USF could be in consideration for a spot in the Big Ten in the future because they are AAU accredited and have the necessary student body -- much in the same way Rutgers did when they were admitted into the conference despite not being the most dominant school in their previous conference.
"We've been talking about the types of teams the B1G drools over, and also that the B10 wants to get into the state of Florida," longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim prefaced before saying, "Of course they want AAU accredited schools that have over 50K students and a large alumni base. Interestingly enough, but there's one school in the state that meets both requirements...USF.
"Stranger things have happened!! Rutgers."
Rutgers has had two winning seasons since joining the B1G but was coming off three nine-win seasons in their last four in the Big East. USF has had one winning season in the last five in the American. If they can go on a 2016-17 era run soon, perhaps the Big Ten would come calling.
But this feels like too much of a stretch at this point.
Tallahassee reporter believes Big Ten could still add FSU since Noles wouldn't comment during ACC lawsuit
Former Tallahassee Democrat publisher Skip Foster left the door open for the Big Ten to land FSU; believing that if there was a handshake deal between the Noles and the B1G, we wouldn't hear about it amidst the school's ongoing lawsuit against the ACC.
"By the way, if there WAS a back-room, handshake deal between FSU and the Big 10, to confirm that publicly would be opening up the conference to a lawsuit," Foster wrote. "There is only one answer if you are a Big10 prez/AD/etc. -- 'nothing to see here.'"
FSU is more of a Big Ten possibility than USF. But even still, the current realignment rumors indicate that the Big 12 will land the Noles, Clemson, and four other ACC schools.