Finebaum says Clemson and FSU ‘don’t offer very much in anything’ to other power leagues

ESPN analyst and SEC Network centerpiece Paul Finebaum weighed in Monday on the ACC settlement with Clemson and Florida State, offering some typical barbs those schools’ way. (Photo: Brett Davis / Imagn Images)

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Monday, March 10 2025

ESPN analyst and SEC Network centerpiece Paul Finebaum weighed in Monday on the recent ACC settlement with Clemson and Florida State, offering some typical barbs those schools’ way.

He appeared on a radio show with ESPN counterpart Greg McElroy, who asked Finebaum if he agreed that North Carolina and Virginia are ones to watch for ACC exits first down the road in light of a reduced exit fee to come.

“I believe you’re right,” Paul Finebaum said. “And, by the way, I know a lot of fans out there are going, ‘I understand North Carolina, but what’s the deal with Virginia?’ Let me explain it. Greg’s 100 percent right. If you look at what the SEC has done in recent years, they just went out and got Texas and Oklahoma, the premier state schools. That’s important to remember. North Carolina is standalone. It’s a preeminent university, but it also has good athletics, and it used to have good basketball. Virginia doesn’t have that, but they are a brand.

“I think if you’re sitting there with 16 SEC presidents, they would much more likely gravitate to North Carolina and Virginia, who I also believe are drafting partners to use a NASCAR phrase, as opposed to Clemson and Florida State, which for all their football prowess, and they are the last two ACC schools to win national championships, they don’t offer very much in anything.”

Then Finebaum offered his academic analysis.

“Clemson is inferior to South Carolina as an academic institution,” he said. “Then you have the same situation with Florida State. They are behind the other state schools, as well as private schools, in Florida. So, I don’t think either one of them have much to offer, and quite frankly I’m not really sure why the Big Ten would want either one of them.”

The college sports pundit says ACC commissioner Jim Phillips made the deal he had to with Clemson and FSU, but Finebaum isn’t optimistic about the league's future.

“He made the best deal for the moment. He had to stop the bleeding…and he did that,” Finebaum said. “There is a due date, and when that due date comes, it is going to be open season on the ACC I believe. It’s impossible to predict today because we’re still watching Oklahoma and Texas being digested into the SEC and the four into the Big Ten…By the time we turn the calendar to 2030, all that will be different. I think it’s very likely that the ACC loses a couple schools. It’s much less expensive. That buyout number is no big deal when you think about what it was. It’s pretty much in line with what Oklahoma and Texas paid a couple years ago.”

The new ACC deal is set to reward teams with higher TV ratings, where Clemson has resided with its sports success, reportedly in the range of an additional $15 million or more per year, while potentially reducing the budget of lower-viewed teams by around $7 million.

A deep run in the CFP or NCAA Tournament could net an additional $30 million, per an ESPN report.