Who decides? The conference or the media company?
You're right about the SEC enjoying in-state rivalries. But I think their media partner has a different opinion. Perhaps the most tangled snag in college media rights is the North Carolina square knot. ESPN has never been happy about having four ACC payouts in one state.
UNC and Duke can certainly try to leverage a package deal. But in the end, if UNC gets the invitation and Duke doesn't, UNC has to make the move alone. Actually the academic snobs in The B1G are probably very attracted to Duke, whose $8 billion endowment is greater than all but Michigan and Northwestern in that conference. To B1G presidents, the $8 billion endowment is the equivalent of huge boobs on a Hollywood starlet.
Unfortunately Duke has almost zero football cred and we really can't know what the hoops program will look like in 3~5 years without Coach K.
If you and I are musing about these questions we can assume that the school officials and their high-priced consultants have gone over these and a thousand other possible paths they might follow. To me it will come down to the decision by UNC and UVA as to which conference they will choose, or perhaps which media partner they prefer. There is a lot at stake for the other programs in the ACC.
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In response to this post by Stech)
Posted: 09/20/2021 at 10:52AM