Conference Realignment: What Could Happen to Boston College?
With Texas and Oklahoma seemingly on their way to the SEC, the world of college football is about to change irrevocably. There could be other teams changing conferences, and conferences collapsing. With all these moving parts, what could happen to Boston College? Here are some of the possibly scenarios for the Eagles.
ACC Adds to Conference
With the SEC looking to become the major conference in college football, other conferences look to counter the move. The ACC, as we have mentioned before could look at programs like Notre Dame, UCF, Penn State and West Virginia. If they were to do this, they could also push ESPN to the table again to renegotiate their substandard media deal. In any case, and no matter who the conference adds, BC would be safe given the grant of rights that were negotiated between the conference and ESPN during the creation of the ACC Network. Boston College is technically protected until at least 2035, unless the conference wants to cut a huge check to make them go away, which makes no sense.
The ACC Collapses And BC is Stuck
The worst case scenario is that some of the bigger programs (Clemson, Florida State, UNC etc) get sweet heart deals to leave the conference and abandon the ACC. There is always the possibility that with all the puzzle pieces moving, some ACC teams may get invites to these new look conferences, but Boston College is left with the hull of the ACC. Of any of these options, this would be the worst for the Eagles.
The Big Ten Poaches Boston College
There is always the possibility that the ACC could be poached by other conferences. Could Clemson, Miami and Florida State head to the SEC? It's always a possibility. And what if the Big Ten takes their superior TV deal and decides to add to the conference? While some may see BC as a poor choice, they are in the Boston market, a very desirable area. And if the Big Ten wants to make a regional mega conference, teams like Boston College, Pittsburgh and Syracuse would make a lot of sense. The B1G would exit the realignment circus with a strangehold on the north-northeast area.
SEC Merger?
Earlier on Monday, Jay Bilas tweeted that the ACC should consider merging with the SEC. While an initial gut reaction is that this would never work, think big picture. Football already has a lot of standing games between the conferences, and getting some of the ACC's premier programs on the schedule of Alabama, and Oklahoma would be must watch TV. On top of that, the ACC usually has a superior basketball product. Getting those matchups again would be very attractive for the TV product.
Nothing
There is always the possibility that nothing happens for the ACC conference. Maybe the SEC does take Oklahoma and Texas, and maybe the Big Ten, AAC and Pac 12 add a handful of Big 12 teams, or the Big 12 adds Boise State and another team. Then nothing happens. Texas and Oklahoma gives the SEC that added boost but the ACC sticks with their current situation.
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