Miami Hurricanes mentioned as program who could determine realignment

Chris Hummer of 247 Sports mentioned the Miami Hurricanes as one of “The powerhouse programs who will determine the next phase of realignment.” The projection by Hummer came after news broke on Thursday via several national media outlets that UCLA and USC are leaving the Pac 12 for the Big 10.

The move from the Bruins and Trojans could happen as early as 2024. The ACC’s Grant of Rights makes it extremely unlikely that any member school would leave the conference before 2036. Any school leaving the ACC before 2036 would forfeit its television rights. Several ACC schools would be attractive to other conferences.

The Miami Hurricanes were part of the early 2000s conference migration eventually joining the ACC with Virginia Tech in 2004. Boston College joined the ACC in 2005. The ACC continued to expand with Louisville, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame (for every sport except football) and Syracuse joining the conference in 2013.

If the report regarding UCLA and USC comes to fruition, the other Power Five conferences could continue to recruit more schools. UCLA and USC reportedly contacted the Big 10. The potential decisions by UCLA and USC came after Oklahoma and Texas announced last summer they were leaving the Big XII for the SEC.

MIAMI HURRICANES
“Finally, Miami still matters. The Hurricanes were a huge piece of realignment the last time it truly swung into zany overdrive, and they’re also in an interesting long-term position with the ACC due to the distribution gap the league is expected to have versus the Big Ten and SEC.

Miami is certainly a natural fit for the SEC geographically and in terms of its aggression in football recruiting. But as an academic-focused school in a large market, it’s not hard to see the Big Ten being interested as well.

There are a lot of moving pieces in the ACC right now, and it would only take one or two Jenga blocks moving for the whole thing to collapse.”

As a private school, the ACC is likely the best fit for Miami. Boston College, Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Wake Forest are all other private schools in the ACC. The best fit doesn’t seem to matter anymore. This has clearly become more about many and as Hummer said realignment is in zany overdrive.

Geographical rivalries have become obsolete. The Big 10 footprint will be from coast to coast with UCLA and USC in Los Angeles to Maryland and Rutgers in states on the Atlantic Coast. Hummer mentions Clemson, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina and Notre Dame as other ACC schools to watch.

Notre Dame could be pressured by the ACC to join the conference as a full member. Many of the observations nationally about the move by UCLA and USC to the Big 10 is that with the SEC, those will become the Power Two conferences. The ACC, Big XII and Pac 12 are significantly behind the Big 10 and SEC in television revenue.

The move by Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC and UCLA and USC to the Big 10 only makes those conferences stronger and creates far more TV revenue. The Big 10 now has teams in the Chicago, Los Angeles and New York TV markets. No other conference has close to the power of those three markets.