On Lost, the topics of fate, destiny, time and free will are batted around in almost every episode. One of the major devices that's a part of this is the idea of course correction. That, even if you went back and made different choices in your life, eventually you would find yourself at the same major events and happenings that you do in your current life.
On the show, no matter how it happens and what events transpire, John Locke will always end up in a wheelchair. It's part of his destiny (for now, at least).
If you watched the rebooted Star Trek, you saw a James Kirk with a different upbringing and life than the one from the old mythology. And yet...he still ended up as captain of the Enterprise. The details were different and he's a different kind of guy...but the universe course corrected what it needed to in order for him to do what he's meant to do.
Maybe that's why Syracuse might end up in the ACC after all.
Lest we forget, that was originally going to be us, not Boston College, jumping ship back in 2004. We stayed and cursed the Eagles for their transgression. But maybe, just maybe, we were supposed to go after all. Maybe there's an alternate universe out there where we dominate ACC basketball and go to many an Emerald Bowl to play low-level Pac-10 teams. And now, with the Big Ten swooping in to take a big chunk out of the Big East, the universe is course-correcting once again.
The hot rumor du jour is that UConn is definitely going to go to the Big Ten. This rumor's only source seems to be Colin Cowherd so take it with a freighter's worth of salt. (Cowherd mentioned something about the Cleveland Plains-Dealer reporting this but there's nothing on their site about it, only this article from January favoring such a move).
But it raises a good point. There is a chance that once again another conference could raid the Big East and once again Syracuse could be one of the teams left behind. If the Big Ten wants to consume NYC, they might decide grabbing UConn and Rutgers accomplishes that better than bringing in SU. And if the Big Ten were to snag UConn, Rutgers and Pitt, the teams left over would begin a mad dash to the southeast to see if the ACC and SEC would be interested in their services.
Assuming both conferences would expand to start matching the Big Ten, Syracuse, South Florida, West Virginia and Louisville would get gobbled up pretty quickly. In fact, you could make the case that all four would be a good fit for a 16-team ACC.
Specifically for Syracuse, however, there would be some benefits.
- Rivalry with Boston College fast-tracked to front-burner.
- Rivalry with Virginia Tech & Miami re-kindled.
- ACC Basketball (in theory) better than Big Ten Basketball.
- Yearly games against Duke, North Carolina, Maryland, BC and others will attract crowds.
- Syracuse football has a much better chance to compete then in Big Ten.
- Better geographic fit in terms of travel and recruiting bases.
- Assuming West Virginia, Louisville & South Florida come too, or at least some of them, built-in rivals.
- How's this for a lacrosse conference: SU, Virginia, UNC, Duke and Maryland. Wow.
Obviously, this is a couple steps ahead and we're not even sure anyone will be taking the first step yet. But consider it something to keep in your back pocket.