For the second straight summer, conference realignment has been the hot topic in college athletics with Oregon and Washington moving to the Big Ten.
A few hours later Arizona, Arizona State and Utah were headed to the Big 12. Will there be more movement in the immediate future?
North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham told his department the Tar Heels are staying put in the ACC. However, things change in a hurry, and if the ACC can’t figure things out, it could be the next conference to see a mass exodus.
With all of the movement, Brad Crawford of 247Sports updated where things stand with every ACC program including UNC:
The Tar Heels “remain on solid ground for potential future movement” despite the ACC’s grant of rights albatross is how Inside Carolina’s Greg Barnes put it this week. UNC’s long been discussed as one of the most attractive options nationally, alongside Notre Dame, in further Power Five realignment, but the Tar Heels are not going to jump into anything without doing their due diligence.
According to Barnes, through Inside Carolina sources, UNC and Virginia are believed to be the ACC programs “best-positioned” for a safe landing in realignment due to their “blend of athletics and academics in addition to their geographical positioning beyond the SEC and Big Ten footprints.”
For now, North Carolina plans on staying put in hopes the ACC can navigate treacherous waters with what is going on in college athletics. But it will be interesting if they do decide to leave and find the best fit moving forward for them.
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