On Thursday, the Association of American Universities admitted six new member institutions. The news is very interesting for the Big Ten.
At least three institutions that could be targets for the Big Ten in the next round of conference expansion including Arizona State, Notre Dame and Miami have been added to the AAU.
Why does this matter to the Big Ten?
The Big Ten has only admitted universities that are AAU member institutions. Nebraska was a member of the AAU when it was admitted in 2010 but their status was terminated in 2011.
The most recent rounds of expansion (Maryland and Rutgers in 2014, UCLA and USC coming next year) featured four institutions that are all AAU members. The membership proves the elite academic status of a university as a research institution.
And with the Big Ten allegedly interested in adding four more universities, the six new AAU members expands the map for the conference.So what to make of Thursday’s news?
Three Big Ten expansion candidates are set to become AAU members
Notre Dame, of course, has been linked to the Big Ten for the last few years and is rumored to be on the conference’s shortlist for future additions.
The Big Ten is likely to look towards the West Coast and reportedly has vetted Oregon and Washington as potential expansion candidates (both schools are AAU members). Arizona State, with its own impressive media market, now enters as a possible candidate. Arizona State could either supplant Oregon and/or Washington or perhaps join those two schools in a western pod of five programs in the Big Ten.
The news about Miami is the most interesting though.
AAU Board Chair and @USC @PresidentFolt said: “AAU members are distinguished by the quality of their education and research.” pic.twitter.com/l1J9dp6i3G
— AAU (@AAUniversities) June 1, 2023
In a recent episode of ‘Always College Football,’ ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said that he believes the Big Ten could be looking to bulk up its East Coast presence in the next round of expansion. Florida, he said, is a state that the conference is likely to look at and would like to get a foothold in.
Miami, while boasting a strong football history, also has a top 20 media market.
“I don’t have a sense that the SEC is really mobilizing to expand. The Big Ten, however, would be very open to expanding,” McElroy said on ESPN.
“But the place that they would be most open to would be in the state of Florida. That would be advantageous to NBC that’d be advantageous to FOX, and that would also be advantageous to CBS – those are the three media rights holders for the Big Ten. So that’s something to keep an eye on the big 10 I think is far more likely to expand right now.
“The SEC? Not so much. They will kind of see exactly how this all plays out and what these ACC schools ultimately decide to do.”
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