In the last 24 hours we have the strongest evidence yet that an ACC network is coming. Swofford's comments were short but much more direct than in the past. ESPN was included in the discussions this week. This is a HUGE revelation. ESPN did not travel down to Florida to meet for hours to say "no thanks." They are likely working out the scenarios of expansion possibilities and timelines for a launch. No doubt that the landscape has changed in the last few years as far as traditional distribution is concerned but content is still king and in the app age it is the specificity of content that sells. I think they have lots of options to make money. If the meetings were not positive or productive we would be hearing rumblings from FSU and possibly GT or Clemson about the need for a network. They are very quiet right now.

At the same time OU started hedging by having Boren state that a network decision was needed before expansion and a board member came out saying there are no viable expansion candidates. This gives both sides cover if they choose to exit the Big12. Texas has be silent but those associated with the horns have said they won't give up the LHN unless it is to switch conferences and that they see no teams worth adding.

My take is that OU was sick of being strung along by UT and called their hand. They all have known for years that the Big12 or ACC would have to die. They both knew that ND affiliation was needed to secure their future. When the ACC locked up ND for at a minimum a partial membership with a contract stating they would join the ACC for football if they joined any conference for football then it was clearly advantage ACC. Sometime in the last six months or so the Big12 heard from ESPN that they were working on an ACC network which was the last sign OU needed that it was time to reinvent the Big12 into a modern conference or find a home elsewhere.

The ACC is in a good spot here. I think it's still possible that the Big12 comes to it's senses and locks up the remaining P5 caliber programs into a larger more stable conference with a network that satisfies OU with UT still being the top dog. The biggest hurdle here is likely ESPN and Fox having different wishes in terms of teams to add. I am in no way an expert on this but BYU, CSU, UC, and UConn would be solid additions with potential for improvement. UCF adds Florida and maybe even ECU to get more eyeballs on the east coast. In this scenario they would be going for strength in numbers which could signal a shift in power within the conference. I don't know what is going to happen but I have a hard time seeing this kind of shift. UT and to a lesser degree OU want to be associated with the best of the best and this would clearly be the weakest conference from an institutional standpoint. If I had to guess I would say the B1G lands OU and Kansas once the dust settles. UT could go independent but may get a ND deal with ACC and play a handful of games with us but otherwise be independent. I know some are saying UT will look at the ACC but I just can't get there. It would take a massive restructuring of the ACC and in the history of conference realignment the changes that came were almost always less extreme than some imagined. Though adding ND, KS, OU, UT, Baylor and TCU would make the ACC the greatest conference in the history of college sports......I can dream can't I?