With the recent news that Memphis has made advances toward the Big 12 and eyeing a potential move, only to be rebuffed, it reaffirms something we already knew—conference realignment isn’t stopping anytime soon. With the rumor that Memphis was willing to pay $250 million and still turned down, it gave me a thought. Who would be good fits in conferences and who would be bad fits.
Assuming no Big Ten and SEC teams move and Notre Dame stays independent—things I believe are likely—basically everyone else is on the table. I will go through and list a good fit and a bad fit, out of reasonable teams for a given conference. The misses won’t be illogical teams, they are schools one could make a case for. Here are the schools that I think would be hits and misses in conference realignment.
ACC
Hit: UConn
UConn has been a basketball power for some time and sneakily improving in football under JIm Mora. They’re academically sound and have a solid foothold in New England. In a conference that prioritizes basketball more than the others, though not more than football, they would find a willing partner in UConn. Rumor is the Huskies, currently an independent in football and Big East in other sports, want a Power Four membership. I think this would be the only option for them.
Miss: Liberty
Funding isn’t the issue here, nor is geography. They have money in droves compared to the other Group of 5 schools. They’re also in Virginia which is not far from the epicenter of the ACC. What they don’t have are the facilities and TV market, at this time. Now the money they have, and would earn, could go along ways toward upgrading facilities but they aren’t near that point yet. The religious ethos of the school is also a turn off to some more progressive people, who are plentiful in university administration.
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Big Ten
Hit: Boston College
I waffled between BC and Pittsburgh for this one but landed on the Eagles. You get one of the highest-rated academic schools in the FBS and that matters to the Big Ten. They have a ton of history, are competitive across multiple sports and they hold a large TV market in Boston and the greater Northeast.
Miss: Notre Dame
This is my scandalous take, but it shouldn’t be. Notre Dame is only a miss because they want to be. If they had any desire to be in the Big Ten it would’ve happened by this point. Staying as an independent, having their own TV contract, and now being able to have a bye in the 12-team playoff puts them in an advantageous spot where they don’t need or want to join the Big Ten, despite what James Franklin might tell you.
Big 12
Hit: Tulane
You bring a strong football and an okay basketball program as well as a significant TV market. Anyone will tell you now, they look like a top candidate among G5 schools to make the jump to the P4. They put another private school in the conference as well as a potential travel partner for SMU. Some members may prefer a team further East, but Tulane makes sense for a conference looking to shore up its TV viewership and stability.
Miss: USF
This one wouldn’t be ridiculous, and it would make the War on I-4 a Big 12 matchup but making UCF happy isn’t enough to push USF over the edge. I do think with USF building an on-campus stadium that they eventually get a P4 invite, but it isn’t the Big 12 and it isn’t right now. They are in a tough spot market wise competing with the ACC and SEC, that may be too much to overcome in the Tampa, Fla. area. Growth and stability, which they haven’t had in football for awhile, will make them more appealing down the road.
SEC
Hit: Clemson
It has to be, right? The conference that cares about football the most adding a national power who cares about it above all sports. Clemson has become a stable power and national brand under Dabo Swinney. They would be immediately competitive. You make the Palmetto Bowl against the South Carolina Gamecocks an all-SEC affair. In a football program, athletic department and school, Clemson is a good fit.
Miss: Georgia Tech
I just don’t like this move for the SEC. It would be great for Tech, not so for the conference. The main utility for Georgia Tech is being in Atlanta, one of the premier college sports markets in America. The SEC already controls that market and doesn’t need to add a school to increase that. There are better options out there for schools the SEC could add. It is a one-sided move favoring the Yellow Jackets. I will say, I could definitely be persuaded otherwise on this one with more info but on the surface, I don’t think it’s a benefit.
