A thought occurs to me. Ever since the ACC expanded to 12 teams, the last-place finisher is the team left out of the following season's ACC-Big 10 Challenge. The eleven matchups, however, are chosen by ESPN to maximize viewership. Should UNC finish dead last in conference – not likely with State, but sadly still a possibility – would ESPN leave Carolina out next season, or would that policy suddenly change?
I'm going with the latter, but would prefer to never see my theory put to the test.