While conference realignment in college football may have slowed down, it’s far from finished.
The ACC still remains a mystery, with leading programs like Clemson and Florida State wanting out. But there’s still some highly coveted programs in the ACC not named Clemson or FSU, like North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami that make sense for both the SEC and the Big Ten to go after.
While discussing the topic with Greg McElroy on Always College Football, Todd Blackledge weighed in on what makes the most sense for some of these ACC programs.
“Obviously the two big dogs, the SEC and the Big Ten, everyone’s going to want to try to land there,” Blackledge said. “I think both those leagues will be very choosy and very picky in which way they go. You could make an argument for both of them (Clemson or FSU) in either place (SEC or Big Ten).”
Yes, you have the SEC and Big Ten, which have a tight grip on the college football landscape. But what about the third option? No, not the Big 12 – but a superconference. Blackledge elaborated:
“I think the other wildcard, which may be the sign of Armageddon for college football when it’s all said and done, is no more NCAA.”
But as good as those top-tier ACC programs might be, no program is more attractive to Blackledge than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who have remained independent despite external pressure to join a league.
“Notre Dame is still the one that’s in play, to me,” Blackledge said. “They have adamantly maintained their independent status, and a lot of that is due to the old-school people at Notre Dame who want to maintain that. But I just don’t know if they can continue to do that long-term.”
But where should Notre Dame go? Blackledge seems to think the answer is pretty obvious that if the Irish were to align with a conference, the one that would make the most sense would be the Big Ten.
“So, I think ultimately, Notre Dame is still going to be the most cherished one to add to the league, and it makes the most sense for the Big Ten, just geographically and the way they align from a university standpoint,” he added.
