Former Virginia Tech Head Coach Says A Merger Between the ACC and the Big East Is “A No-Brainer”

Who wants more conference realignment talk?

The answer is probably nobody. However, the idea of a potential Big East-ACC Mega-Conference for basketball has been floated around in recent months by former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and the idea has again gotten attention at the start of the ACC Tournament. The ACC only got four teams into the tournament this postseason and has already seen early exits from Clemson and Louisville. It was a down year for the conference that is known for its high-level basketball, but does something need to change? Former Virginia Tech Basketball coach Seth Greenberg (who is an analyst for ESPN) thinks that the decision should not be tough:

“I think it’s a no-brainer,” Greenberg stated, regarding the potential merger. “Here’s the thing, I think what should happen, and this is just big picture, I do think they should come together. I do think that football needs to be separated. Chip Kelly said that a long time ago. I’ve had conversations with the ACC and said, ‘Why wouldn’t you investigate this? This is a common-sense move.’ It creates great rivalries. Creates events. I mean, college basketball especially — you’ve got to create events.

“Everyone says, ‘Well, the season doesn’t start until the NCAA Tournament. The season doesn’t start until the Super Bowl is over, or the College Football Playoff is over,’ but when you can have a St. John’s–Duke [game] at Madison Square Garden. North Carolina and UConn at Madison Square Garden. When you can create those normal old school rivals and bring them back into the conversation, it’s an absolute home run.”

Greenberg did not stop there though:

“Now, when you talk about the tournaments, the schedule will be an issue, there’s no doubt about it. But we need to regionalize basketball. There’s no doubt about it. And the non-revenue sports,” Greenberg added. “The idea that the ACC has Stanford and Cal and not Connecticut and someone else in the Big East, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not fair to the student-athletes. It’s not fair to the good of the enterprise.

“The other part of this is the ACC has got to make a decision. They’ve got to invest in their programs. NIL, coaches, infrastructure and everything that surrounds it. Right now, there’s no level playing field in the ACC. It’s kind of Duke, Carolina and a couple others. Everyone else, like [Boston College], they’re playing from behind.”

When meeting with the media ahead of his first-round matchup against Oklahoma, UConn head coach Dan Hurley said this:

“I don’t know if I have any space in my brain for conference realignment,” Hurley said. “But I’ve been saying that. I’ve been talking to Coach K (former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) about that. He’s texted me that, we’ve talked about that. I’ve mentioned it to people at the Big East, I’ve talked to Dave (Benedict, UConn athletic director) about it.

I mean, (a merger) would just make tons of sense … and obviously I think the basketball programs in the ACC could really use that,” Hurley said. “Syracuse has been hurt by losing the Garden, Pitt’s been hurt by losing the Garden, BC, obviously there’s been major advantages from a football standpoint. I hope I’m not speaking out of turn for those folks. But how cool would it be to find a way to get Syracuse back in some type of ACC-Big East Consortium Tournament?