RE: Does it make sense for ESPN to sign the PAC 10, then dismantle the Big 12?
As far as I know, there is no rule that says if the SEC finds a way to expand to 24 schools that the Big Ten must also expand to 24.
I could easily see the SEC being interested in adding 7 ACC schools (UVa, UNC, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, FSU and Miami) plus Kansas to get to 24. That could occur either before or after the Big Ten adds Washington, Oregon, Stanford and Cal to stop at 20.
ESPN's role would be to put the remaining 24 P5 teams into a conference paid high enough for them to allow them all agree to sign on without taking legal action to stop it. That leaves either one 24 team conference or two 12 team conferences that include:
Arizona, Arizona St, Utah, BYU, Washington St, Oregon St
Colorado, Oklahoma St, Kansas St, Iowa St, Texas Tech, Baylor
Houston, TCU, UCF, Virginia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest
Boston College, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, Cincinnati, WVU
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One possible organization for a 24 team SEC could be:
Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky, Vandy
Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M, Mississippi St, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas
Clemson, FSU, South Carolina, Miami, Georgia Tech, UNC, Duke, UVa
That set up would call for three protected in-conference rivalries (Florida-FSU, Georgia-Ga Tech and Ole Miss-Mississippi St) and six OOC P3 rivalries (Kentucky-Louisville, Oklahoma-OK State, Kansas-Kansas St, UNC-NC State, Duke-Wake Forest and UVa-Virginia Tech).
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