Clemson football: Jay Bilas says ACC should approach SEC for merger

The Clemson football program has been among the top-tiered programs in the nation for the last half-decade and nothing seems to be getting in the way of that trend continuing as we look into the near future.

That being said, there is something happening on the horizon of College Football that should at least have Clemson football fans somewhat concerned: Conference realignment and expansion.

The SEC is reportedly set to add Texas and Oklahoma to its member institutions following the school’s joint statement that they would not be renewing their grant of media rights with the Big 12 following the 2024 season and that has everyone up-in-arms discussing what the fallout could be from such a move.

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says that if he were ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips that he would approach the SEC for considerations of a merger.

What a merger with the SEC could look like and what it would mean for Clemson football

If the ACC and SEC came together under one merger to form a super-conference and kept all of their member institutions, we would be talking about a league with 30 teams. If Notre Dame was added to the mix, that would make 31.

That league would be enough to play a full regular season schedule with just itself and we’d likely have to divide up into regional pods- say five pods of six teams- to make it work. That could get messy.

The problem with a merger of this sort, though, is the fact that the SEC- if it is looking to expand- isn’t going to want all that excess. For lack of a better way to put it, there are schools in both leagues who simply don’t bring much to the table. Why would the SEC- which is expected to increase its annual payout by somewhere between $15 and $20 million per year schools- want to have more mouths to feed?

What is Wake Forest truly bringing to the table? Even though the ACC has basketball powers, the truth of the matter is that basketball revenue pails in comparison to football.

That’s why the SEC is only going to be interested in a handful of programs- namely Clemson, Florida State and possibly Miami- if we’re talking about expansion into the ACC.

While a merger might seem like an idea worth considering- especially since the two leagues both have agreements with ESPN in place- it would likely cost those SEC member institutions money and wouldn’t really bring a whole lot of value in the long run with the exception of those few programs we mentioned above.

Phillips could reach out to the SEC all he wants, but unless ESPN sees a value added that we don’t see on the surface, all merger discussions will be moot  before they have any kind of real traction.