North Carolina headed to Big Ten?
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
As North Carolina prepares to play IU tonight in Assembly in one of the biggest games of the young college basketball season, you have to wonder if we’ll see the Tar Heels more frequently in Big Ten country in the very near future.
There’s plenty of legit talk circulating about the possibility of North Carolina joining the Big Ten, along with another school, to bring conference membership to 16 teams after Maryland and Rutgers bolted from the ACC and Big East, respectively, last week for the Big Ten’s greener pastures.
As Omaha World-Herald writer Lee Barfknecht recently wrote, “Commissioner Jim Delany is a smart, powerful man who knows the era of four 16-team superconferences is coming sooner than any of us wanted to believe. He also doesn’t like getting snookered.”
You can bet Delany won’t get “snookered” this time around. He’s on the offensive rather than playing defense with regards to conference expansion.
Now that Maryland and Rutgers are set to join, who’s next? Carolina, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Kansas have all been rumored possibilities.
You know Carolina is at the top of Delany’s wish list. After all, it’s his alma mater and where he played basketball.
Last week, the World-Herald spoke with four BCS conference coaches and administrators who said they believe the Big Ten is actively pursuing members 15 and 16. By the way, those administrators and coaches also mentioned the Jayhawks and Tar Heels.
Even Duke Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski is worrying about the ACC’s future these days. That alone should tell you something is up.
The possibility of Carolina leaving the ACC is real, but a long shot, according to North Carolina men’s basketball radio play-by-play announcer Jones Angell.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens,” Angell told IndySportsLegends.com Monday. “Carolina is one of the founding members of the ACC. I think its one of the cornerstones of the league and probably, along with Duke, the most recognizable school in the league and you could probably throw Florida State in there, too.
“I would be surprised if Carolina made a move, but if the Tar Heels did make a move, I would think the Big Ten would be the place because of the tie to Jim Delany and more importantly the fit with the other universities in the Big Ten. If Carolina was to go somewhere, that would be the more natural fit even though geographically it wouldn’t make as much sense, but what does geography have to do with anything at this point?”
Angell says all the talk center around the Big Ten’s flirtation with Carolina is real.
“I would be shocked if it happened,” he said. “I do not think that’s going to happen unless the league somehow melts down and Carolina has to find somewhere to go. I would be very surprised if they progressively tried to go somewhere else unless they had no other choice.”
Of course Maryland, one of the ACC’s founding members as well, didn’t hesitate for a second to join the Big Ten. However, the Terrapins’ financial situation forced their hand.
“I was (surprised that Maryland joined the Big Ten), but they’re in terrible financial shape and Carolina is not,” Angell said. “I think they just got to the point where they just had to get more money someway somehow and looked at the bottom line and said, ‘We can make this versus this,’ without thinking much about, ‘Well, we also have to get our field hockey team to Northwestern every year.'”
There’s no doubt the talk about the Big Ten’s interest in Carolina is real. Even Tar Heel Nation is talking about the possibility of their beloved school making a move.
“I think a lot of Tar Heel fans are looking at it and saying, ‘Well, if this happens, what would be the best fit? Where could Carolina go?’ But again I would be surprised if on Wednesday we say, ‘The Tar Heels are leaving the league and heading to the Big Ten,'” Angell admitted. “If it was something where Florida State left for the Big 12 or something like that and things started really breaking down, then you may see some movement.”
With that said, can you imagine a Big Ten superconference that added the likes of North Carolina, Kansas and Maryland to what already is the best men’s basketball conference in America?
Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but maybe it’s not. As the last week or so proved, anything is possible.
