The ACC will collapse at some point but not sure it is a given the historical football powers in that conference, merit SEC entry. I would take FSU, because it is a national draw in a state we don’t want other conferences in. Florida will have to be convinced however and may veto it. Clemson is a harder sell despite their recent success, and South Carolina doesn’t want them in the conference and expect neither does Georgia.
Otherwise, North Carolina is the biggest prize and is a large, growing southern state that should get an invite and welcomed from everyone. Question is, do we take Duke to accommodate them, lock up the state and improve our basketball pedigree substantially? Vandy would probably love Duke in the conference.
Maryland made a shrewd move several years ago retrospectively when they bolted for the Big 10. Virginia could partner with UNC and bolt despite not fitting culturally with the SEC. But they are in a big market. Virginia Tech’s future depends on others and may be left out much like NC State likely will be.
Thus Florida State and North Carolina seem obvious to me. Virginia, does football success or access to a larger market take priority? If the latter, than they are #3. The remaining one would come from Clemson, Duke, or Virginia Tech. Of those 3, I would take Duke if that is what is required to get UNC. Georgia won’t let Ga. Tech in and Miami doesn’t deserve any consideration in my opinion.
The Big 10 is going to continue to look westward because they want the Stanfords of the world to help attract what their ultimate prize is….Norte Dame. Big 10 grabs Stanford, Notre Dame, Oregon and Washington would make sense to me. The remnants of the Big 12, PAC-12 and ACC may need to carve out some sort of odd alignment to survive.
