The world of College Football is about to change in a big way and that will absolutely have bearing on the Clemson football program.
There are reports that Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 and that the two schools will be joining the SEC as full-time members. With the Longhorns and Sooners joining what is already considered to be the most powerful conference in the nation in terms of revenue, there are questions as to what the rest of the nation- particularly the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12- will do in response.
While adding the likes of Notre Dame and others may potentially give the ACC some prestige, there’s still going to be a ‘second-rate citizen’ feel to the conference that is absolutely going to hurt in terms of recruiting and television deals when compared to the power of the SEC yielding over two more big brands in Texas and Oklahoma.
So, what if Clemson football formed its own conference to compete with the SEC?
Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe posted an interesting Tweet following the news that Texas and Oklahoma were considering leaving the Big 12.
He stated that Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State should be on the phone with Clemson, Notre Dame, Florida State, USC and UCLA about potentially linking up in a conference.
OSU, Mich and PSU should be on the phone with Clemson, ND, FSU, USC, UCLA about linking up in a conference. Don’t know how Big 12 survives, IF* those 2 schools leave and college football will never be the same. University hasn’t left SEC since the 60s.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) July 22, 2021
Though we disagree with many of Sharpe’s takes, this might be one that has to at least be considered by some of the more powerful programs in the nation. It would take massive contract buyouts and would absolutely shake College Football even more than the sport is already being shaken, but the idea is one that could make some sense on some level to Clemson football fans.
The days of geographical conferences seem to be over, especially in College Football, and that means you could see a nationwide conference form that would absolutely be able to bring competition- as far as television contracts and revenue is concerned- to the SEC.
How about a 14-team conference with programs like:
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Florida State
- USC
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Miami
And you could name others who’d be in consideration.
It would completely blow up the conference system- and the NCAA, for that matter- that we’ve seen in place for so long, but isn’t that where we’re heading in some form or fashion anyway?
A College Football Association seems almost inevitable at this point and a major realignment may be the only way for some of these other programs to remain in the same atmosphere when it comes to money compared with the SEC.
It’s a far-fetched idea and one that probably will never advance past talks on blogs and radio shows, but it’s still a fun consideration and one that could prove to be almost necessary in some respects.