(09-16-2020 07:56 AM)TerryD Wrote:  

(09-15-2020 04:25 PM)Statefan Wrote:  

(09-13-2020 07:52 PM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(09-12-2020 06:17 PM)Nerdlinger Wrote:  

(09-12-2020 05:55 PM)Statefan Wrote:  I understand, but a 12th would have been needed for a conference championship game. Without ND in that mix, they can be at best 13th but I just can't imagine Miami still being available because the SEC is going to take them over SC. The SEC main goal is the State of Texas. They will always take Arkansas to make a Texas school feel more at home. If the ACC picked up PSU and FSU, Miami just makes better sense to go to 12 over SC or VT. The SEC was not as attractive then as it is now, but with an offer, Miami would go and would likely stay. JMHO

If PSU goes to the ACC, there's nothing to say that the Big Ten would take Pitt. That conference is not the type to settle for #2 in a state without already having #1. So Big East football can form as it did in our timeline, meaning Miami is off the table for the SEC.

This may not be the case with Pitt, but some #2's in a given state are still enormously valuable. Texas A&M is the prime example. Florida State is another.

The B10's interest in Pitt after PSU going to the ACC would have been two-fold:

1. The State of Pa
2. Pressure on Notre Dame - a longtime Pitt rival

I think that people greatly overstate the importance of Pitt being in any particular conference to ND's plans.

"Pressure" on ND back then because Pitt or BC joined the ACC. None.

Right. ND-Pitt was a regular game out of necessity. Pitt, as an independent had availability and flexibility in their schedule to play ND late in the season. For ND, Pitt was an opponent they could drive to and due to the city’s large Catholic population, would have a less hostile crowd on the road.

About the only way that ND was going to join a conference as a full member in the 90s was if the ACC and Big Ten both gobbled up all the major Eastern independents and announced scheduling models that would have made it tough for ND to maintain an Indy existence.