Syracuse Orange: ACC should grab these teams if league elects to expand

The Syracuse Orange and the rest of its Atlantic Coast Conference counterparts are anxiously watching what might possibly happen if Division I college athletics undergoes a massive realignment of conferences in the future.

This stems from powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas having requested to become members of the Southeastern Conference, which would likely leave the Big 12 Conference quite vulnerable.

The speculation online is entertaining and rampant. Some national commentators say that the NCAA as we know it is done. I’ve listened to prognosticators suggest that the top teams in the Power 5 leagues will ultimately bolt their conferences in favor of one giant super league.

Everything is conjecture for now. We had a column the other day about noted ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas floating the idea of the ACC merging together with the SEC. It seems that everything is on the table.

If the ACC does decide to stay on its own, while expanding at some point, I’ve got a couple of teams in mind that I believe could make a nice fit within this league.

The Syracuse Orange and its ACC peers would mesh well with several other Big 12 squads.

If the Big 12 is going to wither away following the expected departure of Oklahoma and Texas, then a fairly obvious Big 12 group for the ACC to look at is West Virginia.

The Mountaineers are a former Big East Conference rival of Syracuse and others presently in the ACC, such as Pittsburgh. Rekindling these old Big East duels would prove fun.

West Virginia has a strong basketball team and a pretty solid football squad. As we all know, the Orange football team topped the Mountaineers in the 2018 Camping World Bowl, while Syracuse basketball upset No. 3 seed West Virginia in this past spring’s Big Dance on the way to the Sweet 16.

Beyond the Mountaineers, maybe the ACC should examine some of the Big 12’s Texas-based schools. Yes, the state of Texas doesn’t necessarily line up, geographically speaking, with many of the ACC’s current members.

But does that even matter any longer? Getting some Texas-based groups would provide a recruiting entry for basketball and football within one of the country’s largest states.

I’d love for the ACC to go after Baylor and Texas Tech. Both are solid in basketball as well as football. In hoops, Baylor won the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and Texas Tech reached the title game in the 2019 March Madness.

Beyond that, if ACC officials can work their magic, getting Notre Dame as a full member, including in football, is ideal. However, the Fighting Irish has a good thing going as a football independent, so I’m not sure if this option is realistic for the time being.