Back in the late 1980s as a Tech student, I wrote an op-ed in the Collegiate Times on how Tech would ultimately fit in the ACC. I am sure that someone can look that up in the CT archives. I was right back then and I think that I have been proven correct more often than not on this board over the years. What you are seeing today is a play from Fox Television to bolster their Big 10 Network, FS1, and FS2 properties along with corporate owned television stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia. They see that Disney/ESPN is vulnerable and they are making a strategic play to finally win the sports market from their competition. It is a brilliant move. The Big 10 will not stop with SC and UCLA. My guess is that after the July 4th holiday, they will announce that Stanford, Cal, Oregon, and Washington will join their league. That will take them to 20. If they want to be more aggressive, they will make a run at TCU, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia. That will get them to 24 and they will own every key television market in the US except for Miami and Phoenix. They may make a play for Notre Dame and dump TCU in the process leaving behind the Texas television markets of DFW and Houston. My guess is that they will go to 24. Here is the interesting part. The folks in Birmingham at the SEC offices have no desire to play in second position behind the Big 10. They will need cash and they will need to get into some new TV markets (Washington, Raleigh-Durham, and Charlotte for sure) and maybe if they get aggressive, Phoenix and Denver. I would expect them to also make a move to go to 24 which means they will need to add 8 schools. If I were them, and yes, I have heard the rumors of their desire to add UNC and VT today, and if the Big 10 takes UVa, UNC, and GT, then they must add VT and NC State along with Clemson, Florida State, Duke and Miami. That leaves 2 open spots. I would choose to add Colorado and Kansas to keep the conference geographically contiguous while maintaining and fortifying the best football brand in the country. They would also add the TV markets in Washington, Charlotte (one they arguably already have with USC-E), Raleigh-Durham, Miami, and Denver. At the same time, they will also add significant credibility in basketball with Duke and Kansas joining the league. The key is UVa. Virginia politics will not allow UVa and Tech to separate without each remaining "whole". The last bit of expansion in 2004 taught us that and I do not see Glenn Youngkin screwing up his political future by screwing one of his 2 national brand state universities. Mark Warner figured this out and rode it all the way to the US Senate. Although I no longer live in Virginia, I can tell that Youngkin is no fool, and he will not let a conference calamity happen to one of his marquee universities. If UVa gains an invitation to the Big 10, the SEC will have to respond with an invitation to Virginia Tech and there will be no political barriers to that taking place. This will help fortify their flank in the mid-Atlantic and provide access to the top-10 Washington TV market. I think that is a no-brainer for the smart guys in Birmingham. If either Tech and UVa are both swinging in the wind, which I doubt will happen, then they will become a package deal, just like in 2004. Whether we believe it or not, Virginia Tech is still a national brand in collegiate athletics. ACC membership has strengthened our programs. Many argue that SEC academics are poor. For those naysayers, I refer them to the US News ratings that now have Georgia and Florida ranked above Tech. Academics is playing in the SEC and the addition of Texas will only strengthen that position. Those same naysayers contend that Tech cannot compete in the SEC. I reject that theory as well in that everyone said Tech could never compete in the ACC in basketball or other olympic sports. Now we hold the ACC basketball championship and numerous other top flight programs in wrestling, softball, track, baseball, and women's basketball. We are vastly improved in swimming and our soccer programs were ranked for both the men and women. In short, Tech will be a valued addition to either the Big 10 or the SEC should they be invited. Football will be a challenge, but I have a feeling that Brent Pry and staff would welcome a challenge and the ability to recruit with SEC exposure and competition in their back pocket. Tech remains a national brand and will be a great get for the SEC in football. I know that Georgia and Alabama would wipe the field with us right now, but I also remember when we beat Alabama at the Music City Bowl, beat Arkansas at the Belk Bowl, competed with Georgia at the Peach Bowl, and beat Tennessee at the Peach Bowl. This is no time to let the spectre of Justin Fuente's mismanagement of the football program lead us to an inferiority complex. I have argued at length on this board for years that the ACC needed to add Notre Dame and Texas. That inaction will ultimately lead to the destruction of the ACC. Today set the future in motion and it is time for Tech to step up and make moves that will propel the university into their next 150 years. A possible deal may be sitting there with the gentlemen in Birmingham and I sincerely hope that a Tech plane with Dr. Sands and Mr. Babcock are in flight there to make our best case.