As I said last week, every time I sit down to write I feel the need to start with saying *COLLEGE SPORTS ARE WEIRD NOW AND MAKE NO SENSE*. Today that streak continues as conference realignment as reentered the conversation. News broke a few days ago that Utah is interested in joining the ACC. Yes, you read that right. Utah is interested in joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. With Cal and Stanford joining the conference this year, it wouldn’t be too crazy now but five years ago anyone would say that is the craziest thing ever. But now, we have to just throw away any geographical concerns and look at the sports and brands.
Utah joining the ACC would be a massive win for everyone involved. The three teams that are joining the conference this year aren’t heavy hitters in football to say the least. Cal, Stanford, and SMU aren’t teams that have been nationally relevant recently and surely don’t scare anyone. Yes, they are good academic schools in big markets, but on the field they don’t add too much. Utah on the other hand has been a force to be reckoned with in the PAC-12 recently. The Utes have made it to the top-10 in the AP poll in each of the last three seasons. Utah has been ranked at some point in each of the last 10 years. The only team in the ACC that can say either of those things is Clemson.
The ACC bringing in Utah would also move the conference up in the ladder of conference rankings. The Big-10 and SEC are without a doubt the top two conferences. The Big-12 and ACC are battling for third and so far the Big-12 seems to be winning the fight. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah all are joining the Big-12 this year from the Pac-12. Those schools all have better football and basketball teams than Cal and Stanford. Utah fits the ACC’s academic prowess the most and is arguably the best athletically out of any of those schools so them joining the Atlantic Coast would be a big deal.
Lastly, Utah joining the ACC could help Syracuse a lot in a way that many people wouldn’t realize. The Utes have a men’s lacrosse team. Utah joining the conference would bring the ACC to six teams, meaning that the conference would finally get an auto bid to the NCAA tournament.
