Anarchistbear said:
I don't know what the number is or if I believe in the "4" is but per SI below It seems like there are 7 secessionists and the remaining members see Cal and Stanford as a disaster hedge against the secessionists; while the secessionists seek more welfare. This seems like it will break up no matter which way the vote goes because neither side will get what they want; and /if the adversaries are as reported- leaves an inferior football conference. Of course Notre Dame could act as white knight by joining the conference instead of advocating that the conference which they won't join take additional schools
"In the spring, news broke that seven of the 14 football-In the spring, news broke that seven of the 14 football-playing membersFlorida State, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia and Virginia Techhad met to explore options outside the ACC. That triggered some tense face-to-face meetings and ultimately led to the league approving unequal revenue distribution to schools that had success in the College Football Playoff and NCAA basketball tournament."
The ACC would fall apart in a moment were it not for its GOR that binds the members through 2036. There has been a lot of speculation that perhaps the GOR could be broken in court but it's not at all clear there's a winning argument to do that. Presumably new members would join the GOR. That would lock us into the conference until then.
I see joining the A & P (as it would have to be called) as undesirable. Anyone who has flown east knows that it is a difficult trip. There are places in the ACC e.g. Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Clemson, Syracuse that are especially hard to reach.But I understand why this seems like the best alternative.
If we want to keep a Big Ten option open, we have to become an independent No conference is going to take us unless we commit in blood not to jump to the Big Ten.. But I doubt we could develop much of a schedule as an independent. Stanford and UCLA would probably play us; Army, as another independent, always needs teams to schedule. Who else? There are fewer slots for OOC games now that the conferences are getting bigger, and schools want to play patsies to pad their records.