<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - Breaking down the handful of teams that will compete for the College Football Playoff"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">CHARLOTTE, N.C. — <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/college/acc/2022/07/21/unc-football-live-updates-mack-brown-players-acc-media-days-2022/10095110002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">North Carolina football</a> coach <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/college/acc/2022/07/21/unc-football-acc-media-days-2022-mack-brown-division-format-schedule/10095117002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Mack Brown</a> got an almost inconceivable text message from his agent three weeks ago while playing golf with one of his grandchildren in Linville, a North Carolina mountain community. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/ncaaf/2022/06/30/ucla-usc-big-ten-pac-12-future-conference-realignment/7780419001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">UCLA and USC were making moves</a> to leave the Pac-12 and join the Big Ten, a shocking departure that will occur in 2024 and break up their century-old affiliation with the West Coast league.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“I would’ve bet my life that would never happen,” <a target="_blank" href="https://thetimesnews.com/story/sports/college/acc/2022/07/21/unc-football-acc-media-days-2022-mack-brown-conference-realignment/10095128002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Brown said Thursday</a> at the ACC Kickoff preseason event, recalling the jarring moment the news hit him on the golf course. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">College football has been rocked by <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/ncaaf/acc/2022/07/20/acc-kickoff-conference-realignment-talk-take-center-stage/10089693002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">conference realignment</a> for another summer, with the bombshell <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/ncaaf/2022/07/06/big-12-expansion-could-cripple-pac-12-conference-realignment/7817871001/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Big 12 exit</a> of Texas and Oklahoma for the SEC becoming the tipping point for the latest wave.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Brown, who turns 71 next month, spent 16 years as the coach at Texas, sandwiched around his two stints in charge of the Tar Heels, which cover 14 years and counting (1988-97, 2019-present).</p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:441px" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/07/21/NTIN/69fd7340-b683-415c-aa0d-e721fed31ae4-USATSI_18727113.jpg?width=660&height=441&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/07/21/NTIN/69fd7340-b683-415c-aa0d-e721fed31ae4-USATSI_18727113.jpg?width=1320&height=882&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="North Carolina head coach Mack Brown talks to the media during the second day of ACC Media Days."/></figure><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">His is a perspective earned across six decades in coaching, underlined by a national championship with the Longhorns in 2005 and College Football Hall of Fame induction in 2018. As something of a caretaker for the sport, he addressed the ACC’s league-wide concernsl.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The Big Ten and SEC will grow to 16-member conferences by 2025 as the Power Five bends toward the potential forming of two 20-team super leagues. A day after commissioner <a target="_blank" href="/story/sports/college/acc/2022/07/20/acc-media-days-football-2022-commissioner-jim-phillips-conference-realignment/10095078002/" rel="noopener" data-t-l=":b|e|inline click|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a">Jim Phillips said “all options are on the table”</a> during his state of...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/acc/2022/07/22/mack-brown-college-football-realignment/10124856002/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
