Reports suggest SEC will be interested in UNC and UVA in conference realignment

Sportskeeda's Farouk Yusuf relayed that reports indicate the SEC having an interest in UNC and UVA once FSU and Clemson's lawsuits are settled with the ACC and the Tar Heels and Cavaliers likely follow suit.

"Florida State and Clemson, who are working to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference, are linked to the SEC," Yusuf prefaced before saying, "Other reports suggest that the conference might also be interested in Virginia and North Carolina."

This is where things get interesting. Both UNC and UVA have AAU accreditation, which would make them Big Ten eligible. From an academic standpoint, the Tar Heels and Cavaliers would be great fits for the B1G as well.

But as Gig Em Gazette's Graham Harmon has explained, UNC makes the most geographical sense in the SEC -- along with its Tobacco Road rivals Duke and NC State.

Meanwhile, UVA isn't bound to Virginia Tech in any realignment scenario according to Wahoos247's Jacquie Franciulli. The two Commonwealth Power conference programs could be better off splitting up, giving the SEC and Big Ten a representative in the market.

FSU and Clemson most likely to join the SEC, with UNC and UVA going to the Big Ten

FSU and Clemson feel like shoo-ins for the SEC given the culture fits they'd be and the in-state rivalries with UF and South Carolina already ready-made in-conference. Both would be good basketball fits too, with neither the Noles nor the Tigers being particularly dominant in recent years but being very recent risers in the ACC's competitive hoops landscape.

UNC and UVA seem too good to pass up as fits from nearly every perspective in the Big Ten, on the other hand. While the SEC would bring big bucks to both institutions, but so would the B1G. And neither would get lost in the shuffle too much from a football perspective as they would in the shark-infested SEC waters.