Had it not been for a few school presidents and a very prominent governor, the football game this weekend between the Syracuse Orange and the Virginia Cavaliers might have carried a little more intrigue.

A few more back-door dealings could have landed Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference, meaning Saturday’s game against Virginia could have been SU’s first squabble with an ACC opponent.

It’s certainly a ‘what could have been’ situation for Syracuse. But Saturday, it will quickly realize, ‘Thank goodness it didn’t.’

Forget the athletics for a second. The ACC is about money. We know this. Syracuse wanted a piece. Who could blame it? Financially, a move to the ACC would have made sense.

But in terms of athletics, the justification for all that cash, Syracuse would be way over its head. SU, from its performance in its first three games, has a chance to lose big. Not just Purdue, 51-0, big. Virginia, by Paul Pasqualoni’s account, is a superior team to the Boilermakers. The Cavaliers are averaging 50.3 points per game this season. They’ve already shut out Akron, a team almost equivalent to Buffalo.

Syracuse didn’t belong in the ACC. It doesn’t have the talent to compete against Virginia, much less Florida State, Miami and Maryland – all nationally ranked teams. The argument that the Orange would have improved in a tougher conference is flawed as well.

It would have taken time for Syracuse to recruit ‘ACC-type’ prospects. The change wouldn’t occur overnight. It may not have occurred at all. What’s to say Syracuse wouldn’t end up like Duke or North Carolina – basketball powerhouses, but traditional football ne’er-do-wells?

Hoping SU would adapt to the ACC is like throwing a true freshman quarterback into the fire, praying he makes it out safely. We now know that doesn’t work.

On Monday, Pasqualoni rattled off every reason why Virginia is a 24-point favorite against SU on Saturday. Quick, NFL-worthy linebackers. A big defensive line. A premier running back.

‘It’s hard to find a weakness on this team,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if they have one.’

Then he brought up an interesting point. Sure, SU seems overmatched this particular Saturday. But given the chance to face Virginia every single year, the playing field, so to speak, becomes even. A sense of familiarity would be acquired if SU joined the ACC, Pasqualoni said. The task of preparing for the Cavaliers wouldn’t be as daunting.

Wait a second. Wasn’t Syracuse familiar with Miami? SU has beaten the Hurricanes twice in the last 14 years. Granted, Miami is privy to a recruiting smorgasbord in South Florida. But isn’t that the type of competition Syracuse would have in the ACC? And if SU had followed the Hurricanes to the conference, the talent gap probably would have widened.

It’s tough to speculate on what would have happened. We know this: Syracuse is still in the Big East. It plays Virginia on Saturday in what could be a lopsided non-conference game. Would Syracuse have liked to be playing for conference bragging rights Saturday? Of course. But SU should be careful what it wishes for. Then thank its lucky stars it didn’t come true.