We already know that the smart money says the Syracuse Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers will be split up into the Coastal and Atlantic Divisions when they eventually join the ACC in 3792 A.D.
There's very little rhyme or reason to each football division other than to keep Duke and North Carolina together and the Virginia schools close-by. So it's not really that big a deal where we end up.
Except...
If there are two schools that Syracuse will want to play as much as possible, it's Pitt and the Boston College Eagles. SU has the most history with these two and will want to take advantage of the regional rivalries.
But if we're being split with Pitt, that means that two of the aforementioned schools will end up in one division while the other goes to another. And during the season when each team plays their "rival," that could mean one of these schools is going to be SOL stuck playing some Tech school with Dixie for a fight song.
BC Interruption has put a lot of thought into all of this. Right now their permanent crossover rival is Virginia Tech, which seems arbitrary. They'd much rather play us for obvious reasons. However, that only works if we end up in the Coastal while they remain in the Atlantic.
Helping matters along is the news that Virginia Tech associate AD Tom Gabbard is quoted as saying Tech would "love to have Pitt (as a crossover)." That bodes well for SU-BC since that would require Pitt to join the Atlantic, meaning SU goes Coastal.
The alternative would either be that Syracuse ends up with Pitt or Virginia Tech as their standing crossover rival. I don't know how much I want to see the Hokies every year. As for Pitt, we've certainly got the history to justify a continued rivalry, though I think we can mostly agree we're more emotionally drawn to beating the snot out of BC.
Considering that there's at least one school in each division with a preference to play Pitt & SU, that could be the deciding factor that sends the Orange to the Coastal, which would mean we're division buddies with Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech. I suppose there's good and bad news there.
Check out BC Interruption for more details.