-USF
-UCF
-East Carolina
-Notre Dame

The first four teams on the list are current Big East football teams that would be upgrading if they were to move to the ACC, given that the Big East is considered to be the worst BCS conference. Among those four teams, USF is an uprising Florida school in addition to UCF. East Carolina is a non-BCS school that has the chance to upgrade to a BCS conference in the near future and Notre Dame is currently an Independent football program but they are a member of the Big East in all other sports.

So which teams should the ACC invite to join it's conference? Notre Dame is the obvious favorite. If Notre Dame were to ever join the ACC, it would significantly enhance the image, talent, and tradition of the conference. Unfortunately, Notre Dame is the least likely team to accept an invite among the mentioned teams. They are hesitant on joining any conference in football, even the Big East. If the Irish were to ever switch conferences, the Big 10 would be the conference that makes the most sense.

Pittsburgh is another school that could be hesitant on joining the ACC, simply because of location. Just like Notre Dame, a team located in Indiana, the University of Pittsburgh isn't exactly considered to be in ACC territory. However, would makes Pittsburgh and Notre Dame interesting are their basketball traditions. Both schools are great basketball programs and the ACC is known as a great basketball conference. So for basketball, a move to the ACC would make sense and would add an incentive to join. However, I still believe the move by either team is unlikely.

East Carolina, however, would have a high chance of accepting a bid to play in the ACC. Unfortunately, they would probably be the ACC's last choice among the teams listed in this post.

West Virginia, UCF, USF, and Rutgers are the four most likely future ACC prgrams. Imagine if both UCF and USF joined the conference. That rivalry would be taken to a new level and the state of Florida would definitely be considered ACC territory. I think that move would be great for the ACC, if only USF and UCF make some giant improvements to their football programs in the near future. Otherwise, the ACC would be adding a couple of mediocre teams that do little to enhance the image. Who the ACC invites to join the conference is a mystery. In the mean time, it is interesting to talk about.