Messing with Texas?

Bevo in the ACC?  Believe it.

A couple of realignmageddon articles to get your juices flowing this fine Wednesday morning...

From Alan Trubow of Texas' 247 site, Hookem: Very Latest on Realignment

From SI.com's Andy Staples: Game of Chicken


Synopsis:

• Texas A&M to the SEC is a "done deal."
• SEC to explore a 13-game schedule; won't necessarily expand to an even number of teams or to 16.
• Oklahoma favors the Pac-12, and will (already has?) applied for entry into that conference.
• Oklahoma State will piggyback on Oklahoma, and follow the Sooners wherever they go.
• If the Pac-12 rejects the Oklahoma Duo (not likely), the Big 12 might still be saved by adding a team (Houston?) to replace A&M.
• Baylor is lawsuit-happy in trying to hold together a crumbling Big 12 and protect itself from being left out in the cold.
• Texas does not want to go to independent status, but they will require a conference that allows them full rights to the newly-created Longhorn Network.
• In attempting to woo the Longhorns, ACC officials have presented a concept for a 16-team conference with four 4-team pods.

Conjecture:

• Texas makes 13.  Then who?  Does Texas Tech piggyback?  Does/can Baylor?
• Could the ACC chase Notre Dame, and allow them to keep their own TV deal for football?
• Rutgers and Syracuse for the NY/NJ market?
• Pitt?  How attractive are the Panthers to the ACC, really?
• UConn?  As a football property, it's not worth very much.
• West Virginia?  I don't see it, not at all.  It lacks the academics to be counted as an asset to a conference like the ACC.  But WVU moves the needle for football, at least a little bit.
• Know that if the ACC starts poaching, it'll only be from the dying Big 12, from the less-powerful Big East, or from lesser conferences like C-USA, the MAC, or the Sun Belt.  Those are our options.  So don't muddy your thought pattern by considering the possibility of Georgia joining the ACC, or something nutty like that.
• Also know that if the ACC starts poaching, it'll be for football dollars.  Basketball doesn't matter one iota, beyond being a little bit of a silver lining for a few less-attractive options (UConn).  Don't make the mistake of thinking basketball matters in realignmageddon.  It's all about football and media market coverage.  Those two things, and that's it.  Oh, and for the ACC, academics do matter... believe it or not.
• I'm thinking we can't get Notre Dame, and Texas Tech probably comes to the party as Texas' ugly best friend.
• Baylor is out in the cold, and they know it.  That's why they're throwing around all of this litigation.
• That leaves two open spots as the ACC goes to 16.  My guess is Syracuse and Rutgers, in attempt to lock down that hotly-coveted NY/NJ market.
• I still believe that Virginia Tech and NC State could be targeted by the SEC, and Maryland might be targeted by the B1G in further expansion... but we'll cross that bridge when/if we come to it.  If the ACC takes the aggressive role (like it did when it added BC, VT, and Miami in the early 2000s), it might not matter.  The ACC could become the second superconference, after the Pac-16 gobbles up Oklahoma et al.

The four 4-team pods of the ACC-16:

• Northeast -- Boston College, Syracuse, Rutgers, Maryland
• Atlantic -- NC State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech
• Coastal -- Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Duke
• South -- Florida State, Miami, Texas, Texas Tech
• Four team conference championship tournament, NE vs. SOU, COA vs. ATL, winners play in the championship game.

Or something like that.


Stay tuned.  A&M to the SEC and now Oklahoma (and OK State) to the Pac-12, and the plates are sliding in a quake bigger than Mineral.