The harsh reality is that America does not care about half to two thirds of ACC football programs and it is about 20 years too late to change that fact. And of the few programs America does care about, most draw no more interest than, say, Michigan State or Texas A&M. A merger of top schools in the ACC, Big 12 and PAC 12 could have created a formidable rival for the Big Ten and SEC a decade ago, or maybe less. But it didn’t and maybe couldn’t happen. Sooner or later, there will be another chance for the best of the ACC and Big 12 to merge. And some schools will resist for reasons people talk about at cocktail parties instead of at football barbecues, just like before.