College football insider Brett McMurphy, who covers the sport for On3, wrote in a breakdown earlier this week on conference realignment that the SEC would be targeting 2 teams right now in the ACC if it did decide to expand in the coming years.
Just to be clear, McMurphy also wrote that the SEC isn’t expanding right now. This was a hypothetical thing that McMurphy was doing a deep dive on.
“The Big 12 and ACC are standing by, hoping not to get raided … again. The SEC and Big Ten have repeatedly indicated expansion is not on their radar,” wrote McMurphy in his piece.
But McMurphy was looking down the road at where that line of thinking could change for the SEC.
“If and when that changes, the SEC has North Carolina and Virginia at the top of its wish list, industry sources said,” McMurphy wrote. “There is no interest in Clemson, Florida State and Miami, sources said, since the league already has schools in both states.”
McMurphy clarified his words with a disclaimer that the SEC’s expansion would be down the road if its plans to stand pat changed.
“Again, no one is expecting the Big Ten or SEC to add any new schools anytime soon. But, as the Group of Six has painfully learned, when they do, take cover,” McMurphy wrote.
While the SEC chooses its next course of action in a possible expansion, there are 16 teams in the conference for now as they battle for the 2026 SEC title. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about which teams have the best odds to take home the trophy in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
