Expansion Sooner?
The Big XII’s decision to accept West Virginia to get to 10 schools seemingly does not involve the ACC. To be sure, The Confidential was a bit more supportive than others of the ACC taking a look at pairing West Virginia with Notre Dame someday. But most prognosticators believed Rutgers or UConn to be the extra-point to any future addition of Notre Dame.
Where this DOES impact the ACC is that West Virginia is reportedly confident that it can leave the Big East in time to join the Big XII for 2012. That is news. There is talk that this is an issue that can be resolved by sheer money, with Pitt being offered the chance to leave earlier for $21 million. It is difficult to envision a scenario where $21 million is a sensible amount to pay to leave 17 months early. However, this does suggest that Pitt and Syracuse may be able to extract themselves from the Big East sooner than expected. If so, the ACC will be “whole” in time for 2012.
There is little doubt that the ACC has contingency plans in place for a 2012 start to a 14-team ACC. It may actually happen.
The Confidential 