Conference Realignment with Syracuse and Pittsburgh News

With the news that the ACC has accepted Syracuse and Pittsburgh coupled with the decision tomorrow from Oklahoma and Texas, conference realignment could become reality in the next week.  If we assume the magic number is 16 teams for the SEC, ACC, Big 10, and Pac 12 we can start to gain an idea of what the new conferences will be.

ACC:
The ACC just voted to raise the buyout for any team wanting to leave the ACC to 20 million (Big East is 5 million).  This was a smart move to create a conference with all teams in unison moving forward (unlike the Big 12).  I think this means the SEC WILL NOT be plucking any teams from the ACC.  In taking Pittsburgh and Syracuse the ACC has moved into important television markets and I think we will see this trend continue when they expand to 16.

Pittsburgh:  Television market
Syracuse:  New York market
Temple:  Philadelphia market
Central Florida:  They'll want South Florida but will have to settle for UCF and the Orlando market

Pac 12:
Oklahoma and Texas could really set this all in motion on Monday if they decide to explore their options and head west.  If they decide to go to the Pac 12 then this is the easiest conference to predict.

Texas
Oklahoma
Texas Tech
Oklahoma St.

Big 10:
It gets a little cloudier here but first and foremost the Big 10 would DIE to add Notre Dame.  I think this time around Notre Dame sees the writing on the wall and makes the big leap.  I think the other place the conference looks to add a television presence is in the northeast.

Notre Dame:  Obvious Reasons
Connecticut:  Northeast (Boston) television market
Rutgers:  State school of New Jersey will give them Jersey and New York market
Iowa St:  They'd like Missouri but will have to settle for Iowa St.

SEC:
The SEC has already made a strike by sort of adding Texas A&M.  They will pluck Missouri and South Florida away from a wooing Big 10 and ACC.  They'd like a North Carolina market but without getting an ACC school they will be left with West Virginia or East Carolina.

Texas A&M:  The SEC and a Texas market...match made in heaven
Missouri:  St. Louis and Kansas city markets
South Florida:  Tampa and the SEC go hand in hand
West Virginia:  This is where the SEC has to settle.  They'd like another bigger market but will take WVU


Big 12:
They will continue to exist by gobbling up most of the Texas teams from the old Southwest conference as well as other random teams also looking for a seat in this conference realignment.  The only teams left would be Baylor, Kansas, and Kansas St leaving the conference needing 9 teams.  With the Big East losing key members in this scenario I think TCU comes back in the picture and the conference keeps their North/South divisions.

TCU, SMU, Rice, Houston:  All former Southwest members that would now be in the South with Baylor
Louiville, Cincinnati:  The current Big 12 has already talked about adding these teams (North)
Tulane:  Louisiana (New Orleans) market  (South)
Tulsa:  Gets them back in Oklahoma  (North along with Kansas and Kansas St.)
BYU:  Would have to give a hard sell and might have to give them the Texas treatment and allow them their                    
own TV network  (North)

If they try to create a BIG 16 conference I think they'd also add:
UCF  (South)
UAB  (North)
Memphis  (North)
UTEP  (South)

Mountain West and WAC:
These two conferences have always seemed interchangeable and in a crazy world I think they combine into a super 16 conference as well to compete and to keep an argument alive that they deserve a spot in the BCS and a possible future playoff system.