The rumors are flying fast and furious right now: Virginia and North Carolina to the Big Ten. It's probably always been the B1G's endgame, and would be accompanied by Virginia Tech and NC State heading to the SEC, and Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, Louisville, and Notre Dame heading to the Big XII. That would leave Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse adrift without a conference home, as the era of the SUPERCONFERENCES dawns on college athletics.
Not long after the ACC crumbles and the three 16-team conferences are formed, the Pac-12 would look to move toward becoming the Pac-16 (adding San Diego State, Boise State, BYU, and one other Mountain West / WAC lottery winner). Those four 16-team conferences, 64 schools in total, would then look to secede from the NCAA and form their own playoffs. It's been the doomsday prediction that a lot of realignmageddon rumor-mongers have been making for years now, and it seems more possible now than it ever has before.
So how about it, UVA fans? Are we ready to join the B1G?
Here would be our new conference-mates:
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
North Carolina
Northwestern
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Rutgers
Wisconsin
We'd be part of a four-team division that included UNC, UMD (ugh), and Rutgers.
We'd be trading our history and tradition in the ACC for an additional $7-$9 million per season in television revenue, not to mention the major research windfall associated with joining the Big Ten's AAU consortium. It's hard to turn down that kind of ching. It's a big deal. Sentiment and nostalgia will never trump money. Ever.
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| Not pictured: Terrapin, Scarlet Knight... Tarheel, and Cavalier? |
So how about it, everyone? Are we ready to embrace this rumor and start finding reasons to be happy about potentially joining the B1G?
UVA to B1G with VT to SEC would suck. Although the Hokies could potentially drown down there.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally against this - unless the writing's on the wall that FSU or whoever else is leaving. Unfortunately, it seems like that writing is there.