Greg McElroy believes Notre Dame would be top choice for Big Ten expansion 'by a mile'

Notre Dame is the crown jewel of college football realignment, according to ESPN’s Greg McErloy. The Fighting Irish are still Independent but had a one year stint in the ACC during the COVID season.

Other than that, there’s a question of will Notre Dame finally latch itself onto a conference in football? Since the Big Ten goes coast to coast, McElroy said that conference would make Notre Dame the top choice for its brand.

It’s a no brainer to add the Irish, if the Big Ten can get them.

“The No. 1 team that they would target would be Notre Dame, Notre Dame by a mile,” McElroy said on Always College Football. “Notre Dame is everyone’s No. 1. Now, like I said, would that be repetitive in the state of Indiana you already have Indiana and you already have Purdue? Doesn’t matter. You want Notre Dame. That’s the No. 1 target for not just the Big Ten. That’s No. 1 target to the ACC, the No. 1 target for the SEC. 

“If Notre Dame decides to join the conference, everyone will throw their hat in the ring. If I were the Mountain West, I’d throw my hat in the ring if Notre Dame were really invested in trying to become a member of a conference somewhere else I would say Notre Dame is No. 1”

As far as what the Big Ten could do next after adding four west coast schools beginning this season, the Fighting Irish are the top priority, hypothetically. But there are other options according to McElroy.

“I don’t think there is a school that’s not Power Four that would be a target. Okay, so if you’re thinking G5, I can’t envision a scenario where the Big Ten would welcome in a team that is currently in the G5, no disrespect, but I don’t see that happening,” McElroy said. “But a team that is not technically a Power Four team that is not in a conference currently, I think is atop their list. 

“Does the Big Ten ultimately want to get along the Atlantic seaboard? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Do they want to encroach on the Southeastern Conference? More than likely. And I think their television partners are desperate to get into the state of Florida. That would add a lot of scheduling flexibility. You can have more noon games as opposed to the games that would force West Coast schools to potentially play at 9 a.m. local. That I think is something that they’re gonna have to kind of tackle and start to figure out.”