Brian Kelly isn't exactly sure what to expect when the SEC and Big Ten move further into mega-conference territory, but he does know there won't be enough seats for everybody.
When asked about the mad dash for conference realignment in recent months, Kelly likened things to a game of "musical chairs."
"The music is going to stop here and you’re not going to have a place at the table," Kelly said. "And I think that’s scary for a lot of universities and it’s left a lot of internal conversations about ‘where do we go?' "
And while LSU's new coach is in prime position to sit back and watch the action unfold, his former program of Notre Dame is firmly in the crosshairs as a prime target for addition. The Fighting Irish have historically been independent, but could be on the Big Ten's radar.
Kelly isn't sure what his program will do, but he knows wherever they land it'll be to Notre Dame's benefit.
Notre Dame still is a coveted university in terms of what conference would want them," Kelly said. "Jack Swarbrick knows what he’s doing. He’s got his ear to the ground. They’re going to land in a good position no matter what they do."
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Among the most major changes upcoming for conferences will be Texas and Oklahoma departing the Big Ten for the SEC in 2025. The Big Ten appears poised to respond by siphoning major draws out of the Pac-12 in the form of USC and UCLA, which could happen as early as 2024.
"That speaks to [Commissioner Greg] Sankey and understanding the lay of the land and being proactive and having two great institutions coming into the SEC," Kelly said. "We’ll be excited, when they officially join, to have them on the schedule as well.”
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