Report: ACC Included WVU in Model for Expansion

Could West Virginia jump to a new conference?

The next wave of conference realignment is about to be absolute chaos. Oklahoma and Texas kicked it off two years ago and then the Big 12 responded with their eventual departure by adding BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston. 

Last summer, UCLA and USC took many by surprise by announcing their intentions to leave the PAC 12 for the Big Ten. On Thursday, Colorado became the third member to leave the conference as they are set to return to the Big 12, placing the PAC 12 on life support. 

The Big 12 will almost certainly continue to pursue other institutions to reach 14 members, perhaps more. With the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC asserting themselves as the top three Power Five conferences, it puts a lot of pressure on George Kliavkoff (PAC 12 commissioner) and Jim Phillips (ACC Commissioner) to make the next move before their respective leagues implode.

In a recent report by David Hale of ESPN, the ACC has begun conversations about expansion.

"Since the first major realignment dominoes fell with Texas and Oklahoma's decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC happened in summer 2021, the ACC has explored possible expansion options, according to multiple league administrators, running models on adding a number of potential targets, including West Virginia, SMU, Oregon and Washington. However, league officials haven't determined if any additional schools would help bridge the ACC's financial gap with the SEC and Big Ten."

Although it would make sense geographically for West Virginia to move to the ACC, it doesn't make sense financially. At least not right now. The ACC is locked into a 20-year TV deal with ESPN through 2036 and several of the league's existing members believe the league jumped the gun and because of it, aren't receiving as much revenue as other Power Five leagues. In the 2022 fiscal year, the ACC dispersed $39.4M to each of its institutions whereas the Big 12 handed out a record $44M.

The Big 12's current TV deal with ESPN and FOX runs through 2031 which means they will be in negotiations for their next deal while the ACC still has five years remaining on their current deal. Not to mention, West Virginia would have to pay a massive exit fee to leave the conference. The only way WVU would move to the ACC, in my opinion, is if the ACC somehow reworks their deal with ESPN and gains more stability by adding other valuable schools to the league. That's a lot of ifs.

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