Paul Finebaum: North Carolina is at the top of SEC's priority list if it further expands
The SEC doesn’t seem at all interested in any further expansion with the league now at 16 teams. Even so, if they were, Paul Finebaum knows the school that would be their next prime candidate in realignment.
Finebaum predicted the next brand to potentially join the Southeastern Conference on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’ on Monday. However, he began by again prefacing the conference’s stance on being perfectly fine staying where they’re at.
“I mean I think that is one of the trickiest areas,” said Finebaum. “Listen, Greg (Sankey) is very smart. He knows that’s out there. I’m sure he has got a fairly standard line there that goes back to what you heard from him three years ago. So I don’t think, even if asked, he is going to go very far or give very much away.”
Finebaum was eventually correct in that opinion. That is so based on the opening statement from Sankey later in the morning from SEC Media Days in Dallas. While he is aware of unrest in other leagues across the country, he is only focused on his own one ahead of the upcoming athletic year at their new total.
Still, if the SEC were to add a new member, Finebaum says what he has heard is that the obvious pick would be North Carolina. The only question would be if the Tar Heels would join on their own or if at least one more team came along with them to make it an even number at 18.
“It’s North Carolina at the top,” Finebaum stated. “I think, after that, it’s a little bit unknown. There’s a million different theories. Would North Carolina take someone with them? Or would they just sit around?”
Much of the discussion in the ACC revolves around Florida State and Clemson as options. With that said, both seem to have hurt their stance to a degree. Neither would offer a new state to work within either for the footprint in the Southeastern Conference.
“The one thing I feel pretty confident of, though, is that, if something happens in the next couple weeks, it won’t be Florida State going to the SEC. I mean it just seems like they have shot themselves in the foot on that,” explained Finebaum. “I don’t think Clemson is in as bad of shape but they are now lumped with Florida State.”
To be clear, there look to be no available spots at all in regards to the SEC. Nonetheless, if interest were to come again, it appears that the Tar Heels could be the one that they have their eyes on as a possible next member.