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There is no quick fix for the Clemson Football conference dilemma

There was speculation that Clemson Football could announce an exit from the ACC before the mid-August deadline, but it doesn’t look like it will happen.

By John Chancey

Graham Neff, right, Clemson University Athletic Director talks with Chip Harris, right, general counsel, before a hearing about Clemson and the ACC before Judge Perry H. Gravely, ruling on the university's motion for summary judgement and the conference's motion to dismiss, at the Pickens County Courthouse in Pickens, S.C. Friday, July 12, 2024.
Graham Neff, right, Clemson University Athletic Director talks with Chip Harris, right, general counsel, before a hearing about Clemson and the ACC before Judge Perry H. Gravely, ruling on the university's motion for summary judgement and the conference's motion to dismiss, at the Pickens County Courthouse in Pickens, S.C. Friday, July 12, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / Greenville News / POOL
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The deadline for Atlantic Coast Conference members to announce their intentions to leave the league after the 2024-25 season is August 15th.

Clemson Football and Florida State are both contesting the validity of the ACC’s Grant of Rights by suing the conference in their home states, leading to both schools being sued by the conference in North Carolina.

Considering it seems clear that those two programs want out, speculation exists that one or both could announce a departure before the August deadline.

It now appears that won’t be happening.

This news comes on the heels of statements by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey where he made it clear that he has no intention of getting his conference involved in any legal entanglements. The likelihood is that the Big Ten also prefers to not get involved while there is ongoing litigation between the schools and the league.

All four of the cases between the schools and the conference have had recent hearings regarding the proper jurisdiction for the cases to be heard. In all four, the presiding judge believed their court was the correct place for the lawsuits to proceed.

In other words, while the cases could have been simplified significantly, it now appears that they will stay just as messy as they have been and might even get messier.

As a result, it appears that Clemson, Florida State, and all the other members of the ACC will remain members at least through the end of the 2025-26 athletics calendar.

The way I am reading this situation: there can be any number of conversations behind closed doors, but neither the SEC nor the Big Ten are going to openly court any school until the school can firmly lay claim to their television broadcast rights.

While the SEC publicly acknowledged that Oklahoma and Texas were eventually going to join their conference, they did not plan to do so until the Sooners and the Longhorns had both fulfilled their contractual obligations to the Big 12. The Big Ten handled the addition of USC and UCLA the same way - both schools remained with the PAC-12 until the conference's Grant of Rights expired.

My opinion is that neither of the Power 2 conferences will openly discuss the possibility of adding either school until Clemson and/or Florida State have reached a settlement with the ACC to exit the conference.

Based on the current state of the four lawsuits, it could be a long time until that happens.

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