No doubt Virginia will be a tough sell but once it becomes obvious that, together, the SEC and the B1G will carve up the ACC to get to 16 teams each, the Cavaliers will crack like a Louisville Slugger hit on its trademark.
I think UVa and the North Carolina universities are misunderstood by many B1G followers. UVa is not an original ACC charter member, but they are the last flagship school that has joined the ACC. After UVa came Georgia Tech, FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, partially ND and Louisville. None of which are flagship schools for their States (although Syracuse may as well be the athletic flagship school of NY even though they are private). UVa carries a lot of weight in the ACC for a non-charter member and non-Carolinian school. And in many ways, UVa acts like the Carolina schools, barring NCSU. That tells me that UVa will go the way of UNC... and UNC is still the face of the ACC, much the way Texas is the face of the Big XII.
The idea of the B1G stealing UVa is as realistic as FSU & Clemson going to the Big XII. It could happen one day, but not in the next 12 or 14 years. The GORs is going to hold the ACC together until 2026. I think sometime around 2024, things may get interesting with the ACC. But I think the ACC, B1G and SEC are going to realize how cumbersome and unmanageable a 14+ league conference is. The SEC is already struggling with the numbers and losing tradition fast.
If the big dogs can make more than 14 schools work logistically (or the NCAA comes up with a way to keep traditions in the major conferences viable through a NFL-style playoff system), then maybe there will be more growth. IMO, the only expansion I foresee in the near future is UConn moving into the ACC or the B1G and 2 teams joining the Big XII (maybe BYU and Cincinnati or Houston) if the NCAA forces a 12 team league on them.
Not trying to be a suck-up to you Huskies, but UConn is the prize school that both the ACC and B1G whiffed on. UConn has more National Titles than the majority of B1G or ACC schools in multiple sports. UConn is a school that learns how to win and wants to win. UConn is ranked very well in the USNWR (much much higher than Louisville and higher than a bunch of ACC schools). UConn has the #30 TV market and lies smack in between NYC and Boston. UConn is a real university (flagship and land grant)... not some little private school or city commuter school.
How both the ACC and B1G missed on this, I'll never know. Personally, I think BC has some hang-up (or is threatened by) with UConn and the B1G is trying disparately to hang on to their contiguous State and AAU status rule (although UConn may be AAU already or is on the cusp I think).
So as for UVa and UConn to the B1G, I'm not sold. The NCAA may require even numbered divisions, so the ACC is stuck until ND makes a move (which will never happen). And the B1G needs one other partner along with UConn to get to 16... and their ACC and Big XII options are all tied up in GORs. So UConn may be stuck in limbo for a while unless the NCAA allows for a 15 team league. I for one really wished the ACC would have invited WVU and UConn instead of Pitt and Syracuse back in 2011. Then when Maryland left, the ACC could have added Pitt or Syracuse (although Syracuse would have been locked into the B1G at that point IMO).
