guy was asked this question. He gave a diplomatic answer that was complimentary towards Utah but basically said he felt that if Utah were ever invited it’d be a couple of realignment cycles away. That the Big Ten would look towards Virginia and North Carolina first. Also mentioned Kansas as another potential contender.

But who knows? My personal opinion is that with all the changes in college football (NIL, player salary, super conferences, playoffs, et al), the criteria conferences look for might shift. Will academics (or AAU status) even be a major factor?

If it was such a big factor now, why did they already pass over Stanford and Cal? Why is Nebraska in the conference even though they aren’t an AAU school? Would they pluck eastern teams first (Virginia, UNC, Duke, Pitt, Miami, Georgia Tech)? Do they care if undergraduates are AAU level, or would they attend a game and realize the undergrad students in the MUSS are no smarter than community college kids?

(To answer the Nebraska question, they were an AAU school when invited, but were kicked out of the club in 2011. I suppose the Big Ten can’t easily kick a team out simply because the school loses AAU status.)