I'm late to this discussion, but wanted to weigh in on my thoughts. My first reaction was disappointment, since Maryland should not have paid anything over $20 million, as that was all the ACC was legally and ethically entitled to. But this case was dragging on, and there was a clear concern of having a biased NC court decide this case. Sure, they could have appealed, but it would have meant more attorney fees. So having to pay $10 million more than they should versus $30 million was not a bad outcome. I guess the ACC did okay too, since they were able to extort $10 million more than they were entitled to.
As for future realignment, I don't think this means much. Maryland was the only one that fought the $50 million exit fee soon after it was "enacted." Since no other school challenged it, they can only try to show the fee is punitive. If the ACC is the gulag that Stimpy represents it to be, no team will probably be brave enough to challenge the grossly excessive exit fee, even if a better opportunity came along, in the near future. As such, it will be about 10 years for a team to leave the ACC, again should an opportunity present itself.