Virginia, North Carolina, and GT would indeed be a nice "spear" right into the heart of SEC country.
Pair it with Notre Dame, or if they won't come, then Pitt. That gives 4 in the East, then take Washington, Oregon, Stanford, and Cal in the west.
4 divisions of 6 teams:
USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Oregon, Washington
Neb, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisc, NW, ILL
IU, PU, Ohio St, Michigan, Mich St, Notre Dame/Pitt
Penn St, Rutgers, Maryland, Virginia, UNC, GT
Play everyone in your division (5 games), 1 locked in yearly, rotate the other divisions with the remaining 3, for 9 conf games.