Okay, you were forewarned that this is a long one. Harkens back to my earlier posting days when many of my posts were long ones.

JRsec posits a theory that ESPN will do just about everything it can to make the SEC as strong as possible. Which has resulted in the past scenarios by him and others of the SEC expanding with a North Carolina school (usually NC State) and a Virginia school (VT) to enhance their SECN.

Lately he has modified this and says the SEC may wind up taking OU and UT and if they lose one or the other for various reasons, he thinks it might be one of OU or UT and FSU as the second one. There is also a line of thinking out there by others as well as JR that it might be necessary for the ACC to take on the Longhorns in an ND type deal while adding one or two of "some Texas friends" which will then mean at least one ACC program might need to be moved.

In a recent post exchange over on the SEC board JR tried to make the case that Texas > FSU and that Baylor and TCU have been much better than VT recently.

I give him an "A" for effort on that, (and I believe many FSU fans would like the scenario where the Noles wind up in the SEC). However, ESPN themselves have said, value isn't based upon what have you done over the past decade or so. So, in my eyes, the attempt to get equivalent value falls short mainly because Miami by itself cannot carry the state of Florida, so I don't think it profits the ACC to gain Texas on a partial basis and possibly losing the state of Florida. And I think that "trade-off" might likely weaken the ACC enough to allow for some programs to consider going to the B1G, which in turn could hurt the ACC in either the state of North Carolina or the state of Virginia or both.

But the conversation did get me to thinking: Does ESPN and the SEC want to build enough of a wall around protecting the southern rabid fan bases from the B1G (not to mention the distinct recruiting advantage) to make the ACC strong enough and profitable enough to succeed? If they do (and the B12 as we know it now as a P5 implodes), then Texas would seem to me have to wind up in the ACC, even though it might be a "bad fit" or come at a huge price.

ESPN has two basically exclusive properties - the SEC (outside of CBS contract) and the ACC. They have done more than enough in terms of the SEC to keep them happy through the next two decades. The SEC isn't going anywhere. If anything, I believe that when the next SEC national contract is up (which will end prior to the other stuff), the CBS part of their contract could likely become an exclusive ABC contract. But that's a ways off so that is certainly subject to change and is probably way more dependent upon what happens with the upcoming B1G Tier 1 contract, Texas, and ND prior to then than anything that might happen in the ACC.

After their love affair with the SEC (and well earned on the SEC's part) and owning the ACC (which was coveted by ESPN more for its basketball than its football) it is no secret that ESPN covets the single entities of Texas and ND. I think if they truly coveted OU, they would have made a similar deal with the Sooners as they did the Longhorns. So I see OU as a nice to have for ESPN, but not a necessity. If the SEC can corral them that will be fine with them, but if they go to the B1G or the PAC, I am not sure they will lose a lot of sleep over it.

So, if UT and OU do indeed go to the SEC then it just makes the greatest football conference ever even stronger. If I am Tennessee or South Carolina or Ole Miss or Mizzou or A&M, it would worry me that those two have been added to the likes Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Georgia, but like I said more power to the SEC.

If, as Heinous1 has been touting for a long time now, the B1G were to get OU and KU (two of the 4 B12 schools of high value, imho, although KU's value is in bb, not fb), then the B12's days are numbered and Texas and ESPN would have to know this.

In this case, I think Texas may relent and join the SEC along with either WVU (the other high value school in the B12, imho) or perhaps one of the other B12 texas schools - TTU, Baylor, or TCU. I give the WVU possibility simply because with A&M already in the conference, there may not need to be an additional state of Texas friend in this scenario. It doesn't even need to be WVU, it could an ACC team if JR is correct that the SEC has always wanted FSU but time and circumstances have prevented it in the past (FSU picking the ACC over the SEC in 1990, ESPN protecting the ACC back in 2011).

If, however, the Sooners go to the SEC and UT is adamant about not wanting to go to the SEC (or the SEC takes both OU and one other such as OSU, WVU, etc) and the Longhorns indicate to ESPN they are willing to consider an ND type deal with the ACC (with ESPN getting the indy football contract), what will be the price and will the ACC be willing to pay that price?

Personally, I have seen nothing that would indicate Texas would want an ND type deal, but assuming they did, what would be the cost? Would it be an addition of two other B12 schools as full members? would one suffice? would it possibly go as high as three or four?

And assuming the above happens, the conference championship rules change passes, what scenario, if any, allows for ND and/or Texas to participate in a 4-team ACC football championship?

I would think that for the latter to even be considered there would need to be three divisions (even though I prefer the non-division set-up myself), with each division champion getting 3 of the spots while either Texas, ND, or a higher ranked runner-up ACC team getting the fourth based upon some guidelines.

Lastly, if the B12 implodes, what happens with the Sugar Bowl? Does the ACC take the B12's place? Is it done similar to the Orange where either a B1G or an ACC team or a higher ranked Texas or ND play in it and get a reduced price?

Lots of interesting stuff to consider in the slow months of June (now over, but a lot of this discussion has heated up toward the end of that month) and through July now until football practices start up in earnest in August.

Cheers,
Neil