Reimagined SEC features FSU, Clemson, UNC, NC State, and GA Tech

Mike Farrell Sports' Brett Daniels believes the NCAA got conference realignment very wrong, with schools all over the map being miscategorized. While the SEC is the least offensive when it comes to programs needlessly traveling to different regions now that the Pac-12 is gone, Daniels still tabs Texas, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Mizzou as bad fits for the conference -- and in an ideal world, would replace them with FSU, Clemson, UNC, NC State, and GA Tech.

"Geographically and culturally, this makes the most sense of any conference," Daniels said of his reimagined SEC. "Texas A&M and Missouri were never natural additions to the conference, Arkansas has become an SEC school since joining in 1992, but is a better cultural fit in the Big 12. Clemson and Florida State should have been SEC schools from the beginning."

Adding only North Carolina as a new market, the SEC would remain out of the Commonwealth of Virginia in this scenario. With that said, adding FSU and Clemson would make the SEC undoubtedly the most competitive conference in the country with the Big Ten staying regional to the Midwest in Daniels' scenario.

ACC would welcome several Group of 5 schools and become the Big East again in reimagined scenario

While Daniels has the SEC becoming a bona fide powerhouse in his reimagined college football landscape, the ACC would defer to four current Group of 5 schools (USF, UConn, Temple, JMU), get West Virginia back, and become a northeast plus North Carolina/Virginia/West Virginia/Florida conference that may as well be the new Big East.

"You could rename this conference the Big East and no one would argue," Daniels wrote of his ACC iteration. "All these teams are on or near the Atlantic Coast and in the same time zone. UCF, USF, and Miami give the conference a Florida presence. The Backyard Brawl between Pitt and WVU would be a conference game. This conference would also excel in men’s basketball."

The ACC may have to rebuild itself into something similar to Daniels' proposal if/when FSU and Clemson leave the conference in the real world.