With rampant conference realignment, the college football world is more chaotic than ever. With the fate of ACC football hanging in the balance, NC State may find itself in a new conference altogether before too long.
While the ACC could restructure to fill spots left by schools that leave for greener pastures, the conference could fold entirely when it comes to football and leave the Wolfpack looking for a new conference. Let’s take a look at a few examples of future conferences that could form with NC State football in the mix.
The Tobacco Belt Conference
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Appalachian State Mountaineers
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Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
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East Carolina Pirates
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Duke Blue Devils
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Liberty Flames
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NC State Wolfpack
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UNC Tar Heels
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Virginia Cavaliers
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Virginia Tech Hokies
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Wake Forest Demon Deacons
As the name implies, the TBC centers around Tobacco Road. The quartet of NC State, UNC, Duke and Wake Forest form the backbone of this conference with Virginia and Virginia Tech thrown in for good measure, but the Tobacco Belt Conference is not just ACC 2.0.
For starters, Clemson is noticeably absent in a conference formed exclusively from schools in the Carolinas and Virginia, but this is by necessity. The Tigers leaving for the SEC is probably the most likely event to cause the collapse of the ACC in the first place. Clemson would have no reason to abandon the nation’s most famous football conference for an upstart league like the TBC, so NC State would have to compete with what remains.
Thankfully for Wolfpack fans, there’s plenty to be excited about in the TBC. Along with the Tobacco Road schools remaining together, State gets four new formidable opponents in its conference schedule.
East Carolina jumps in and sparks a revival of its rivalry with NC State as the Pack and Pirates go head to head every year. Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina also bring plenty of competition, trading in their sun belts for tobacco ones. The Mountaineers and Chanticleers have each boasted meteoric success over the past few years, so a conference upgrade heightens the competition between them and the traditional ACC schools.
Finally, the formerly independent Liberty Flames come in and add more fuel to the fire, rounding out a 10-team conference that promises fierce competition both on the gridiron and between the fan bases.
The Mountains to Sea Conference
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Appalachian State Mountaineers
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East Carolina Pirates
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Duke Blue Devils
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NC State Wolfpack
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UNC Tar Heels
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UNC-Charlotte 49ers
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Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The MSC is a little more literal with its criteria, bringing together every Division I football program in North Carolina. While it’s not as big and loud as the TBC, the Mountain to Sea Conference turns up the heat by stoking competition on the recruiting trail as well as on the field.
With every college football team in North Carolina competing in the same conference, in-state recruiting becomes a bloodbath. Once North Carolinian recruits start deciding to stay closer to home, prompting MSC schools to convince prospects to come to their program over “those schmucks on the other side of the state.”
Much like in barbecue, the rivalry of eastern NC versus western NC turns competition in the MSC up to 11.
The Actually On The Atlantic Coast Conference
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Boston College Eagles
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Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
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East Carolina Pirates
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Duke Blue Devils
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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
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Maryland Terrapins
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NC State Wolfpack
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Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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UNC Tar Heels
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Virginia Cavaliers
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Virginia Tech Hokies
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Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Much like the TBC, the Actually On The Atlantic Coast Conference consists primarily of traditional ACC schools. What makes the AOTACC different from its predecessor is its commitment to regional integrity by bringing in teams that are actually on the Atlantic Coast.
As the name suggests, the AOTACC forms around schools that are geographically on the Atlantic Coast or at least teams of a major school in a state that is. This explains why a team like the Yellow Jackets who call Atlanta home get the green light to join the AOTACC.
Previous ACC ties play a role here too, not only with current teams but former ones like Maryland. In this scenario, an expanding Big 10 conference outgrows its need for less competitive schools like Maryland and Rutgers, cutting them loose to eventually join the AOTACC.
With the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights on board, East Carolina and Coastal Carolina also return to the fray to play up that east coast angle and round out the conference. Although the AOTACC is the largest of these examples, the competition is anything but diluted as the former ACC schools compete with the Big 10 rejects and newcomers with the Sun Belt for the AOTACC title.
