North Carolina senator wants ACC to survive, keep UNC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest together

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham County) not only wants to see the ACC survive FSU's (and eventually Clemson's) ongoing lawsuit, but he also wants to see UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest remain together in the conference.

"I would like to see the ACC continue as a major conference for all college athletics," Berger said (h/t WRAL). "Whether there are larger issues out there that would imperil that or create problems for that, I hope not. If the net result of that is keeping NC State and UNC in the same conference, fine. If it means keeping the Big Four together, fine."

Berger is hopeful that the ACC will once again be in a favorable position in the coming years considering where it's been previously in the 1990s.

"I do think that there are some larger challenges out there that seem all to be driven by major college football more than anything else," Berger said. "My thought is that if you give it a couple of years a lot of that will settle out because a lot of has to do with how much money has been offered to campuses and conferences to put their teams on television.

"The ACC at one time had the best contract as far as that's concerned. And how quickly that changes. I think those things can change again pretty quickly. So I would hope nothing rash, no rash decisions take place."

North Carolina schools can buoy ACC when FSU and Clemson leave

FSU is not going to have a kumbaya moment and make amends with the ACC. The Noles are as good as gone. Ditto for Clemson.

Once that happens, it'll be on the ACC to keep its remaining members in tow. Keeping the Tobacco Road Rivalry in tow is a major start, as would replacing FSU and Clemson with volume; since no two schools the conference can acquire can match that star power and historical success.

Unfortunately, UNC and UVA bolting for the Big Ten feels like an inevitability. How the ACC rebounds from these losses will determine if it remains a conference at all or if it goes the way of the Pac-12.