ACC Basketball: Why adding West Virginia Mountaineers would be a good idea

There was massive news last week in the college athletics world, as both the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners have reportedly been looking at moving over to the SEC. It would have massive implications for not just the SEC and Big 12, but also the rest of college football.

And of course, anything that impacts college football impacts college basketball. Look at a decade ago, when massive realignment created the American Athletic Conference (AAC), along with potentially destroying the Big East Conference. Teams such as Creighton, TCU, Wichita State, and VCU benefitted from the new moves, while Nebraska, Rutgers, and UConn (before going back to the Big East in 2020), struggles overall.

It’s not official yet and anything can happen when money is involved. But if Oklahoma and Texas do indeed move to the SEC to give them 16 total, the Big 12 would then be in “big” trouble. The Longhorns and Sooners are by far the highest-valued programs in the league and bring in the most revenue. If they’re gone, the conference would be near the AAC in terms of overall value.

For the eight remaining programs, they’d have to consider alternative options. They could add in a couple of programs from the Mountain West, AAC, or BYU from the independent ranks. Another scenario would be “every man for themselves”, where the remaining programs opt to find a new conference of their own.

Other power conferences could also be looking to pick apart the Big 12 as well, including the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12. But not all teams have a clear potential fit if this conference implodes. However, there is one that makes sense at a new location.

Here are three reasons as to why the West Virginia Mountaineers would work well for ACC Basketball.