The college football world is seemingly about to be thrown into more chaos than a Jim Harbaugh press conference. Ohio State and the rest of its Big Ten brethren are waiting to see how the news of Texas and Oklahoma’s desired exit from the Big 12 to the SEC shakes things up for the Big Ten.
So far, we’ve had a lot of rumors and speculation that even we’ve gotten into the act on, but nobody really knows how this will all play out. One thing is for certain though, you can bet there are conversations going on behind the scenes as the remaining Big 12 members look to potentially get off of a sinking ship and into another conference. And with many of those teams so close geographically and culturally to those in the Big Ten, it makes sense for commissioners of those schools to pick up the phone and call the Big Ten offices.
It would seem that the Big Ten could get nearly any team it wanted from the lot since it’s the conference that makes the most revenue, but there seems to be one problem with that. The Big Ten may not really want to entertain many teams that could be looking to be airlifted out of danger.
In case you missed it, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reported that many inside the Big Ten believe the conference will only look at programs that are members of the American Association of Universities (AAU), an accreditation that comes with higher academic standards. They are schools that are “on the leading edge of innovation, scholarship, and solutions that contribute to scientific progress, economic development, security, and well-being.”
With that being said, and if you believe it, then the list of teams dwindles quite a bit. In fact, it’s not a new development. The Big Ten sang this same tune the last time the music played in this game of conference musical chairs.
We decided to put together a list of FBS schools that are AAU members to see what population we’re talking about. It doesn’t mean the Big Ten would consider all of them, or that even the majority of them would entertain the idea. Instead, it’s just a starting point to see what might be a little more plausible than not when talking about mutual agreement between the conference and schools looking to get in on what the Big Ten offers.
Here are a list of all FBS college football programs that are AAU accredited.