No exit fees, no grant of rights, no little brother "State U" to worry about and, as a bonus, likely no SEC temper tantrum if Mizzou leaves.

Looks relatively quick and simple.

But a 13-team SEC? Suddenly the ACC's foundation looks even shakier. A replacement has to come from somewhere. Now Mike Slive is the bad guy for raiding the ACC (and all the while Jim Delany is smiling).

The Big Ten has Maryland in the boat; no way, with the ACC ready to crumble, does Virginia not join the Terps.

That leaves UNC and Duke.

Do the Heels and their tagalong buddies from Durham choose a league with Maryland, UVa and the AAU stamp of approval or a football-first conference likely to pick up Virginia Tech and perhaps one, two or all among N.C. State, FSU and Clemson?

I like Delany's chances here.

So ... Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke make 18.

Delany plucks Kansas to complement Missouri and give the Big Ten a basketball royalty Fab Four of UNC, Duke, IU and KU. That's 19 members.

The ACC is rapidly disintegrating and it's time for Captain Jim to reel in his white whale: Notre Dame.

There will be kicking and screaming from subway alumni for sure, but an all-sports league with flagship universities from the Great Plains to the Great Lakes to the shadows of the Big Apple to the best of the New South would seems like a suitably sprawling fit for the Fighting Irish.

Especially considering the alternatives.

"You each could invent a scenario that would force our hand."
— Jack Swarbrick, 2010