in 2030-2031, when the Big 12's media rights deal is set to expire. Call me crazy, but here's what I think is going to happen - The Big 10 are already over bloated with a significant amount of what isn't exactly blockbuster content (UCLA v. Rutgers, anyone? How about a heaping helping of Maryland v. Illinois?) 3/4 of the SEC is going to be pissed off every year because those programs think they're above losing even one game, much less 3, 4, or 5 games. Losing 4 or more games more than once every decade or so is enough to get you fired at a lot of SEC programs. Where I'm going with this is, assuming the conference paradigm survives, and we have no reason to believe it won't, that those conferences are not going to expand, because they're already too big. The ACC's media rights buyout amount will be reasonable by 2030, and there will be nothing holding Big 12 programs to account, since their deal will be expiring and they will all be required to sign onto a new one. And, since nobody else is getting into the P2 country club, I honestly think at this point that the biggest brands from the ACC are going to consolidate with the biggest brands from the Big 12 to form the third power football conference, and cut out all the schools that don't bring the eyeballs. The payouts still probably won't be 1:1 with P2 money, but programs can get more than what they're getting now if they just completely cut out all the football programs that are basically being subsidized, like Kansas, Wake Forest, Houston, Boston College, Cincinnati, and SMU. I think we're ultimately going to end up with something entirely football-centric that looks like this: Utah FSU TCU Clemson Texas Tech Miami Oklahoma State UNC Arizona State VT Iowa State NCSU Colorado Louisville WVU GT It will likely have a catchy name that avoids referencing a specific part of the country, and pushes the football-focused nature of the conference, like "Gridiron Elite" or something like that. And, instead of "It just means more," and "Then, now, and always," it will be branded with a mantra like, "WHERE FOOTBALL LIVES," or, "BUILT FOR TITLES." I know it sounds corny, but it only sounds corny because we're used to the old ways. If they go this route, I have zero doubt that the conference will be called something you'd call a kid's travel ball team and the branding will be EXTREMELY IN YOUR FACE.