RE: What if ACC expansion had gone according to plan?
Interesting idea, but I definitely don't think this would have resulted in Penn State being on the table for the ACC, nor would Notre Dame somehow be compelled to join the ACC in full. However, I agree that it would likely result in the SEC selecting VT to pair with A&M. Of the remaining options, Pitt would have topped the list for realistic adds for the ACC. So that leaves who #14 is.
If the market mantra were the primary factor for expansion, then VT might not have been chosen for the ACC's #14 even if they were available, but then neither would WVU. West Virginia isn't a huge market, and much of it falls into the greater Pittsburgh market. Plus WVU has its relatively poor academics going against it.
I actually think Rutgers might have been #14. I wonder if they would have jumped at the invite or held out for the long-rumored invite to the Big Ten. I'm thinking that if the ACC invite comes, Rutgers tells the Big Ten, and the invite of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten happens a bit earlier than it actually did.
With Maryland leaving and Rutgers out of the running, adding Pitt would bring the ACC back to 12 but wouldn't necessarily staunch the desire to expand. However, the top remaining choices are two schools with less-than-stellar academics (WVU and Louisville) and UConn. When faced with such lackluster choices (from the ACC perspective anyway), I don't know if they would have attempted further expansion at the time.
The Big 12, however, is less picky, and I think here they grab WVU and Louisville along with TCU to return to 12.
ACC (FB teams listed in the same order as their protected crossover)
Atlantic: Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest
Coastal: Georgia Tech, Miami-FL, North Carolina, Virginia, Boston College, Duke
Non-FB: Notre Dame
Big 12 (no protected crossovers)
North: Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Missouri, West Virginia
South: Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
SEC (teams listed in the same order as their protected crossover)
Eastern: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech
Western: LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Note that Notre Dame still joins the ACC as a non-FB member, probably striking a similar FB scheduling agreement to that in our timeline. With the addition of Pitt, BC and Syracuse swap divisions so Pitt and Syracuse can play annually. The Big Ten and Pac-12 are the same as in our timeline.
The Big 12 and SEC make out better here than they did in reality, while the ACC makes out worse.
(This post was last modified: 05-22-2019 06:31 AM by Nerdlinger.)
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