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Message: [QUOTE="shantydaze, post: 4592735, member: 666"] When discussing the B1G, the decisions are being made by university presidents and not athletic directors. While I assume this is the same in most conferences, there has been no indication the majority of B1G presidents are ready to sell their academic souls to the athletic devil. One thing that gets discussed quite often in connection to B1G candidacy is AAU membership. In the history of the conference, only three schools have been added (including associate members) that have not been part of the AAU - Ohio State (added in 1912 and joined AAU in 1916), Michigan State (added in 1950 and joined AAU in 1964), and Notre Dame (joined as an associate member for hockey in 2017). Currently, Nebraska is the only full-time member not in the AAU, but was a member when its candidacy was accepted. The B1G has made it clear that it will (and already has) relaxed the unwritten rule related to AAU status for Notre Dame. Whether it will for any other school is less clear. According to internet rumors, Texas and Oklahoma approached the B1G about membership prior to talking to the SEC, but the B1G were not willing to relax the AAU/academic expectations for Oklahoma, however (that the SEC may have been OUT second choice has, not surprisingly, been denied by the SEC and the schools). If true, it shows the (majority) of the B1G presidents still care about the academic reputation of the conference as a whole. I bring this up because the state of Florida only has one AAU member university and it is not FSU or Miami. Right now, the following P5 Conference schools outside of the B1G are in the AAU: [LIST] [*]Georgia Institute of Technology (ACC) [*]Texas A&M University (SEC) [*]The University of Arizona (Pac) [*]University of California, Berkeley (Pac) [*]University of Colorado, Boulder (Pac) [*]Duke University (ACC) [*]University of Florida (SEC) [*]The University of Kansas (XII) [*]University of Missouri, Columbia (SEC) [*]The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (ACC) [*]University of Oregon (Pac) [*]University of Pittsburgh (ACC) [*]Stanford University (Pac) [*]The University of Texas at Austin (SEC) [*]The University of Utah (Pac) [*]University of Virginia (ACC) [*]University of Washington (Pac) [/LIST] Neither FSU nor Clemson is on this list. From an eastern expansion, internet rumor was that at the time Maryland jumped to the B1G, it also had courted UNC and UVA, but both indicated a preference to stay in the ACC. Further, internet rumor is that both Washington and Oregon contacted the B1G about membership after USC and UCLA left, but the B1G's media partners did not put enough value on the schools to maintain or increase the payout to the B1G schools. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that Notre Dame holds the cards as to further B1G expansion and if there is further expansion, it will come from the list above. The B1G university presidents, as well the alumni to which I have spoken, care about the academic component of the conference. Also, as the last media rights deal demonstrated, the B1G does not need a "brand" like FSU or Clemson to rake in the $$$. It can be choosy when picking schools that fall within its criteria (whatever that is). The SEC is no different. [/QUOTE]

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