Eleven Warriors

18 teams? try making a schedule out of that? round robin in the divisions , 2 games with the other division. plus 2 ooc? or maybe 3 six team divisions?

Id love to have OU and Texas but I'm not sure I like a 18 team conference. Not to mention OSU would play each team like once every 5 years or something crazy.

we will absolutely be at 16. Not 18, not 14, when we renegotiate in 2017.

Forget Iowa State, Kansas, and Pittsburgh. They just don't offer the money. None of them bring anything, dollar-wise. It is pointless to add Iowa State or Kansas because the BTN already gets the subscription money from those states for Iowa and PSU. Once BTN is on basic cable in a state, viewership isnt really relevant and adding another team doesn't help. Kansas just isnt a big enough market.

The big wish is ND/Texas. Failing both those schools, the backup is Georgia Tech and one of them. If that can't happen, UNC is the longshot. 

I really think you can shorten your list to those four: Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, UNC. They're the only ones with sufficient money at stake. Arguably Virginia could be in the mix if UNC is a fail.

Agree with CPLUNK.

Maryland and Rutgers barely palatable

I like N Dame best, then Syracuse and BC.

G Tech/UNC/UVA palatable but makes Big 10 look like desperate whores

Louisville/WVA/KState are ABSOLUTELY AWEFUL 

Delaney wants to expand down south. We aren't ruling out GT/Texas/etc because of the geography.

I agree with the premise that this is just a move to get to 16 teams. I don't see Delaney staying put. As I've heard various say this multiple times today, Delaney is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. I think Rutgers and Maryland are small moves to set up the big move. Who that will be will be seen and is completely speculation. Based on what we know, though, I think there are teams you can cross out.

First, cross of Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Syracuse. Those teams just paid well over $25 million to leave the Big East to join the ACC and Big 12 and I doubt they're going to want to pay the exit fees (I believe $50 million for the ACC) and they don't bring any added revenue in terms of markets or enough athletically to make it worthwhile. So do Pitt and 'Cuse spend $77 million to jump around conferense? I don't think they do from a financial point. Louisville also falls into that market issue, but to a lesser extent. I just don't see us going for Louisville. Add in the fact that 3 of the 4 schools mentioned in this paragraph are not AAU members and that just eliminates the whole lot of them.

Second, you can rule out Oklahoma, and essentially Oklahoma St. as well, since OU is such a subpar academic institution (compared to those in the B1G at least). They won't really be much of a thought. And since the sentiment is that Oklahoma won't go anywhere without Ok. St., you can just rule them out too. It's intriguing given their history, but academically it does not fit and that will end any chance of that.

Third, I think bridges have been burned with ND...whether it was the B1G or ND or a combination of both. If getting into these markets was necessary for us to get ND, that would've happened a few months ago, or at least prior to ND signing a deal with the ACC. They've burned us and I think the sentiment on the B1G's end is to hell with them at this point.

Now the remaining schools that we can bring in are vast, so I won't go into it. But I think the move to get Rutgers and Maryland is essentially the B1G driving a wedge into the geographics of the ACC. In my opinion, I think this sets us up to go after UNC, Virginia, or Georgia Tech. With those 3 teams, UNC is the key cog. If UNC comes aboard, Ga Tech seems more reasonable and likely as they bring solid academics and more tradition in terms of athletics PLUS a footprint into the south for recruiting purposes. Again, this is all a guess, but it's kind of how I've been seeing it.

Unky, your post makes a lot more sense than any other ideas being bantered around.  Teams just can't jump from conference to conference with all of the exit fees that need to be paid.  And, above all, the institutions must meet the academic standards of the B1G. I know many fans just want their "dream conference" based on what football teams they would like to see play every weekend.  The reality is that the B1G demands academic and athletic standards that few schools can meet (each school has to bring both to the table).  Also, the B1G revenue sharing model does not provide for a big fish to take a bigger share of the revenues - this pretty much rules out TX and ND.  This is the biggest reason the ND bridges have collapsed (as you said in your post) in the past - they perceive they bring more to the table than what they will take back.  You can not have mentality in the B1G.  As much as so many on here would love to see ND in, the reality is that the B1G does not have to kowtow to their demands. 

Only one I that I might keep my eye on is Oklahoma. I know they aren't AAU members but with us looking to add two more powerhouses with big fanbases Delany may make an exception to this one. I think he could make this exception if ND is too stubborn and sticks with the ACC and he needs some negotiating room with Texas. This would probably be a few years down the line though.