Big 10 talk buzzing again. #UVA being mentioned often as likely to join. Georgia Tech still in the mix. #UNC, the big domino, has an offer.
— Jeff Ermann (@insidemdsports) February 19, 2013
InsideMDSports.com, the Maryland affiliate for the 247 Sports network that correctly called the Terrapins to the Big Ten is now saying North Carolina has an offer to join the league.
Rumors of Delany raiding the ACC beyond Maryland have been alive and well for months now, with Virginia and North Carolina both mentioned as candidates, but this is the first time that anyone has come out and said one of the schools has a firm offer from the Big Ten.
North Carolina would be a coup for Delany. He's a graduate of the school and it would send shock waves through the ACC if another one of the conference's original member institutions bolted for the B1G. Said shock waves could lead to the end of the ACC as we know it as the SEC and Big 12 move in along with the Big Ten to pluck schools from the league. This is bad news if you're Notre Dame and just spurned the Big Ten for a sweetheart setup with the ACC. Don't think for a minute that Jim Delany isn't aware of that.
Georgia Tech, also mentioned in the tweet, was rumored to be flirting with the Big Ten last fall and makes sense from the conference's stated goals of expanding the footprint and reaching into areas of population growth. Atlanta is the rare major US city that's mad for college football and the Yellow Jackets bring academic chops to the marriage.
Source: @insidemdsports
