(01-16-2018 05:55 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  The Big 12 missed the boat on expansion into the mega conference era. What they really needed to do was land a package of 6 ACC schools with Florida St and Clemson as the centerpieces. This would have enabled the SEC and Big Ten to chip away the pieces they wanted.

NC St, VT, Miami, and Louisville would have provided some nice inventory and for the most part were schools that the SEC and Big Ten wouldn't want either because of market duplication or academics.

The ACC and Big 12 were the most vulnerable conferences before the "Great Realignment." The ACC was at risk of being torn apart by the Big Ten and SEC (and maybe even the Big 12, as you say), but had the Big East nearby to feed on and bolster its resistance. The Big 12's central location in the country and the relative lack of suitable expansion targets in the area had much to do with why it suffered more during that period and is still at the highest risk of collapse among the P5. Of course, it was/is also unstable, unbalanced, and small in footprint.