because it can mean something. For example the "North" is historically viewed as being "pro markets" and the "South" is historically viewed as being "college markets." "Culture" can also mean what sport(s) a school may place the most emphasis on. The failure of the Big East has shown that if a conference basically has only 2 camps (i.e. basketball vs. football), then it is doomed to eventually fail. However, if every member in a conference has a common goal (i.e. good in multiple sports), then it has a better chance to achieve long-term stability.

One could say the ACC was on a similar path as the Big East. It may be debatable whether the ACC is still on that path or out of the woods yet because L'ville was a good compromise for both the basketball schools and football schools. What is unclear is if the ACC expands in the future, then will the basketball schools support adding a football school or the football schools support adding a basketball school? Going forward the only solution for the ACC may be to add a member that is good in both sports as a way to remain silent to the rift that may be forming between the 2 camps.

Some other forms of 'culture clash' could be: public vs. private, the size of the school, the type of research and subject matter allowed by the school, where the schools get majority of their students from, and other non-athletic subject matters.
[Post edited by VTHokie2000 at 03/05/2018 12:56PM]