Longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim reports that the SEC and Big Ten won't be adding any schools anytime soon unless it's Notre Dame, explaining that the Power 2 program's TV deals will keep them dormant unless college football's white whale independent, the Fighting Irish, decides to join a conference.
"The B1G TV deal runs through 2030, so they may not add anyone until then," Swaim wrote. "The SEC deal runs through 2034, so may even be longer until they add. The Big 12 TV deal has an escalator clause, so while making roughly the same as the ACC now, each year the Big 12 TV revenue will continue to increase, while the ACC will be stagnant for nine years, as they fall very far behind.
"Of course this causes the panic of Clemson, FSU and others to get out, but they really only have one place to go, and the SEC and B1G aren't adding, unless Notre Dame jumps, and that won't happen anytime soon."
CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reported that Notre Dame and UNC are the SEC's most likeliest additions if one is to be made.
"SEC is done for now," Dodd said on his Inside ND Sports: Notre Dame football podcast. "If the SEC does anything, it will be ND or UNC is what I'm told."
Notre Dame holds all the cards for the Big Ten and SEC
The Big Ten is playing hard to get with its AAU accreditation requirements while the SEC is playing hard to get for schools in markets that already have member schools. Notre Dame is the one team that can have both conferences breaking their own rules.
While the NBC deal will be losing its luster in the future, the Notre Dame brand is a potential game-changer for the B1G and the "It Just Means More" conference.
The Fighting Irish's eventual move will be the most shockwave-sending of the next few years in the college football landscape.