According to one of our board gurus in a position to know, Texas was offered the ND deal by the ACC before ND was an turned it down. Maybe it's time to ask them again?
I firmly believe that the ACC should make Texas a BD offer.
If you assume:
*The Big 12 will do everything in its power to keep its two remaining marquee teams - ESPECIALLY Texas because the conference's survival depends on having at least one of them, if not both
*All things being equal, the Big 12 is a better home for the Horns than the ACC
*Texas and OU have hit diminishing returns when it comes to athletic spending
*The ACC would benefit the most from a declined Big 12
*That OU's loyalty can be bought
*That nobody else in the conference could ruin the conference by departing and that Texas and OU aside, the only other school in the conference that even might have an exit option is KU
*That Texas has good academics, good basketball/Olympic sports, and a ton of football fans
Then, if we offer Texas a ND deal, we will almost certainly be better off, whether they take it or not.
*If they decline it, they will still be able to use the offer as leverage to extract additional concessions from the Big 12 (i.e. a matching deal). OU's threats to leave would become even more credible, giving the Sooners even more leverage to demand concessions. At the end of the day, the Big 12 schools that aren't UT or Oklahoma would be way worse off. Since any marginal benefit in terms of competitiveness that flows to either UT or OU would be minimal, due to diminishing returns, the conference would be less competitive on the whole. That would improve the relative perception of the ACC when compared to the Big 12, and it might create more room in the top 25 for ACC teams and/or make the OB and SB switch positions (next time bowl contracts are reworked).
*If Texas accepts, we gain a handful of premier football games (2.5 of which would be on the ACC's TV deal and an additional 2.5 a year would be in front of some of the nation's best recruits). And, we gain some great Olympic sports, a solid basketball program, and association with another great academic institution. Additionally, this is a bit of a long shot, but if the Big 12 withers away and Texas gains some history with the ACC, partial membership might eventually pave the way to Texas and ND being #15 and #16.
Either way, I think that we will be better off. Admittedly, there's a chance that an offer could destroy the conference, driving Texas, KU, and OU to the B1G/SEC, but I don't think that's likely.
