Report: Big 12 Team Would be Interested in Move to ACC in Conference Realignment

With all the talk of the Oklahoma and Texas being close to announcing a move to the SEC, the attention now turns towards the rest of the Big 12 and what happens to the teams that are left behind.

According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, at least one of the schools in the Big 12, West Virginia, would very much be interested in joining the ACC. However, in the last round of expansion, the ACC didn’t have much interest the Mountaineers.

“West Virginia would certainly be interested in joining the ACC if this falls apart in the Big 12,” Dinich said on Sunday’s SportsCenter. “This is about self-preservation, if this does indeed happen, and everything is expected to snowball quickly. It makes sense financially, from a travel aspect, from geographic location, right? But here’s the thing, the ACC has to want West Virginia.”

With the ACC breaking in a new commissioner, it will be interesting to see how Jim Phillips responds.

“Everybody is going to be watching this like a hawk,” Dinich said. “What is the ACC going to do? They’ve got a new commissioner in Jim Phillips. You can believe that he’s trying to make a last-minute push, maybe for Texas.”

The wildcard in all of this is Notre Dame. Would this type of major shift in the landscape of college football be enough to force the Fighting Irish into finally joining a conference. As it stands currently, Notre Dame is contractually obligated to join the ACC when and if they do decide to join a conference.

“What’s Notre Dame going to do?” Dinich said. “Contractually, if they join a conference, it has to be the ACC. Jack Swarbrick, their athletic director, told me (Sunday) that they are happy with their position but they’re also cognizant that the landscape is changing. So there are a lot of questions. But if West Virginia does leave, they have to adhere to the same bylaws that Oklahoma and Texas do, that 18-months notice, the exit fee, grant of rights, all of those things. Lot of pieces to the puzzle still to be put together.”