Clemson football fans have been discussing conference realignment and potential expansion ad nauseum over the course of the last few weeks and it doesn’t seem that those conversations will be dissipating anytime soon.
The rumors have been put to bed about Clemson and Florida State jumping ship to the SEC and it seems that the league in its current form– the 14-member institutions– will be here for the long-term, at least until 2036.
Over these few weeks, we’ve expressed concerns over what needs to happen in the ACC for Clemson football and the rest of the conference to remain competitive.
Don’t think that Clemson football fans are the only ones concerned about the direction of the ACC
We recently reached out to site experts at two of our FanSided sister sites who cover two of the biggest brands in the ACC: Florida State and Miami.
Chop Chat‘s Kelvin Hunt said in a perfect world, he’d love to see the Seminoles leave the ACC but that isn’t a realistic option for the time being.
"“In a perfect world, I wish FSU could simply leave the ACC. They will never catch up to the SEC or the Big 10…however, that’s not likely anytime soon with the Grant of Rights,” Hunt said."
Just as we’ve mentioned in the past, Hunt brings up two names who could help propel the ACC to another level: Notre Dame and Penn State, which would allow the conference a chance at renegotiating its television contract.
"“Ideally, if they could get Notre Dame to become a member that would be a game-changer. However, that’s unlikely,” Hunt said.“The only other team that would move the needle and make sense would be Penn State. They have no reason to leave the their conference to join the ACC, though. The ACC has to find a way to get a new TV deal to try and offset what the SEC and Big 10 are doing. How do they do that under the current conditions? Now, I’ll resort to waiting until I morph into a skeleton for that to happen.”"
Canes Warning‘s Alan Rubenstein made a similar point to Hunt when speaking on what the ACC must do to counteract the SEC’s expansion.
"“The impending moves by Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC will be felt throughout college football. The SEC is about to become more dominant and more relevant than it currently is. ACC teams and the Miami Hurricanes need an updated TV contract and the ACC network to become more important to compete,” Rubenstein said."
What do the two have in common? They notice the need for the ACC to get out of its current television contract. And how does the conference do that? By making a big-time expansion move to bring in, namely, Notre Dame.
Notre Dame, in many ways, seems to be the key to the ACC having long-term success but there is no reason to believe that the Irish are going to be joining the league any time soon.
So, what does that leave us with? Concern.
There has been no direct conversations about the direction of the league– other than its specified interest of adding Notre Dame– and that leaves the member institutions looking towards the future with uncertainty.
SEC schools could potentially be making $30 million more per year than ACC schools in just five years. If the conference doesn’t find some way to respond, the gap is going to grow and it’s going to be felt in some way or another.
We’d like to thank our friends over at Chop Chat and Canes Warning for their contributions. If you haven’t already, please check them out for the best coverage of FSU and Miami on the web.