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ACC Basketball: Best realignment scenarios for each team if conference breaks up

By Joey Loose

Mar 9, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers forward Kadin Shedrick (21) and guard Ryan Dunn (13) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard D'Marco Dunn (11) and forward Puff Johnson (14) fight for the ball in the first half of the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers forward Kadin Shedrick (21) and guard Ryan Dunn (13) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard D'Marco Dunn (11) and forward Puff Johnson (14) fight for the ball in the first half of the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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ACC Basketball Syracuse Orange guard Judah Mintz John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
ACC Basketball Syracuse Orange guard Judah Mintz John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

Syracuse

While the Orange play their basketball games in the JMA Wireless Dome, a large football facility, it’s possible that Syracuse’s football program won’t be a big factor in finding their next conference home. Back in 2013, the Orange joined the ACC when the Big East fell apart and it was a landing spot that made sense for the program back then, but could a return to the Big East make even more sense now?

Syracuse would have to figure out what to do with their football program, but a return to the Big East would reignite rivalries with Connecticut, Georgetown, and a few other longtime conference foes. The Orange are already turning over a new leaf, with Jim Boeheim having just retired after 47 years as head coach of the program. Can Adrian Autry lead Syracuse into a new era of success back where it all started?

Syracuse could be appetizing for the Big Ten or Big 12 but doesn’t really fit the current geographic vision of those conferences, though geography isn’t the biggest factor in realignment these days. Returning to the Big East should be where the Orange lean. This basketball program lived its best life in that league, with regular exciting contests against the likes of Georgetown, Villanova, and the other teams in the league. Finding football a new home would be the only negative of this choice, though perhaps they could go the UConn route as well.