In the world of college sports and conference expansion, change seems to be the one true constant. The ACC is expanding and the Big Ten never seems far removed from the idea.
But what is next for the Big Ten in all of this? And who is the Big Ten’s top target when they expand next?
Especially with what the ACC did this week…
ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum talked this week about the future of college football and in particular, conference expansion. With the Big Ten adding UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington in 2024, the Big Ten now sits at 18 members.
Does the Big Ten look to add two more teams to raise their membership to 20 universities? Finebaum thinks that if the Big Ten does expand, two ACC programs would be the target.
“I happen to think North Carolina is number one for both leagues, they bring so much to both leagues. Is it Miami? You’re also talking about broad areas. I don’t think geography matters more. Brands matter more,” Finebaum told Rutgers Wire.
“The Big Ten essentially has become a television network. I compliment them for having a myriad of programming but I don’t understand the logic beyond that. Greg Sankey made a good point: SEC is contiguous. At least you can look at a map and say it isn’t the SEC but I get it. The Big Ten makes no sense. This is what happens when you have the decisions made with television networks.”
North Carolina, given their national brand in basketball, makes sense for the Big Ten. They add the growing media market of North Carolina to the Big Ten’s portfolio.
They are an AAU member and are also strong in football.
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Finebaum then made an interesting analogy to the current geography of the Big Ten, one that Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz would agree with.
“This part of the house doesn’t comport with the next part. It is a hodgepodge. One part looks like this, another part looks like that,” Finebaum said.
“I congratulate the Big Ten on what they’ve done but now it’s the NFL”
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