ESPN analyst Greg McElroy names his five candidates for Big Ten conference expansion (2024)

Kristian Dyer

May 29, 2024 1:01 am ET

Greg McElroy has five schools he thinks are fits for the Big Ten if the conference is going to continue down a path of conference expansion.

An ESPN analyst, McElroy fielded a question recently during his podcast ‘Always College Football.’ The former Alabama quarterback, who was drafted by the New York Jets, provided a breakdown of what he saw as the top teams that could join the Big Ten.

With four new teams coming into the Big Ten, McElroy said five teams are standing out as ways to balance the conference and also add important media markets to the Big Ten. He also noted that certain schools have an inside track due to their AAU membership (the Big Ten has only ever added AAU members in conference expansion).

“Does the Big Ten ultimately want to get along the Atlantic seaboard? Absolutely,” McElroy said on ‘Always College Football.’
“No doubt about it. Do they want to encroach on the Southeastern Conference? More than likely and I think their television partners are desperate to get into the state of Florida. That would add a lot of scheduling flexibility. You can have more noon games, as opposed to the games that would force West Coast schools to potentially play at 9 AM Local that I think is something that they’re going to have to kind of tackle and start to figure out.”

Scroll down and check out the five schools McElroy said the Big Ten could potentially target in conference expansion!

1: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

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What McElroy said about Notre Dame as a Big Ten target:

“The number one team that they would target would be Notre Dame – Notre Dame by a mile. Notre Dame is everyone’s number one. Now, like I said, would that be repetitive in the state of Indiana? You already have Indiana and you already have Purdue – (it) doesn’t matter. You want Notre Dame. That’s the number one target for not just for the Big Ten. That’s number one target for the ACC, the number one target for the SEC. If Notre Dame decides to join the conference, everyone would throw their hat in the ring. If I were the Mountain West, I’d throw my hat in the ring if Notre Dame were really invested in trying to become a member of a conference somewhere else. So I would say Notre Dame is number one.”

2A: Florida State Seminoles

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What McElroy said about Florida State as a Big Ten target:

“I still think Florida State with their history I think will make some sense, much like they added two teams at a time – they added two teams from Los Angeles two teams in the Pacific Northwest. Would you add two teams from Florida at the same time, like Florida State and Miami? I think it would make some sense really that you already have a built-in rivalry between the two as well.”

2B: Miani Hurricanes

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What McElroy said about Miami as a Big Ten target:

“I think Florida State and Miami are both in a similar standing. Now Miami has the AAU designation that has been important in the past when evaluating who could potentially make the leap to the Big Ten.”

3: North Carolina Tar Heels

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What McElroy said about North Carolina as a Big Ten target:

“I think number three would be North Carolina. North Carolina is obviously a tremendous basketball school, but also (has) huge media markets in both Raleigh (and) Charlotte and a massive national alumni following not just because of basketball as they have a pretty rich history when it comes to football. They just haven’t been able to get over the hump multiple times. So I would think North Carolina would be next.”

4.: Virginia Cavaliers

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What McElroy said about the Virginia Cavaliers as a Big Ten target:

“Virginia would also be a tremendous add given their academic prestige, and it just feels like they would be a great fit for the Big Ten as well.”

Could a G5 program be a Big Ten expansion target?