i think what i hate the most about conf realignment threads, blogs & articles is that so many people completely fail to understand how much of the value of collegiate athletics is tied up in rivalries and subrivalries. like they think you can just cut off a duke, for example, and throw it down and have it play any random good team and it's going to be worth the same as playing unc. or play any random better than average team and it's the same as playing maryland, or any random poor team and it's the same as playing ncst.
fortunately most university and conference admins seem to understand this better, but the media and fans appear to just be oblivious.