lets look at it a different way. the b12 has 6 spots open for a 16 team conf with a east and west division.
lville/fsu/gt/clem/md
if those were the 5 added to lure nd it may work. why?
nd and wvu used to be rivals somewhat right? nd gets to go to dc ever year(md), fl (fsu), atl (gt). so they get to visit the east coast for the alum. that east division will get 1 texas school also. baylor or tcu would make nd happy being what those schools are about. the b12 would have 7 division games and 2 cross games. ok and tex would prob both make nds cross games. that would be a interesting league. kan/lville/tex easily keep that bball league in the top 3 every year.
Wow. Again, you know that I really do appreciate your work, HuskyfanDan, but the answers to your questions are no, no, no, and no. No, ND does not fancy itself as a rival of WVU. No, ND does not need to be in a conference with Maryland to visit DC every year (they could just schedule Maryland or play their annual Navy game which is near DC). No, they don't care about Baylor or TCU. No, no, no, no, no, no, and no again.
ND likely believes that its true rivals are Michigan, USC, and Michigan State. To a lesser degree, they have a rivalry with Miami and Florida State that was fostered in the late 80's and early 90's. Then, they have their "tradition games" against BC, Navy, Stanford, Purdue, and Pitt. They don't really care about "The Ramblin' Wreck," nor do they care about Maryland. What you have stated is just pure fantasy...