Two things:
CW has mentioned it on like 3 different podcasts. KSU/Arizona is NOT a conference game. How can you pretend to know enough about their roster but their schedule?
Not sure if Blum was just being hypothetical or not but if Syracuse and UConn are two of the first teams that come if/when the next expansion comes I’ll eat a shoe and make a a sizable donation to WeWill. There’s no possible way those two are at the top of wishlist.
My theory has always been when the ACC implodes, the Big Ten and the SEC will 100% take...
Clemson
Florida State
Miami (FL)
North Carolina
Notre Dame (if they give up on independence)
Virginia
UNC and UVA have always felt like Big Ten schools to me -- big flagship state universities in high-population states with excellent academics and questionable football and good/great basketball.
Notre Dame is probably Big Ten bound if it joins a conference. I'm not sure it it would.
The others I could see going either way. Does the SEC want the big football brands of Clemson, Florida State, and Miami? Have they had enough football success lately to justify the add...? Do they want to have additional teams in territory already claimed by Florida and South Carolina in their footprint?
The next tier is the "might take" for the Big Ten and the SEC...
Duke (obviously a great basketball school, would pair well with UNC)
Georgia Tech (a long shot but excellent academics and strong foothold in Atlanta)
NC State (might be a backup to UNC for one or the other if they want a North Carolina outpost)
Virginia Tech (if the SEC wants another football school and a school in Virginia)
Any of these ones not taken by the Big Ten/SEC should be taken by the Big 12 save Georgia Tech (the Big 12 doesn't care about academics and already has a southern outpost in Orlando, though I could still see the case for having the only other P3 in Georgia the same way the Big 12 has the only over P3 team in Ohio with Cincinnati up against Ohio State). Duke and NC State would be solid additions if somehow available.
I think the Big 12 would keep going to take four or six total. These would be worth considering to fill out the roster to make the Big 12 of 20 or the Big 12 of 22 depending on the money...
Louisville (a good geographic fit, should have taken them when we took WVU)
Pitt (another good geographic fit, definitely want the Backyard Brawl in the conference)
SMU (if their billionaire sugar daddies are willing to plop down serious cash on them why not, but it would have to be a good $$$ deal or a need for another to grab another Texas team)
I think these guys are screwed...
Boston College (don't see the value, Boston is a pro sports town)
California (we didn't want them last round when we had the chance)
Stanford (we didn't want them last round when we had the chance)
Syracuse (not much of a brand anymore... very sorry for your loss)
Wake Forest (very sorry for your loss)
One modal scenario that comes to mind...
Big Ten goes to 24 with UNC, UVA, The U, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame
SEC goes to 18 with Clemson and Florida State and calls it a day
Big 12 snaps up NC State, Virginia Tech, Pitt, and Louisville to go to 20 and calls it a day
The remainder are just screwed. Maybe they backfill/
de facto merge with the American in the eastern U.S. and Cal and Stanford end up with the Beavs and Coogs in the Mountain West.
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