SB Nation's Jason Kirk set about the task of assigning value to every school in an effort to quantify the values of programs rumored to be on the move in the next round of conference realignment. Kirk's formula considered athletics department revenues, football success, basketball and Olympic sports success, academics, football attendance and media markets to arrive at the rankings.
The results may surprise you.
Boston College was ranked the 39th among FBS (or soon to be FBS) programs. The program scored relatively high on academics (9.33), media markets (29.50) and total revenue (35.00) but low on basketball and Olympic sports success (62.00) -- we can't quadruple count hockey -- and football attendance (65.00).
BC was the eighth highest ranked ACC program, behind North Carolina (14), Florida State (20), Virginia Tech (25), Clemson (28), Virginia (29), Miami (31) and Georgia Tech (33). The complete ACC (and soon to be ACC) list:
14. North Carolina Tar Heels
20. Florida St. Seminoles
25. Virginia Tech Hokies
28. Clemson Tigers
29. Virginia Cavaliers
31. Miami Hurricanes
33. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
39. Boston College Eagles
41. Pittsburgh Panthers
42. Duke Blue Devils
47. Maryland Terrapins
53. N.C. State Wolfpack
60. Syracuse Orange
69. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
These rankings confirm what we already know -- that Boston College adds some value as a possible expansion candidate. Put another way, the ACC didn't add BC to the conference in 2004 based on its basketball product and superior academics. In the highly unlikely, apocalyptic scenario where the ACC loses up to nine members, BC still has some value to, say, the Big Ten, especially if Notre Dame is involved. The limiting factor for BC will always be geography, with the only real options being the status quo, the Big Ten or back to the Big East. Personally, I want to see BC stay in the ACC -- even less two members -- over the Big Ten.
Also of note are these rankings of possible replacements for Florida State and, well, Clemson:
46. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
48. Connecticut Huskies
63. Louisville Cardinals
64. South Florida Bulls
65. Navy Midshipmen
67. Cincinnati Bearcats
68. Central Florida Knights
79. Temple Owls
82. East Carolina Pirates
85. Tulane Green Wave
Food for thought.