West Virginia has no large city. But there are close to 2 million people throughout the state that follow every game. There are generations of West Virginians who have gone elsewhere who follow football, and follow the Mountaineers.

UConn will, never, ever offer as much in football. It has no history. If proximity to NYC matters, then the ACC might as well add Fordham because folks in NYC pay about the same attention to it and UConn, which is to say, almost none. The football stadium is many miles from the Storrs campus, so UConn is never going to generate a tradition based on the student football experience. UConn is good but not great academically. Basketball is obviously very strong, but what else does UConn really have to offer.

Anyone who makes an argument for Temple based on its location in Philadelphia just isn't paying attention, with all due respect. There is a reason Temple got kicked out of the Big East, and not much has changed.

I will grant you that USF and UCF have long term potential, though neither -- and especially USF which lacks its own stadium -- is a given.

I get that college presidents make these decisions, and I get that academics matter to them. But academic prestige in the ACC is highly overrated -- see the University of North Carolina -- and when you open the door to a commuter school like Louisville, there really isn't much of an argument against any school on academic grounds.