Big 12 Basketball: 3 ACC schools to add in conference expansion

Duke

Duke is another one of the top-tier men’s college hoops brands in the ACC that every other power conference would love to have in the mix from a basketball perspective. The Blue Devils are up there with UNC as the biggest men’s basketball blue bloods in the ACC.

And with the Big 12 placing such a heavy emphasis on the value of men’s hoops in this round of realignment talks, it would hypothetically make sense that Duke would be an attractive expansion candidate for the conference.

It’s also worth touching on the point the value of the UNC-Duke hoops rivalry would be a huge addition to men’s basketball in the Big 12.

It would also be cutting the appeal of the Duke basketball program short if we didn’t mention the promising future under second-year head coach Jon Scheyer. During an impressive first year last season, Scheyer led Duke to an ACC Tournament Championship and a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

However, the problem with Duke as a candidate in this round of conference realignment is the football program’s strength.

Duke football was sometimes strong under former head coach David Cutcliffe, mainly throughout the 2010s. The trajectory of the football program looks promising, though, under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Elko. Elko led the Blue Devils to a bowl win and a nine-win season in his first year at the helm in Durham last fall. That was a six-win improvement year-over-year for Elko and the Blue Devils last season.

Given the promising early start for Elko with the football program, along with the sustained success of the men’s basketball program with a young head coach at the helm in Scheyer, Duke is a great candidate in this hypothetical round of conference expansion for the Big 12.