![]() I’m not sure any of us would have predicted this two years ago, but you either get busy or you get left behind.” College sports is going through the next iteration of change and it’s been really drastic. “I think that's a lesson for all of us as we all enjoy and love college sports. “We've gone from regional-based conferences to national, coast-to-coast conferences,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said. The ACC was the last to arrive at the carcass of the Pac-12 after it was plundered by the Big Ten and Big 12 four weeks ago to the day. The ACC now joins the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC as the super conferences of college sports, all with at least 16 members by August 2024. We have season preview content on the way.Starting next year, Cal and Bay Area rival Stanford long with SMU, located in Dallas, will compete in an 18-school conference - 17 for football because Notre Dame remains an independent - that until Friday had no members in states west of the Mississippi. If that scenario unfolds, Notre Dame would almost be forced to join the Big Ten as their deal with the ACC would be all but dead.įor now, let’s just hope this settles down until next offseason and we can enjoy this season for what it brings. If some combination of Virginia Tech, NC State, Louisville, and Georgia Tech could also join, it would be a smashing success, but that seems less likely. Adding North Carolina and Miami along with Clemson and Florida State would make it a much more palatable situation. Maryland then would be the only other program that makes any sense for Clemson geographically or historically. I would hate to be one of just two southern teams in the conference. If it is the Big Ten that comes calling, my hope is that we can bring some fellow conference mates beyond just FSU along with us. It doesn’t appear they are willing to embrace creative destruction and undermine their ACC property before the Big Ten does it to them. Unfortunately, ESPN holds the media rights deal for both the SEC and ACC. The SEC would be the first choice for most Clemson fans. Clemson and Florida State benefit in the short-term from being in the ACC and getting the auto-bid into the new 12-team playoff, but by 2026 that will likely get reworked as the Big Ten’s fourth best team (imagine a 9-3 USC) would likely be better than a Pac-12/Mountain West, Big 12, and AAC champion. So what does this mean for Clemson and Florida State? It certainly makes a Big Ten invite seem more likely, although I do not believe it is imminent. It is crazy to think that former Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei may finish his college career playing in a non-Power league, perhaps the Mountain West. Oregon State has a sordid history, but has been much better lately. From 1951 to present, they’ve only reached the nine win mark five times. After a few good years post-WWII, they declined rapidly and have never recovered. They didn’t lose a game in 1920, 1921, or 1922 combining to go 27-0-1. ![]() Oddly, the Cal Golden Bears have an amazing history from 1885-1950. I could see Cal dropping to FCS or dropping their football program altogether. That leaves Oregon State, Washington State, Cal, and Stanford to find their own way. ![]() Utah and Arizona State are likely to follow. ![]() Colorado had already bolted for the Big 12 as they read the tea leaves on the TV deal negotiations early, but now Arizona is joining them. Oregon and Washington had no leverage and had to take an offer from the Big Ten to join without getting the full TV media deal pay-outs in their initial years. Once that became the scenario, it was time to escape the conference. A deal like that would mean the casual fan would never flip to FOX or ESPN and see a Pac-12 game. Reports are that their best offer was an Apple TV deal that relied upon them driving subscriptions. Without them, the Pac-12 couldn’t land an attractive TV deal. The Big Ten ruptured the college football landscape when they added USC and UCLA.
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