The college football world is changing as Power 5 conferences will look much different next season, and the College Football Playoff will be expanding to 12 teams. With conference realignment, it looks like the Big Ten and SEC are emerging as far and away the most loaded groups of teams in college football. Texas and Oklahoma will be joining the SEC, and the Big Ten is getting USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12.

Those two conferences are going to be fun to watch, and there is now some talk of Michigan football potentially shifting to a new conference. The Wolverines are in the middle of an NCAA investigation, and some recent developments could have Michigan considering a change.

A few weeks ago, the NCAA began investigating the Michigan football program for alleged illegal sign-stealing. Connor Stalions was the staff member that was responsible for the scheme, and shortly after being suspended with pay, he resigned from his position.

NCAA investigations take a long time to play out, and it became clear that Michigan football likely wouldn't receive a punishment from the NCAA this season. Once that became clear, coaches and athletic directors from around the Big Ten began urging commissioner Tony Petitti to punish Michigan himself.

The NCAA couldn't do anything at that point, but the conference could. After a lot of pressure, Petitti did end up issuing a suspension to Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season despite having no evidence that he was aware of any illegal sign-stealing happening.

Because of the fact that the Big Ten made this decision without any evidence and that the decision was made while the Wolverines were in Pennsylvania for their game at Penn State, Michigan was extremely upset. The Wolverines attempted to get a temporary restraining order that would allow Harbaugh to coach against the Nittany Lions, but the hearing for it won't be until Nov. 17. It didn't end up mattering much as Michigan won fairly easily at Penn State, but the Wolverines still want their coach back.

After the decision by the Big Ten, there have been some rumblings about the Wolverines potentially finding a new conference. If it did end up happening, it would likely be the biggest news of the realignment era. If Michigan does want to leave the conference, here are their three best destinations

SEC

The best spot for Michigan football to go outside of the Big Ten would be the SEC. With the way that realignment is shaping up, the Power 5 is becoming the Power 2. No disrespect to the Big 12 and ACC (not even sure if we can talk about the Pac-12 as a conference anymore), but they don't have teams that compare to the Big Ten and SEC after this season. Those two conferences are far and away the best, and if the Wolverines want to stay on the biggest stage in college football, then the SEC would be their best choice.

ACC

Coming in at No. 2 would be the ACC. This is a major step off from the SEC, but it's going to have better teams than the Big 12. Again, no offense to the Big 12, but without Texas and Oklahoma, it's essentially just a really good group of five conference, but it's not close to the level of the other Power 5s. The ACC will still have Clemson and Florida State, and if they were to add Michigan, then it would be a more solid conference. Again, there's a pretty big drop-off after the Big Ten and SEC, but the ACC would be the second-best option.

Big 12

The only reason the Big 12 is part of this is because the Pac-12 has two teams. There are a lot of group of five schools now in the Big 12, and with Texas and Oklahoma leaving, it just won't be that good of a conference. Because of that, there's a next to nothing chance that Michigan would ever join. Love 'em or hate 'em, Michigan is one of the biggest money-makers in college sports, and they have a massive alumni base that spans across the country. The Wolverines will always be in one of the top conferences in college sports.

At this point, the talk of Michigan leaving the Big Ten isn't very serious, and it would be extremely surprising to see them ever make that move. Still, college sports are changing, and anything is possible.