Notre Dame

In some news that caught me off guard, Notre Dame is reportedly looking at ACC affiliation over the Big Ten. This is something worth keeping an eye on. They are still toeing the company line saying that they will remain independent in football and Big East members in all other sports but those days may be coming to an end. If this is true, it obviously changes my original big four conference predictions. In a simple swap I would move Rutgers over to the Big Ten and Notre Dame over to the ACC North.
In other news, there is talk between the remaining Big East and Big 12 members to join forming one conference (known as the Big 12 is my understanding for financial reasons). I'm not sure at this point if they would operate similar to the current Big East rules as far as the non-football powers in the Big East (Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's) still joining for all other sports. Seems like it would be a very big conference.

UConn in the mix

According to reports published on multiple sites, the University of Connecticut is aggressively seeking to become the 15th member of the ACC. This move would solidify the ACC as hands down the best basketball conference in the nation. Over the course of 2001-2011, 8 of the 11 mens national champions in college basketball will be part of the new ACC with Kansas and Florida making up for the other 3 titles. Incredible to think that this could be the case. I would also think that this may bring some motivation to Coach K and Roy Williams having to now compete with Calhoun, Boeheim and Dixon on and off the court on a regular basis. The NC State fan inside of me is nervous because things have just become that more difficult in the ACC; the basketball fan in me is excited to see these regular season match-ups the next couple of years.
As for the 16th member, there is a lot of talk about Rutgers attempting to join either the ACC or the Big 10. I still feel that West Virginia would make the most sense and bring both football and basketball strength with it.

Syracuse and Pitt

Of all the exciting things to happen on the field yesterday for the conference, the most important victory may have been the reports that have surfaced that Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh have applied for membership in the ACC. For awhile it looked like another conference (the SEC) might attempt to go after Florida State and cause the ACC to scramble for survival. This move makes this all this mute as the ACC will immediately move back to the top of the basketball rankings and move closer to being a 16-member superconference.
This move also makes it less likely for the rumored Texas move to the ACC to happen as well. In the end this is probably better for the members of the ACC seeing how unhappy all the members of the former Big 12 are with the power that UT has recently established with huge television contracts. It also seems better for everyone involved to keep the ACC strictly in the Eastern Time Zone for viewing purposes as well.
The question is now who will be the last two teams to step-in . . . my best guess is that West Virginia will be one the second spot will be a battle between Rutgers, South Florida and possibly UConn.