Could the SEC expand beyond 16 teams?

During a recent interview with Birmingham-based JOX radio, Paul Finebaum offered up an interesting opinion when asked that question.

While he made it clear that he didn’t have any inside knowledge of the league attempting to add teams other than Texas or Oklahoma, he did speculate that the Longhorns and the Sooners may not be the only new additions to the SEC in the years to come.

Here is what Finebaum had to say when asked why the SEC should stop at 16 teams.

“Yeah, the only thing you have to be careful about here are the exit causes – and they’re massive,” Finebaum said on the show. “Maryland paid what, $30 million to get out the ACC?

“So I don’t think it necessarily stops with 16 [teams], gut feeling. I think there are a couple of schools out there that are looking around and I’m not going to say too much more because it would just be wild speculation – but I do think this doesn’t automatically stop here.”

Before ending the conversation, Finebaum hinted at the one school that is likely going to dictate where things go from here on out — Notre Dame.

That’s not to suggest the Fighting Irish are headed to the SEC, but if Notre Dame makes the decision to cut all ties with the ACC and joins the Big Ten, who knows what that could do to weaken the ACC?

“I’ll leave on this point, I think there’s one school out there that is now sitting in the best position of anyone, and it’s the same one it’s always been, it’s Notre Dame,” Finebaum concluded. “I don’t know what they are going to do, but I think they are in play.”