Clemson football fans have been heavily entrenched in the storylines regarding conference realignment and the everchanging landscape of College Football that have developed over the last week.
In just one week’s time, we’ve seen a story break on Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 and the two schools have already put in their request to join the SEC.
With two new powers joining the SEC, there is an intriguing conversation to be had about what the fallout looks like for the rest of the nation and what the sport looks like in the next few years as conferences continue their quest to remain above water.
For Clemson football fans, here are three biggest ongoing storylines to watch in this era of conference realignment.
Conference Realignment storylines for Clemson football fans to watch
Storyline No. 1: Notre Dame
Do you want to know the biggest storyline for Clemson and the ACC in terms of conference expansion and potential to stay relevant in the new landscape of College Football? It’s all about Notre Dame.
While some have panicked over the additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC and believe the ACC needs to make a move right now- and that may be correct- the truth of the matter is that the Irish don’t seem pressed at all.
"“Part of Notre Dame’s agreement with the ACC for its other sports is that, should the Irish ever want to join a conference in football, it must be the ACC. Of course, everything is negotiable, and for Notre Dame to truly consider conference affiliation, it’s likely huge amounts of money would be involved,” ESPN’s David Hale wrote. “Still, the default at the moment is the ACC, which has contractual ties, history with the program and the biggest need. At this point, however, nearly every administrator briefed on the situation believes Notre Dame’s priority is to stay right where it’s at.”"
The growing sentiment from Notre Dame at this point is that they’re content staying exactly where they’re at, and that’s not good news for the ACC.
Could the conference somehow convince them to join after all these years of failures? It doesn’t seem promising at the moment.
If Notre Dame did somehow join the ACC, it would give the conference the leverage it has needed to renegotiate a deal with ESPN for the ACC Network. Until then, though, it seems the ACC is stuck between a rock and a hard place.