SEC Expansion
What’s Going On? The SEC got all this going by shocking the college sports world landing Texas and Oklahoma last year. Those two are supposed to come aboard in 2024, but the league would love to get them earlier. The rumors are flying that Clemson, Florida State, and Miami might be on the table, but … nah, at least not yet.
Best Case Scenario: The Big Ten really doesn’t have something else funky up its sleeve – like Oregon and Washington, and it can’t close Notre Dame – and ESPN is able to rework the ACC’s media deal. The SEC lands North Carolina and Virginia, and okay, it grabs Clemson, Florida State, and Miami, just because.
Worst Case Scenario: There’s no reworking the ACC media deals, the Big Ten gets even stronger with more giant acquisitions, and in a strange twist, all of a sudden Texas and/or Oklahoma start to get chilly feet and make this a bit bumpy before joining.
Crazy Idea That Won’t Work, But … Oregon and Washington. NOW. If the Big Ten can go get USC and UCLA, why can’t the SEC expand to get new markets with the two big schools from the Pacific Northwest? And why, can’t Arizona and Arizona State work, and what about Utah, or Colorado, or Kansas?
What Will Probably Happen: The SEC will keep working on the ACC, but it’ll be more than fine for now with 16 teams with Texas and Oklahoma joining the fun. With that said, there’s no way it’s going to sit still after the Big Ten just took over Los Angeles and now totally dominates the nation’s top media markets.
Conference Expansion: What’s Going On?
ACC | AAC | Big Ten | Big 12 | C-USA | Ind
MAC | Mountain West | Pac-12 | SEC | Sun Belt