So where will the ACC football championship be played?

It has been a few weeks since the ACC announced it was pulling the conference's football championship out of Charlotte due to North Carolina's controversial HB2 bill. Since then, the ACC has been trying to find a place that can hold the game on very short notice. Not only will they need a stadium that's available, they need to put it somewhere that has plenty of hotel space and a place people would like to visit and hang out. 

What cities are in the running? No one is talking about it. We know it won't be Atlanta as they are hosting the SEC Championship game. Tampa and Jacksonville, two previous hosts of the game, are booked that day. The ACC and potential cities are mum on the process. But that doesn't stop us from speculating:

ORLANDO, FL
Camping World Stadium is always a busy place at this time of year. It will host three bowl games – two of which have ACC ties – so they are used to moving big games in and out of there. The stadium does have some high school games scheduled (they could be moved to another site) but other than that is available for December 3 with the AutoNation Cure Bowl scheduled for two weeks later. 

It is Orlando, so it has that pull of Disney, the warm weather and its tourist-friendly setting would allow it to easily accommodate an event like this. With Miami being a home city for the league, Jacksonville hosting a Jaguars game and Tampa Bay hosting a South Florida-Central Florida game, Orlando is the best fit if you want to play in Florida.

To me, it is the leader in the clubhouse.

WASHINGTON, DC
FedEx Field may also be the perfect place to play the game. It will be available at that time as the Redskins have a three week road trip and will go a month between home games. It is sort of in the middle of the geographic footprint of the ACC, even if the University of Maryland isn't in the conference anymore. Washington, like Orlando, is used to having heavy tourist traffic so it can accommodate that aspect as well. 

The ACC just held its most recent men's hoops tournament there in March so the league knows the city well and has a working relationship. The issues could be weather (it probably would be much colder than Orlando in December) and the size of the stadium. It's one of the NFL's largest stadiums and could look empty if fans are not given enough time to plan a trip in the rush to move the title game.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ
Why not? I mean, the ACC wanted a presence in New York hence one of the reasons they've expanded. The league will be starting a two year stint in Brooklyn, NY for their beloved ACC men's basketball tournament next March. They want this. Who wouldn't want to see a possible Louisville-Pitt game in the Big Apple? Or Florida State-Virginia Tech? Or even a Clemson-North Carolina rematch? 

The New York Giants will be in Pittsburgh that weekend and the New York Jets will be at home, but it is a Monday night contest against the Colts. MetLife Stadium is designed for very quick turnarounds as there have been Jets and Giants games scheduled a day apart. In fact, in NFL Week 10, the Jets host the Rams at 1pm on Sunday and the Giants host the Bengals on Monday Night Football the next night. They can handle this. Weather would most certainly be a factor but if there is any reason to go for it, now would be the time. I think the powers that be in the ACC are strongly considering the logistics of this possibility before moving on with the process.

PHILADELPHIA, PA
Philly isn't usually thought of as an ACC town but the conference does extend to the state with Pitt. The Eagles are away that day so the stadium could be available. This would be a Hail Mary of sorts since the league really doesn't have any real hold on the city, the weather could be bad and while it is a great city, it isn't quite the vacation destination that Orlando, Washington or New York all are.

COLUMBIA, SC
This would be a bit of a stretch. It is just over an hour drive from Charlotte but there isn't much in Columbia for fans to entertain themselves with other than the game. It couldn't really host such a big event and the league members would be weary having the game there especially if Clemson was playing in the championship.

Still, it is a cozy town that could do okay with such a quick fix situation like this. Would it be better that any of the options above? Probably not. 

CAMPUS SITES
This would be a last-ditch choice that the league certainly doesn't want. It would first bring on a completely unfair advantage to one of the teams in the game – though I would almost mandate it going to the Atlantic Division champion. Even if that happened, what if Clemson beats Louisville and loses to Florida State and creates a tie atop the Atlantic? Even the league doesn't really know how to determine who gets to be in the championship game, let alone who would host it. Plus what if North Carolina, Duke, NC State or Wake Forest are in the game and get to host?  The entire point of taking it out of Charlotte would be moot. It doesn't make sense. Still, it has to be an option if the others fall through.