Will PAC12 die off?
Is it because of stringent academic standards?
ACC has a few big brands but largely it is made up smaller private or state schools.
The number of small brands mixed with blue bloods means a large mess.
The Big 12 was actually close to poaching Clemson and FSU a decade ago.
Before they fell to the knife and were poached themselves because of that blue blood/small school mix and heavy UT animus.
Most people believe we will end up with 3 power conferences because it appears about 60 teams is what media rights will support.
60 whittle to 12 for playoff is basically the perfect money generator.
You cover 90% of the country and bring enough underdogs to the party to make it interesting while maintaining an uber rich top line with 6-8 elite schools.
Academics have been largely meaningless for a long time.
If they weren't we'd all root for Ivy League schools and Rice/Cal/Stanford.
But to school presidents sure Academics matter.
In the Big 10 they share research dollars so that matters a bit more than anywhere else but no one at Ohio State really cares that half the team will leave school early without graduating.
They aren't recruiting football players to do research.
The Big 12 and ACC are obviously expanding and scrambling to remain a Power conference after watching the Pac 12 fall.
Can't blame either for the moves they are making even if they may seem strange. They aren't the Big 10 and SEC picking off brands at request of TV.
The are just trying to survive.
But you can grade the moves as to how it relates to their survival and I don't think the ACC will have many happy member schools when they have to travel mid or late year to the Pacific Northwest.
It has a very real impact ion NFL teams/games to cross 3 time zones.
In a time where 1 loss can cost a team 10-12 Million dollars that'll be a hard sell to UNC/FSU/Clemson and could in fact open up the league to legal challenge.
