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Ok, let's catch up on all this realignment talk
Jul 31, 2023, 3:55 PM
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I thought it was interesting last week at the ACC Kickoff when I was told, "Look for Colorado to join the Big 12 tomorrow and they will be full-time in the 2024 season." When I asked, "Why so fast?" I was told it was so the conferences could have all the pieces in place for the start of the 12-team playoff.
And that's when the big rumors started to fly. Of course, ACC Commish Jim Phillips said and did nothing at the ACC Kickoff to dispel those rumors or make fans/schools feel any better about the direction of the league, so when the rumors began to fly......you get it.
A Florida State 247Sports reporter fanned the flames with his August 15th date and sources saying FSU was "actively looking to get out of the ACC" (August 15th is the date that schools have to inform the ACC they are leaving so they can be out by the end of next June and ostensibly compete next season...and not wait two more years).
Then the B1G rumors started to fly, and my phone almost melted. Now, here is what we know...The guy known as Greg Swaim on Twitter has started some of this, and then someone on a Nebraska board said they had a source, and the rumor was off and running that Clemson, FSU, Oregon, and Washington are headed to the B1G this week. I started getting wild texts and emails last night and from more than one person saying, "NOW ATHLON IS REPORTING IT!!!!"
No, Athlon was merely reporting what was on social media with no info. Nothing new. No original intel. And the local writers here? No one has anything. National writers of note? No one has anything concrete to report. But remember when Texas and OU announced they were headed to the SEC, it caught everyone by surprise. Same with USC and UCLA to B1G. Wouldn't surprise me if the next move is that way as well.
So where does Clemson stand? There is radio silence. All is quiet. No one seems to know anything. And as I understand it, AD Graham Neff has been away from Clemson with his family for some quiet time before the start of the season, not bunkered up with TV executives. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening, just letting you know what I know. Now, I’ve heard that many think that Clemson and FSU are in lockstep on this, and I believe that. When and if a move is made, the two will be together. We just don’t know what that is.
At FSU, the AD came out and said there wasn’t a meeting scheduled, then there was a meeting scheduled, and then we were told it’s been scheduled, except it wasn’t. And my contacts down there seem confused as to what’s next.
At UNC, I’ve talked to several people. I will say this, there is an air of fear in Chapel Hill because if Clemson and FSU leave, no one wants to get left behind. The words coming out of CH are, “The GOR (Grant of Rights) is airtight,” “Only UNC has an invite from the SEC and B1G” and “the SEC has no desire to add either FSU or Clemson” because it already owns those states. I also heard there was a plan that would let the schools push streaming through their own websites and sell ad time, etc., and that would perhaps help make up the lost revenue. That money would not even come close to making it up.
Those types of statements lead me to believe that someone is believing all of this. And a friend at ESPN said they’ve heard that the network is nervous about what Fox can pull off here – maybe even paying a port of the exit fees to add schools to the B1G – a big feather in their cap.
There is indeed a lot of smoke. A lot of it makes sense. And I've said all along I think Clemson has been keeping its options open and will keep its options open. But nobody has anything concrete to report.
But for right now, it all exists in rumors. I will keep digging. Keep searching. But that’s what we know.
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