If what we have heard in the last day or two is valid, the B1G and SEC are not going to move beyond 16 anytime unless Notre Dame decides to give up its independence. Even then, the most likely scenario seems to be a limited expansion with ND and perhaps 1-3 current Pac 12 members like Oregon, Washington or Stanford. I think if there was a reasonably way out of the ACC grant of rights, we would have heard rumblings by now, particularly from Clemson and Florida State - one of which justifiably thinks it ought to earn SEC dollars and the other of which very much needs it to get back on stable footing. I think any conference structure above 16 members will be unwieldy and the financial returns existing members can expect from further expansion are doubtful unless ND is involved. I believe the best strategy for Tech and a number of other similarly situated schools is to plan for a day about 10-12 years from now when the ACC, Big 12 and Pac 12 as we now know it will dissolve and allow for the formation of a new conference whose composition could more closely rival the SEC and B1G. It would behoove Tech to identify the 12-20 schools that would fit that profile and begin to have discussions now. It is time to leave Wake, Duke, BC and Syracuse behind. It is time to ask whether some significant state schools like UVa and Cal-Berkeley and Kansas are really committed to football at the same level as Tech and its peers. It is time to avoid schools with a checkered history, like Baylor and even Louisvillle. The core of a new conference could very well include most if not all of the following: Current ACC - Clemson, FSU, VT, NCSU, UNC, Miami Current B12 - WVU, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Iowa State Current P12 - Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona State, Arizona, Colorado We are all generally familiar with our ACC peers, and I think it is fair that apart from Louisville, those I've listed likely have the largest consistent attendance figures -- which I regard as a big indicator and driver of broader interest. I am pretty familiar with the B12 schools from having followed WVU in that league. Folks tend to look down on Iowa State, but it is a very good AAU-caliber school with a terrific fan base. The P12 schools, I know less - particularly with respect to the AZ schools. But if you take my core and even assume a few of them end up as a member of the current P2, you have the foundation of a very good league with programs like UVa, Pitt, Kansas State or Kansas, Louisville and Houston available as options to fill holes (or, if you like, to replace one or more of the programs among the 16 I listed above). I think that sort of league, which would stretch coast to coast and could be divided into east and west for many Olympic sports, has far greater appeal than any wholesale merger or expansion of the ACC, Big 12 or Pac 12. Schools like Tech and FSU and WVU and Oklahoma State and Arizona State and Utah have a lot of reasons to collaborate to try to lay the groundwork for such a league, even if its formation may not be able to occur until near the end of the ACC GOR period. That sort of league would be appealing to CBS or NBC or whoever may want a bigger piece of the college football pie because, even though there may be few national brands in the mix, there are also few if any weak brands like BC and Wake to drag everyone down.