Not taking the position that UVa had a controlling interest in fan support back then, but they were already a bona fide member of the ACC in very good standing.

I agree with the point that future expansion candidates have to add value to the conference in a demonstrable way. But before the ACC performed its due diligence on us, that was also a knock against Virginia Tech.

Conference realignment is still very much an ongoing process. As it moves forward, we shouldn't be surprised to see some major shifts among schools that are currently considered "higher tier" candidates versus "lower tier" ones. And the economic impact of sheer demographics in California, Florida, and Texas shouldn't be underestimated.

By the time the next round of GORs expire and revenue contracts are renegotiated, a lot of schools with hyphenated and directional titles in their names could command a lot of interest -- and a lot of "proven brands" may be on the outside looking in.

Of course that could be rendered moot at the conference level. It's possible that the SEC and one or both of the PAC and B1G could be in a position to abandon the current NCAA structure and create their own level of play in the very near future (if they're not actually there already). If that happens, the definition of "big time" college athletics is radically altered and every school outside the membership of those conferences will have to do some serious soul searching about its respective identity.

Personally, while I think such a day of reckoning is almost certainly coming, I'm not looking forward to it.