ECU & WVU would be the combo. They have a long history with one another. They are already scheduled to renew their home and home series in a couple years. They both make geographic sense. More importantly, WV AD Oliver Luck has already been politicking to get ECU into the BIG XII.

Notwithstanding ECUs "directional school" stigma, its saving grace is the fact that it is the only football first program in its state. No other ostensibly available candidate has that going for it & that is huge. If invited to the SEC one could imagine the growth potential. Just consider the fact that despite being relegated to C-USA, ECU has consistently competed with the other NC BCS programs in terms of football prowess and fan support. In fact, ECU has the best fan support in the state for football. That puts ECU in a class of its own over other prospects.

ECU & WVU would put the SEC in two new states and ECU would own NC. It would be a national anomaly that would increase scrutiny. People would intrinsically be intrigued to see if ECU could rise up to the competition. The combination of a rabid fan base & SEC status would allow ECU to grow exponentially.

Remember ECU beat the Gamecocks 4 out of 5x in the 90s before SC got acclimated to the SEC. Moreover, ECU held a 4-3 advantage over VT in the 90s before the Hokies upgraded to a power conference. The point is, ECU could follow the same blue print as those two regional rivals and be just as successful.

All of the other D-1 schools in NC are basketball schools. If the SEC added ECU & WVU it would devastate the ACC, particularly the NC schools. Granted, I have a vested interest in it and I do recognize that it's still unlikely at this point but objectively it really is a good fit despite the perception issue. The SEC is strong enough to play with house money and take a chance on ECU. Football still runs the show & that is why ECU has a shot.