Conference Realignment: What should Georgia Tech do?

The formation of two super conferences is emerging, where does Tech land?

Matthew Kistner | Aug 4, 2023

Conference Realignment: What should Georgia Tech do? /

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Earlier today Oregon and Washington announced their departure from the Pac-12 to move to the Big Ten. USC and UCLA also announced their departure from the Pac-12 last year as they head to the Big Ten. Oregon and Washington are the only teams from the conference to have made the College Football Playoff and with the departure of Deion Sanders’ Colorado, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah, the Pac-12 is collapsing entirely.

Conference realignment has been on the mind of many programs after Texas and Oklahoma announced they're moving from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2024. At first, it seemed doubtful to occur, but the reality of super conferences is becoming quite apparent. Unfortunately with Florida State officials calling for large revenue redistributions in the conference, many feel Florida State will begin the downfall of the ACC: a conference that looked to be avoiding team exits. Like it or not, this sort of notion seems to imply that Florida State will leave the conference, most likely followed by Clemson, North Carolina, and Miami: the largest revenue-generating teams.

With this comes thinking time for Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera and Athletic Director J Batt. The athletic department is coming off of firing two head coaches and has resorted to selling the naming rights to Historic Grant Field to generate revenue. Regardless of opinion, Georgia Tech is in a bad place for the ACC to begin crumbling over revenue deals. It will be difficult to sustain our programs if the ACC is to fall apart and if it is, where are we to go?

All 14 of Georgia Tech Athletics' sponsored teams compete in the ACC and have since 1978. — All 14 of Georgia Tech Athletics' sponsored teams compete in the ACC and have since 1978 / Georgia Institute of Technology

I am a strong opponent of conference realignment as I feel it hurts the brand of college football and significantly damages the ability of teams that are not in these super conferences to recruit and compete. Conference realignment will only make 20 teams nationally relevant and it will damage the rest. Georgia Tech really needs to find a good situation, and I believe there are three good scenarios for Tech:

1) The ACC adds new members

With the primary members threatening to leave on the basis of poor revenue deals, the conference could strive for adding new teams to bolster better commercial interest and thus generate more revenue. Teams such as Notre Dame, West Virginia, Tulane, South Florida, East Carolina, Liberty, Ohio, Marshall, Appalachian State, Troy, or Memphis could make good additions in a geographical sense. Perhaps the ACC could even reach out to the remaining teams of the Pac-12 (or should I say Pac-4) to establish a western presence: California, Washington State, Oregon State, and Stanford.

The western move or poaching West Virginia from the Big 12 would garner the most revenue in my opinion as it would activate a new audience in the West for ACC football that could bring companies calling for television rights. West Virginia also brings its passionate fan base and rivalry with Pittsburgh that would spark interest of all fans. Unfortunately, all of these situations are a stretch for the ACC and more likely than not will not happen. Facing reality, the ACC is in a difficult bind and I am not too optimistic on the future of the conference.

2) Georgia Tech rejoins the SEC or moves to the Big Ten

I find this to be the least likely of all scenarios as we do not really offer too much for the SEC to add us back. However, we were a founding member of the conference and the location of Atlanta makes the school more than optimal for commercialization purposes. It goes without saying how beneficial this could be to Tech revenue-wise, but it just seems like a very unlikely scenario that is more of a wish on a star.

Ole Miss defeated Georgia Tech Football on Saturday — Georgia Tech was a founding member of the SEC but rejoining could be difficult for the Yellow Jackets / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten is very similar in the sense that Tech really does not bring them anything besides a stellar location and academics. With the Big Ten expanding out west, their eye is likely to look to southern schools now as well to challenge the SEC in their own domain. Grabbing a school in Atlanta would be pretty big for them, but I really do not see them offering Tech entrance without other southern schools coming along too.

3) Georgia Tech alongside other ACC programs move to the Big 12

With the Big 12 adding Cincinnati, Houston, Central Florida and Brigham Young to the conference in 2023, the Big 12 is clearly invested in keeping themselves alive following the departure of Oklahoma and Texas. Today also saw Arizona, Arizona State and Utah migrate to the Big 12 in response to Oregon and Washington's departure to the Big Ten. It would be in the Big 12’s best interest to look for even more money-making teams and Tech can be one of those for them. I think a branch of the ACC moving to the Big 12 could do great for revenue at Tech.

In my mind, this is the most likable option for the Jackets should the ACC come crumbling down. Big 12 teams are relatively the same distance from the school geographically and the conference offers fair competition for the Jackets moving forward and carries decent television contracts with Fox. This is a theoretical situation, but I like the idea of Tech moving to the Big 12 alongside teams like Pittsburgh, Miami, Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Wake Forest and North Carolina State.

Conference realignment is ruining college football in my opinion, but I cannot do anything about it nor will anything stop it from occurring as it is. We must simply adapt as fans, but it is pertinent that the Jackets get into a good situation. I fear what will happen to the program if the ACC falls apart and Tech has no plan or chooses not to leave the ACC. I have complete faith that J Batt will take the correct approach and will always look forward to seeing the future of Tech sports regardless of where and who we play.

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