Clemson football: I hate it when I agree with Finebaum

If you read my most recent post on Paul Finebaum, you’d know I generally disagree with his takes, specifically on Dabo Swinney and Clemson football.

Finebaum is not always wrong though, and to be fair I should point out when he has a valid argument.

Monday was one of those days.

"Appearing on McElroy and Cubelic In the Morning, Finebaum was uninterested in even talking about recent changes in the ACC. He said that the ACC has become “diminished” and that they’re “significantly behind everyone that matters.”"

I’ve had a few takes on the future, or lack thereof, of the ACC lately, as you might recall, for example, here and here.

I don’t even mind saying I agree with Mr. Finebaum on this one, because, what’s there to disagree with in the quote below?

"“I put very little weight into any of it because the ACC has become such a diminished conference,” Finebaum said, via Saturday Down South. “I say that because it wasn’t that long ago when they were nipping, pretty far back, but they were still nipping at the heels of the SEC and the Big Ten, especially because of Clemson. Now it’s been marginalized. It’s been marginalized for a lot of reasons, but the biggest is their television contract, which has a long way to go, I think it has another 10 years before it opens back up again, is about to put them significantly behind everyone that matters.”"

The ACC has been poorly run for years and it’s finally catching up to the conference.  Now, with the new financial arrangements coming for the Big 10 and SEC, it’s difficult to see how the ACC survives, at least as a power conference on the same level in the current environment.

To be fair, I have no idea where college football is headed in the future, but my guess is the SEC is trying to slowly kill the ACC and be even more dominant in college football’s most coveted real estate – the South.

If that is indeed the plan, it’s proceeding at an alarming pace if you’re a Clemson football and/or ACC fan.