Wolverine247 Board

A little part of me was hoping for GT, but UNC should at least provide some decent competition. They just need to get their academics in order.

EDIT: Although, I can't see UNC accepting. If they do, it really messes with the Duke-UNC rivalry.

UNC needs to get their academics in order?

This whole fiasco:

Ohhhh, alright. I thought you were referring to UNC being a bad school, not academic fraud.

Ya i think UVA is a perfect fit for the big ten. Great academics, college town, a lot of tradition. Wish we could take UVA, Duke, and NC and slip Rutgers to the curb. Still don't like Rutgers in the Big Ten.

B1G invited a bunch of teams with Nebraska like Texas and that leaked, so I don't think it's for sure either way.

These would be way better additions than Maryland and Rutgers, but perhaps the Big Ten was trying to create a foothold to be more persuasive in attracting schools like UNV and UVA. However, I do not see this happening. Not only would this split up the UNC - Duke rivalry, but also the UNC - NC State rivalry and the one Virginia has with Virginia Tech. I know the Big Ten now has Maryland so they would be able to preserve some of those classic ACC games, but I don't see these additions alone working, especially considering that most state legislatures will fight one state school going and not another.

One thing that does come to mind though are those recent comments by Dave Brandon talking about potentially going to 18. He basically said there's no reason why 16 has to be the stopping point. Perhaps the Big Ten is also going after Duke, NC State, and Virginia Tech? I wouldn't count it out just yet.

The amount of $$$$ the Big Ten could command adding these teams would mean way more than a rivalry that could still be managed. Duke-UNC could do some crazy neutral court hoops game each year that would attract a boatload of money for TV rights and sell out in about 1 second. Sure that would result in no home games against the rival, but is that one game worth the money they'd be leaving on the table? And would Virginia care if people complained about Va Tech if they were getting $30-$40million/year from the Big Ten?

UNC and UVA are ideal matches for the B1G.

As others have pointed out, the Duke v. UNC bball rivalry would be the one thing that holds this back.

Much better choices then maryland and rutgers

The ACC is positioning itself to be a premier basketball conference (Adding 'Cuse and Pitt was huge) and the Duke-UNC rivalry is the league's premier matchup. While UNC and Duke could still play every year, it'd mean a lot less if they're not competing for the same league championship.

UNC probably just wants some stability. It's pretty obvious that college football drives conferences now (otherwise, the Big East never would've broken up), so UNC probably just wants to get a jump before FSU and Clemson bail to join the SEC.

I still wonder about the politics of NC State.

People bring up Duke...but the politics there is irrelevant. The two schools have diametrically opposed visions of what the goals of their institutions are. And the one positive: very, very easy to maintain a basketball rivalry.

I presume if we are going to 16, UVA will be next.