Yes, kids, the re-alignment merry-go-round seems to have stopped for now with the news that the ACC got their member schools to give the conference a grant of media rights through the 2026-2027 season. That effectively means that hunting season on the ACC is over and it leaves, curiously enough, only the SEC as the last major conference without a grant of media rights. (Not that I think anyone is going to want to leave the SEC anytime soon... with the possible exception of Mizzou-- though I think the bags of money the SEC schools get will undoubtedly ease the pain of being a cellar dweller for the near future.)
So thank GOD. I am spared having to witness the heartburn inducing horror of seeing UNC in the B1G and having Jim Delaney's plans for World Domination grow the conference to ridiculous sizes like 16 or 18 or 20 or whatever number he feels like that particular day. I've made peace with the fact that Maryland and Rutgers are joining our merry little band-- I think they give us a nice, solid presence in the Mid-Atlantic States and while that's not the Carolinas or SEC Country, it's pretty damn good, all things considered. Notre Dame remains aloof and independent having traded a partnership for the Big East for one with the ACC (nice move Swofford!) And really and truly with the Big 12 grant of media rights and now the ACC grant of media rights, the Carousel has finally stopped rotating.
And remarkably, the biggest losers in all of this are UCONN and Cincy. I feel bad for both of those schools and I do think if the Big 12 gets an itch to get back to 12 members in a couple of years, Cincy will be very high on their list of candidates (and maybe Air Force and/or BYU as well) but Cincy will now have to play the waiting game and UCONN... I don't even know what UCONN's going to do. The ACC might expand more but I doubt it. So they're stuck in the America 12 or the American Athletic Conference or whatever the hell the old Big East is called now. (A startling thought for UCONN to consider: drop football and join the new Big East? Yeah, like that'll ever happen...)
The dust still hasn't completely settled, of course: with the formation of the new Big East, the A-10 and the Missouri Valley found themselves in the markets for new members and I'm sure there are mid-major football conferences ranging from the Old Big East to C-USA to potentially even the MWC who might grab a few here or there- but in one fell swoop, John Swofford has essentially shut the door on major conference realignment for a very long time. (There are also rumblings about the B1G adding Johns Hopkins for Lacrosse only but I haven't seen anything about that since February so I'm not sure what, if any progress has been made on that. I do think it'd be very very cool if Iowa got into the B1G Hockey and Lacrosse. I think the latter is more likely than the former... when it comes to B1G Hockey, I guess it's Go Gophers! Which isn't something I often say, believe me.)
So, now I guess I'll have to find a new hobby.
(Random Tangential Post-Script for Everyone to Consider: Given how smoothly Swofford thwarted Delany's plans for World Domination, which would you rather see: a chess match or a Ninja-style fight to the death between the two? Consider carefully and leave any thoughts you might have in the commands.)
(Second random tangential post-script: I love how they scheduled an announcement to reveal the name of the new College Football Playoff only to have it be called: The College Football Playoff. Biggest letdown EVER.)
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