In other words, Plan A for Notre Dame is independence. And while the contract tethers the Irish, at least to a degree, to the ACC, buying their way out of that deal wouldn't be impossible should the Big Ten make a particularly lucrative offer. With a new expanded playoff, the odds are even lower. Notre Dame's contract with the ACC gives the Irish all it needs for its non-football sports and creates no incentive for them to join the ACC in football. The small problem here is that it isn't going to happen. All those big revenue issues would be addressed, the future would look bright and all would be right with the world. Will Notre Dame ever join the ACC or another conference? Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswireĭavid Hale: On good nights, I suspect ACC commissioner Jim Phillips dreams of a call from Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick announcing, 'This is the day!' Amid a very uncertain future for the ACC, this would be akin to winning the lottery. The question is, what's the gap in revenue that would prompt Pac-12 presidents to seriously consider the Big 12? Ten million? Twenty? More? In the Big Ten, are there enough university presidents who would be willing to share the revenue with 18 schools? The Pac-12's television deal holds the crux of these answers. The Pac-12 could add San Diego State and SMU following its next television deal and that could be the extent of the 'next round of realignment.' These decisions are made by the university presidents and chancellors, and unless there is a great disparity in revenue, they aren't going to move their academic institutions, period. Heather Dinich: One lesson learned after about two decades covering college football is that realignment is never over, but it wouldn't be surprising if the next move wasn't as seismic as the speculation might indicate. But once leadership is in place, the Big Ten could be the place to watch again. I don't see anything happening right away given the importance of getting a commissioner in place and the general flux among the Big Ten president/chancellor group, which existed throughout Warren's tenure.

If it happens, there would be more seismic change around the sport. With Warren taking over as Chicago Bears president on April 17, could a new commissioner with perhaps a stronger presentation convince the Big Ten presidents and chancellors that adding Washington and Oregon makes sense? It's possible. Although Commissioner Kevin Warren ultimately couldn't get the league's presidents on board with additional West Coast expansion beyond USC and UCLA, I'm told there was some support in the room. But the next major move likely lies with the Big Ten.

Realignment chatter: How the Pac-12 holds the key to it allĪdam Rittenberg: I agree with Bill in a sense, as the most immediate move could come from the Pac-12 once its media contract - with the existing 10 members - is finally set.

But since the Big Ten doesn't even have a commissioner or a full set of college presidents at the moment, we'll hold off on wondering about that. Looming over all of this, of course, is whether the Big Ten decides to expand past 16 programs and add whatever combination of Oregon, Washington, Cal and Stanford is most attractive. If the Pac-12's estimates end up far short of expectation, then I guess we'll find out exactly how serious the Big 12 is about potentially adding the Colorado- Utah- Arizona- Arizona State quartet of programs. If it's competitive enough to what the Big 12 has arranged to pull in, then one assumes the Pac-12 will add two programs - with San Diego State and SMU being the rumored front-runners (and UNLV, Boise State and others still hoping for a shot) - and everything will potentially stabilize for a bit. What's the next domino to fall?īill Connelly: The next logical move will come when the Pac-12 figures out the valuations for its next set of media contracts. With those moves set in stone, and surely more to come soon, our reporters discuss what the future of realignment might look like in college football and give their wildest wishes for the sport. And in the summer of 2024, we'll see Oklahoma and Texas join the SEC and UCLA and USC will head to the Big Ten.

Houston, Cincinnati, UCF and BYU are all set to enter the Big 12 on July 1. We're getting closer and closer to seeing major changes in college football.

Big 12 conference football teams