Va Tech is as happy as can be in the ACC. According to many of their fans, they had wanted to be in the ACC since the conference's founding in 1953. Prior to that year, Va Tech had been a member of the SoCon, along with all the other current ACC members other than Miami, FSU, & BC. When it was invited to join the ACC, 50 years of waiting were finally rewarded.

And with that, combined with the fact that it's a good academic institution but not AAU, there's absolutely no way the Big Ten would extend an offer, and even if it did, VT would never accept.

There are 120 FBS schools, and 109 of those are not Big Ten schools. You could play games forever discussing any one of them but few would ever realistic.

The short list …. ND , VA Tech , Rutgers , Missouri , Pitt , WVU , Neb , Cuse , MD , UVA. Pretty much in that order.

The thing is will any of these schools accept an invite? Rutgers and Syracuse are probably the two that would sign the same day. VA Tech, Missouri, Pitt, WVU would probably think about it and may take more convincing. Notre Dame and Nebraska are real long shots. Doubtful they would join.

As for recruiting, in this day of the Information Age, I don't think there's really anything to "recruiting territory" except personal H.S. contacts.

Considering attendance records and TV commercial costs for CFB games, there is nothing "superior" about southern football or markets. It is more about a team than a conference. a small percentage of a huge market is probably better than a large percentage of a small market. A top winner can always increase in that market. If Rutgers had gone undefeated and won the Big East in 2006, they would have thrown a ticker tape parade for them down Broadway! Do you remember when FSU and UF were totally irrelevant in football? Nobody would even claim to be from Florida let alone a fan.

I am interested in what others may have to say about this idea: A school like Vanderbilt, SMU, Rice, or Tulane joining the Big Ten. Before dismissing that idea, consider how the Big Ten could really benefit from adding one of those schools:

(1) Add would reach into a more fertile football recruiting area. Four current teams a year would creep into the heart of ACC, SEC, or Big 12 territory. Missouri and upstate NY add very little to recruiting grounds. Jersey adds much less than Texas & the Deep South.

(2) It would add a second prestigious private school to join alongside with Northwestern. There would be absolutely no compromises academically

(3) It would often lead local ABC affiliates in the south to choose to air Big Ten games over Big 12 or ACC games. And those affiliates in the south tend to draw more college viewers than in any other region. In other words, it would ultimately add more new Big Ten viewers than Mizzou, Pitt, Syracuse, or Rutgers would. And those additional viewers should lead to a more valuable TV contract.

(4) In Vandy's case, it could make similar or improved revenue in a conference where making bowl games should be notably easier. In the others' case, it would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Of course, the SEC, should it lose Vandy, could probably go after anyone they want and have a great chance of landing their choice: USF, FSU, Texas, A&M;, TCU, Clemson, etc.

Any thoughts on that?

You're right Nathan. which is why the Sunbelt (and WAC) need to increase their numbers to protect themselves from expansion elsewhere and losing members.

The trickle down seems likely that:
Big Ten takes from the Big East
Big East could eventually goto 12 with 4-5 from CUSA
CUSA takes 4-5 from Sunbelt
Pac 10 takes from MWC
MWC takes 1-3 from WAC

next think you know you could have the Sunbelt (currently 10 teams with USA) at 5 football members and the WAC at 5-6 total members. Not pretty.

The Sun Belt is probably always going to fight to survive in football UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM. They starting sponsoring football in 2001. They have to schedule road games against tough competition for a myriad of reasons. Until they start to win those games ON A CONSISTENT BASIS, they will not be anything more than a stepping stone for schools to try to get into a bigger conference.

The Sun Belt has taken no action to require members to add football. The conference requires members to sponsor 15 of the sports the league sponsors and must sponsor certain core sports, but football is not one of those.

UTSA's RPI would be bottom third of the Sun Belt. Football has never played a down. It is hard to make a compelling case for them at this point.

Adding a title game presents few benefits, outside of the SEC, every other conference has struggled to consistently sell tickets to a title game.

I am sure the forums are going crazy with this news.

UTSA's trial ballon represents everything wrong with the split division structure. Schools can simply change divisions without too much worry about costs, which are subsidized indirectly and direclty the institution.

As to UTSA, the administration is chasing after the research money that the Texas taxpayers recently allocated. Texas has finally decided to add more public research universities.

The schools chasing the coveted spots include the University of Houston, North Texas, Texas Tech, and UTSA. Guess which school is not like the others?

If you said UTSA and the lack of a I-A football progam, then you get the prize. Don Pardo, tell them what they have won.

(In Don Pardo's voice)That's right. You've won. You get to incur a moutain of debt, face apathy in your own city, and scedule body bag games.

Hooray!

As to the Sunbelt, should they kick out UTSA for this move (and they should), UALR appears like a good candidate. They give UCA a travel partner. And there is no disruption to the football schedule.

As to UTSA, their best hope for a conference is when the CUSA splinters into seperate east and west conferences. Look for UTEP, Tulsa, SMU, North Texas, Rice, Houston, UTSA, and Tulane to form the basis of a conference.