EDITORIAL
by TexCane
As we turn the page to 2025, let’s examine the situation with the Atlantic Coast Conference going into the new year from the perspective of the commissioner, Jim Phillips.
In part one of our series, we took a number of bold, new strategic moves to establish a new 48-school Mega Conference.
In part two of our series, we will take a look at a potential four division structure that makes sense.
Our strategy is to return athletics to a regional structure of four divisions. The division structures might look something like this…pay no attention to division names.
But first, let’s address the conference’s name for talking purposes only.
Let’s call it the Mega48.
Division Red:
Notre Dame [from Independent]
Boston College [from ACC]
UCONN [from Independent]
Syracuse [from ACC]
Pittsburgh. [from ACC]
Cincinnati [from Big12]
Navy [from AAC]
Army. [from AAC]
Louisville. [from ACC]
West Virginia [from Big12]
Liberty. [from USA]
Memphis [from AAC]
Division Green:
Clemson [from ACC]
Georgia Tech [from ACC]
Florida State [from ACC]
Miami [from ACC]
Virginia [from ACC]
Virginia Tech [from ACC]
Wake Forest [from ACC]
North Carolina [from ACC]
NC State [from ACC]
Duke [from ACC]
UCF [from Big12]
Tulane [from AAC]
Division Blue:
SMU [from ACC]
TCU [from Big12]
Baylor [from Big12]
UTSA. [from AAC]
Texas Tech [from Big12]
Houston [from Big12]
Oklahoma State [from Big12]
Iowa State [from Big12]
Kansas [from Big12]
Kansas State [from Big12]
Air Force [from MWC]
Colorado State [from MWC]
Division Gold:
Arizona [from Big12]
Arizona State. [from Big12]
Utah [from Big12]
BYU [from Big12]
Boise State [from MWC]
Colorado [from Big12]
San Diego State [from MWC]
Stanford [from ACC]
California [from ACC]
Oregon State [from PAC-12]
Washington State [from PAC-12]
UNLV [from MWC]
BOTTOM LINE:
The above division structure checks all the boxes.
Regional Balance: Reduced operating expenses, Reduced travel impact on student-athletes, staffs and traveling fans.
Market Presence: National footprint in every time zone and 26 major TV markets.
Competitive Brands: Nationally recognized brands in both football and basketball. Schools like Notre Dame, Clemson, FSU, Miami, North Carolina, Duke UCONN, Kansas, Army-Navy have both national and international brands.
Can it happen? Yes!
Will it happen? Doubtful. It may be too logical. It makes sense for everybody but the power brokers of college athletics.
In part three of our series, we will examine a potential counter move by the Super Two.
GO CANES!
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