How safe is Wake's position in the ACC?

Every non-football power team has some legitimate concern

I don't think Michigan, Penn State, Clemson and the like have reason for legitimate concern because they have strong programs, fan support, value and you need them for a legitimate champion.

Anyone relying on anything besides their own market and drawing power has legitimate reason for concern. Wake among them. Wake has very little value in today's landscape.

I would not want to be in a position of relying on the kindness of others. Maybe the other North Carolina schools will stick up for Wake, but see how quickly UNC or Duke drop their support for Wake if their own interests are threatened.

I'm likely biased as my daughter is going there

But I can't imagine really any scenario where Wake is kicked out. They are a longtime member. The four NC schools are actually very close and cooperate on many things. Depending on who is doing the rankings, Wake is basically tied as the second best school in the ACC with UNC and UVA (if you don't count ND). Not that it's necessarily a meaningful metric, but Wake has been in a bowl the last 5 years. Wake Soccer is frequently a top 10 program. Basketball is down but has had historical success.

I'm not saying Wake is going to become an ACC Powerhouse at any time, but I sincerely doubt there is any meaningful discussion about kicking Wake out.

edit: this is all predicated on the ACC continuing as a conference. If the ACC folds due to defections, or merges with another conference, this discussion could change entirely. But I think the ACC would have a hard time letting Wake go if Vanderbilt gets to stay in the new conference.

In football I think they should be worried. IMO, the larger

question is whether non-SEC conferences will accept that football is going to have to be separated from current conference affiliations. The sooner non-SEC conferences act on that, the better off they will be.

The good thing, I suspect, is that the ACC, Pac-12, and remaining Big XII schools all, I think, will quickly grasp that. In contrast, I suspect the B1G will resist it. But the bottom half of the B1G simply isn't on par in terms of fan interest with the bottom half of the SEC. Not by a long shot.

The "Big Four" is a real thing in North Carolina

In terms of hoops, these are the marquee schools as far as residents of North Carolina are concerned.

Only team I can remember being asked to leave

a conference was Temple. They were kicked out of the Big East for failure to meet attendance and financial requirements.

I doubt if the ACC would ever kick them out.

Now all bets are off if the ACC were to say merge with the Big 10 like the SWC and the Big 8 did to create the B12. Houston was not invited, nor was Rice, TCU or SMU

But the ACC may be fighting for survival.

They don't have a lot of great addition-by-addition options. Addition by subtraction (removing Wake) may be one of their few options to keep Clemson, FSU, et al. happy.

I'm not an expert on ACC dynamics...

...and I don't know whether there are one or two teams (like Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten) that have disproportionate influence.

But I would imagine that the four North Carolina schools combined would have some clout. I don't see UNC, Duke, and NC State turning their backs on Wake.