I don't get why I keep seeing Kansas as a potential expansion partner if the B1G were able to get UVA, UNC, & GT. I get that they're in the AAU. However, the economics of it don't work, in large part because of population. Kansas is not going to add $30+ million to the B1G pot. Heck, the B1G is supposedly telling UNC each school could be getting $44 million per school, which would mean any potential addition would have to bring in at least $44 million to break even. By adding Kansas as another piece of the pie, everyone's $ share gets smaller, not bigger. Delaney's not going to do that.
If the B1G is going to expand past 17 and continue to add to everybody's $ share, they're going to have to take at least one non-AAU school as #18, whether that be ND or a school like FSU, and the liklihood that the B1G would take non-AAU schools is only going to go up from there for schools #19 & #20, as it will be stiffer and stiffer to find an AAU school that could bring in enough money to warrant a spot on the conference roster.
The list of FCS AAU schools that wouldn't bring in enough money to warrant being school #18: Buffalo, Iowa State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Rice, and Tulane. AAU schools that would bring enough money to the collective pot but whose odds are somewhere between slim and none of joining the B1G would be Florida, Texas, Texas A&M, and a good deal of the original Pac 10 (the latter of which who would be too far away geographically to realistically join the conference anyways).
The following would be your AAU expansion options. None of them would be considered a home run, and all are debatable as to whether they would actually bring in enough money to financially make sense as an expansion partner:
Colorado - The state school that touches a state in the B1G (Nebraska), but would they add enough money to make themselves an option? Even if they did, could you get past the Pac 12's Grant of Rights (GOR)?
Duke - Only an option if UNC says no, and even then, could they carry the whole state by themself like UNC would?
Missouri - From what I've heard, the BTN is on in part of Missouri (because of U of Illinois). With that in mind, would they add enough to the pot to consider making financial sense?
Vanderbilt - 2nd fiddle in their state, but an interesting option in a B1G-free state in an area of the country that the conference is looking to expand. Could Vandy add enough to the collective pot to be a serious/realistic expansion option?
Note: Syracuse is no longer an AAU school, after voluntarily removing themselves from the AAU in 2011 instead of being put to a vote (ala Nebraska).
Also Note: Boston College is not an AAU school and never has been. Boston University, however, is. And no, they are not the same school.
In conclusion, this all leads me to believe one of two things: 1) The B1G is looking to add only 2 more schools (to get to 16 total) and that list includes only 3 schools: UVA, UNC, & GT.
OR
2) The B1G is looking to add all 3 of UVA, UNC, & GT, and is willing to wait it out at 17 schools (like when the B1G did when they stayed at 11 schools for a decade and a half) until "something happens" that changes the game... whether that be a conference dies (ACC, Big XII, etc), an AAU school suddenly has a change of heart about their conference (like Texas A&M), Notre Dame goes against all that it considers holy and joins the B1G, the AAU gives its accreditation to a school that would be a great addition to the conference that is not currently on the list of AAU schools, or Delaney and B1G presidents *miraculously* decide to go against all it supposedly considers holy and decides to add a non-AAU school not named Notre Dame.
If I were a betting man, Delaney's course of action is option #1. In my opinion, count on the B1G trying to add two of UVA, UNC, and GT with the thought in mind that may not add any more schools to the conference.
