I'm feenin for some conference realignment news, and since there isn't any I thought it just as well if we conjured something up. That being said, ther is a recent article
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/2/27/545334...-watchespn
Suggesting that the ACC is unlikely to get an SEC/Pac12/B1G type of network any time soon. Just to build a straw man that we can tear down... Do you suppose any of the ACC schools demanded a clause that the grant of rights would be null and void if they didn't get a network?
If you think about the bump in income the ACC from about 17 Mil a year to about 20 M per year per school after signing the grant of rights... that number is going to look mighty feeble in a few years when the B1G/SEC/P12 is earning 40-50M a year per school.
While I still don't think anything happens until the Maryland v ACC is settled, I think the floodgates might be reopened in the event the ACC schools are earning half of what their peers are earning. It just doesn't make sense to me that the institutions of the ACC would sign a grant of rights and guarantee they earn half of what their pers earn. I just don't see why the more prominent brands could in good faith sign that document and say it was the best thing for their institution.
With all of that in mind do you think the ACC is still vulnerable regardless of the grant of rights? I do. The issue then become how much expansion is too much. The larger the league the less it feels like a cohesive unit. I think the way the B1G could should expand is to bring in a "critical mass" of schools so the new schools feel at home. So Although I know a 24 team B1G is unlikely, I don't think it would be too awkward if the divisions were of regiona schools that fans love to hate.
For Instance
South: Virginia, Duke, Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida St, Texas
West: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Mizzou, Illinois, Indiana
North: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Purdue, Sparty
East: Michigan, Ohio State, Penn St, Maryland, Rutgers, UConn.
If every year you play those teams in football and twice a year in basketball, you could develop a feel of conferences within a conference. Each division would have its own identity and the better part of the following old school markets would be obtained: Big Ten, Big East, ACC, Big 8, SWC.
That would be a powerful conglomorate of schools and markets.