10 schools that could join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten

In a seismic offseason move, the two Southern California powerhouse universities, USC and UCLA, announced they are leaving the Pac-12 Conference for the Big Ten Conference at the start of the 2024 football season.

Both universities announced their intentions last month to swap conferences. Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff was “extremely surprised and disappointed” by the move.

The Trojans and Bruins will be joining a conference with the University of Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State, creating a 16-member conference to rival the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

What moves will happen next?

Wolverines Wire explored which schools might make sense for the Big Ten to add to USC and UCLA:

‘The Alliance’ is all-but dead now that the Big Ten raided the Pac-12, which leaves that conference and the ACC ripe for the picking — as well as the Big 12. It appears the Big Ten still covets Notre Dame and is waiting on an answer, and that Washington and Oregon applied for membership only to be told the conference is standing pat at the moment.

Let’s say the Big Ten continues to expand. Which schools would make sense?

We put together a list of 10 schools, all but one of which are AAU accredited, which is perhaps the most important criteria for the Big Ten when accepting members. All Big Ten schools are in the AAU except Nebraska.

The school from Wolverines Wire’s list which will get everyone’s attention: Georgia Tech. Of course the Big Ten wants Notre Dame, and of course Oregon, Washington, and Stanford are natural candidates. Georgia Tech? That’s a plot twist — not a bad idea, just an idea some people might not have expected.

We’ll obviously let you look at the rest of the list and see for yourself.