The ACC wanted one thing, primarily: To stablize itself at or near the top tier of athletic conferences.

Even if the rumors of the ACC's downfall were premature, the bulk of information points to some form of conference restructuring and/or the NCAA landscape changing. Football had gained in importance, and the BCS had altered forever the level of revenue the inside schools had come to expect. The ACC and likely the BE were facing forces of change from within as well as without, and had to act one way or another. It goes back to the dismissal of Temple and upgrade of UConn. It goes back to the ACC adding FSU... we all know the story.

While things aren't set in stone, it's safe to say the ACC's actions have assured the conference's place among the upper echelons of the NCAA. If the BCS were to die, if TV negotiations were to change, if the BCS schools were to break away from the NCAA... the ACC would be lumped along with the B10, the SEC, the B12 and PAC 10. Even if the money were to change for the worse, it stands to reason that would only happen a) in small doses, and b) only through some action that impacts every school and not just via the ACC losing a bowl bid or something.

The increase in revenue did not come in the volumes desired, a product of who and how the final act involved, but the revenue has increased. More importantly, from the ACC fan's perspective, the level of competition in all sports save perhaps men's basketball has increased. True, the double round-robin schedule is gone, but that's perhaps a fitting thing for the conference that gave birth to the post-season conference tourney. What better way to justify the need for such an event?

Miami will add some swagger and give the resource-rich state of Florida more of an ACC feel. VT will push the growing feature of ACC fans traveling to away games and provide a true sense of regionalism, a la the SEC. BC may end up the foil for all this, but they're not a slouch and as a private school less dependent on regionalism. A marriage of convenience, but one with mutual interest in success.

I feel the BE will be fine and may yet prosper better than before for select schools. The Pitt-WVU-Cincy-UofL quartet will prove a great foundation, and I have faith the UConn faithfull will oversee the growth of football as promised. It won't be as many hoped, but the BE should survive all the purer for having undergone the overhaul.