How ACC’s impending breakup affects Ohio State Football
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football program will already have new opponents in conference play next season once USC and UCLA officially join the Big Ten. They likely won’t be the only two programs added to the conference in the coming years with what the ACC is going through.
Right now the ACC is dealing with a lot of infighting about money and how much they are getting from networks. There are rumors that the conference is on the verge of imploding because every school is out for themselves at the moment. No one cares about the greater good of the conference.
If that happens, the Big Ten is definitely going to swoop in and grab programs. It will be a fight between the Big Ten and the SEC to see who can grab the most desirable programs. Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech loom as the largest prizes.
The Big Ten already surprised everyone with the addition of the two California schools. The SEC welcomes Oklahoma and Texas next year. If you think either of these conferences is done adding programs then you have your head in the sand. They both are going to be proactive.
So what does that mean for the Ohio State football program? It could mean a potentially tougher schedule within the next five years or so. It would also open up some recruiting ground, although the Buckeyes have a national reach as it stands now anyway.
Other than that, not much would change. They would likely get some money coming in as incoming programs pay to join the conference. As far as the day-to-day, things would stay about the same. Ohio State would still be one of the big fishes of the conference.
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This is a story to keep your eye on for sure. Neither the Pac-12 nor the ACC is long for this world as currently constructed. The Big Ten and SEC run college football.