then the 5 schools should have been Miami, VT, WVU, BC, and either Pitt or Syracuse.

The Conference could have looked like this:

Atlantic/Coastal
Pitt/Syracuse-BC
WVU-UMD
VT-UVA
Wake-Duke
NC State-UNC
Clemson-GT
Miami-FSU

If the ACC was going to expand from 9 to 16, then the 4 mentioned above plus Pitt, Syracuse, and 1 more. If both Penn State and Notre Dame said no, then I probably would go with L'ville since it has a history of being good in both sports. If not Louisville, then I would look to Rutgers since the program was starting to head in the right direction under Schiano despite having losing season his first 4 years. A 16 member ACC could look like this:

Atlantic/Coastal
Syracuse-BC
Pitt-Louisville or Rutgers
WVU-UMD
VT-UVA
Wake-Duke
NC State-UNC
Clemson-GT
Miami-FSU

I would consider a conference looking to expand from 9 members to 14 or 16 as being a proactive one. A proactive one would also seriously consider a conference network as a way of maximizing the exposure of this new conference image. If the ACC was planning to launch the ACCN, then I think it could have swayed Penn State to leave the Big Ten especially if the ACC makes it clear that it will add Rutgers if Penn State still says "no." It is unlikely Notre Dame could have been swayed to give up its NBC contract. Although if the ACCN was supported by NBC, then I think something could be worked out where Notre Dame keeps its contract with NBC and still joins the ACC as a full member. NBC would have an interest in keeping both the ACC and Notre Dame. I think NBC would be onboard with the idea if the ACC had pitched as NBC's way of getting in on ESPN's action.

You say Delaney is a visionary for being the first commission to launch a conference network. If the ACC had been the first conference with its own network, then Swofford would have been labelled as the visionary.