that, for the 10,000th time, the ACC did not HAVE to add Stanford, Cal, and SMU. It was an entirely unforced move. The ACC was not in the same position that the PAC-12 was in. They were not then and are not currently facing an imminent, "do or die," have to immediately act to save the conference scenario. It was a panic move that was, again, verifiably and demonstrably pushed by Notre Dame (which obviously does not have the ACC's interests first in mind) and Wake Forest boosters (who really only care that Wake Forest can continue to cash $40 million media rights checks as long as possible.) Yes, the ACC was and is facing a big problem - they do not have enough viable football brands, the schools with big football agendas no longer feel the conference is a good fit, and they want out. VT isn't making the noise the Clemson and FSU are, but I cannot see any viable future for VT football in an ACC where Clemson, FSU, and more teams leave. It will become akin to a G5. That problem could be solved by expansion, but NOT by adding schools that have little or negative football brand value, which is the move that Jim Phillips pushed for and achieved. That move was not made with the "football first" schools in mind, it was made almost exclusively for the benefit of the schools that are causing the problem in the first place. It didn't help to solve the problem, it reinforced and made the problem worse. If expansion was going to happen at all, it should have been with FOOTBALL BRANDS, not two California schools, with zero football agenda, who were the very bottom of the barrel in the PAC12, and a G5 beggar, from Texas, running on fumes from the early 80s, that two other power conferences already passed over, that could only win the AAC once in a decade of membership, and had to agree to take no media rights payouts from the ACC for nine years. That lands entirely on the shoulders of Jim Phillips, he pushed for it, he got it, and ultimately his reputation is going to pay for it. The ACC as a "power" was going down, one way or the other and sooner or later, but now, when it comes time to rebuild and rebrand the ACC, now Phillips is going to have a giant mess of his own making to deal with. Even with a downsize, the ACC could have been rebranded to be the southern basketball competitor to the Big East, which was basically the branding when it was founded in 1953 - the premier southern basketball power. Now it's just going to be AAC 2.0 - a G5 conference with no clear homogeneity or brand. And, do you think Stanford and Cal are going to stick around to play Boston College and Wake Forest when the times really get lean? Laughable. On the other hand, the ACC will never be able to get rid of the SMU virus, for better or for worse. I will never figure out why so many of you posting on this board are so frothy at the mouth to play white knight for Jim Phillips. He is clearly working to PERPETUATE the problems that are an anchor around the ankle of VT football, not solve them.