Which teams are most likely to join Oregon in the Big Ten down the road?

If the Big Ten were to further expand down the road, who might they go after? We’ve got a few ideas.

Though it appears this round of conference realignment and expansion is over for the time being, I would be willing to put a lot of money on the notion that once next summer rolls around, we will once again be talking about which team is going where.

In the world of college football, there has been so much movement over the past decade that it feels like nothing will stop until we eventually get two major 30-team conferences that look like the NFL rather than collegiate athletics. There is also the idea of college football adopting a relegation system, much like European soccer, which is starting to catch on with fans.

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Regardless, it’s clear that the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies joining the Big Ten this past month was not the finale for the conference when it comes to expansion. There are major brands in the ACC that seem to be uneasy with their current situation, and they could be gearing up for a jump in the near future.

Before we dive into potential expansion candidates, let’s first look at what the Big Ten’s position on all of this has been.

  • It has to be a culture fit, and that means it would be really helpful if a program were an AAU member. Basically, that means academically, a program would need to be a certified research institution. Every single Big Ten program is currently an AAU member (including those from the West Coast), aside from Nebraska which was when it joined the league. Here is a list of those institutions here if you are interested.
  • The Big Ten doesn’t want to be viewed as a conference destroyer, tearing others in the nation down while they accumulate power. However, if an opportunity arises to expand, they will jump at it, as they did with Oregon and Washington.
  • Notre Dame would be an exception to anything else out there. The Irish are the golden ticket for every conference to add, and they’ve been elusive thus far. That could change with the shifting landscape in the future, however.

With all of that said, here are the 10 most likely teams to jump to the Big Ten when further expansion and realignment takes place.