SEC and Big 10 programs for any given player in any given scenario. I don't see a realistic situation where any ACC program is going to make up a $40 million+ deficit that ALWAYS exists, and that's setting aside that money isn't the only consideration. ACC programs are basically never on free OTA broadcast, and are basically never on ESPN/ESPN2. They basically only play on the CW, ACCN, ESPNews, and ESPN+. Big time players want to play in big time games on big time networks. That basically eliminates the ACC as a viable option; it's the last option for those players. "Oh, I can't get PT at an SEC or Big 10 program, I guess I'll go to the ACC and try to transfer out next year." And that's just one of many ways the system is now explicitly rigged in favor of the SEC and Big 10. When money is literally the only thing on the player's mind, can ACC programs get one player every now and then when they're also being courted by an SEC/Big 10 program? Yeah, I guess one player, maybe, in extremely factual scenarios. But, when it comes to modern day college football, you can't realistically compete on the national stage with one great player and a team of also-rans. You take that notion, and combine it with the fact that the very worst, least-competitive SEC program will always have a $40+ million dollar head start on football fundraising before you even get out of the gate, and you can see the major problem for any ACC program. They're saying the top SEC and Big 10 programs will be spending over $50 million on their football rosters. VT needs to pull $40 million out of thin air to even get to the very bottom of the baseline with Vanderbilt or Purdue. Then they have to raise even more millions of dollars to be able to keep up with Vanderbilt and Purdue. Can Miami/FSU/Clemson play that game? Maybe. FSU is currently a huge mess, money or no money. Miami went to the championship last year, but the cocaine cowboy donors down there are going to have to come up with giant money each and every year. I think the answer when it comes to Clemson is a resounding no, which is why they're now returning to standard Clemson form. When all of a sudden everyone is paying their players, and nobody needs to launder a slush fund through the local Baptist mega church to do it, Clemson just coincidentally starts to look pedestrian. Yeah; it's not a coincidence.