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“Clemson to the SEC” rumors have resurfaced as we enter the meat of the college football season. One local South Carolina writer believes the Tigers could push for an answer before the end of 2023.
There are a number of things tying the university to its current conference, but Clemson has made it clear that it’s unhappy with its standing in the ACC.
That unhappiness stems from revenue distribution, where the ACC has fallen behind a number of Power Five leagues. We saw conference realignment ravish the PAC 12 this offseason, leaving Washington State and Oregon State as the only remaining members come 2024.
The ACC brought in a pair of those West Coast programs in Cal and Stanford while also adding SMU. Still, Clemson and Florida State, the league’s top football brands, have been looking for a way out.
The ACC is tied into its television contract with ESPN through 2036 while it watches the SEC and B1G sign lucrative media deals. Feeling that their programs are undervalued, the Tigers and Seminoles pushed for an uneven revenue split to better reward top performers as opposed to paying each member equally.
Should the two teams decide to part ways with the conference, the SEC seems the best fit regionally. Both schools fit the mold of prominent football powers while each sees its instate rival compete in the league annually.
Gene Sapakoff of the Post and Courier believes Clemson could push to join the SEC before the end of the college football season.
“School administrators indicate an announcement about a Clemson bolt from its growing financial disadvantage in the ACC relative to SEC and Big Ten schools is coming soon,” Sapakoff writes.
“How soon? ‘Sooner than later,’ a Clemson senior administrator said last week when asked about a timetable.”
Sapakoff’s source said to “stay very tuned” when asked about the possibility of finding out that answer before the year is through.
While the Tigers would fit right into the SEC, it’s unlikely that rival South Carolina would approve the move due to potentially negative recruiting effects and the obvious financial benefit it currently holds with its conference affiliation.
Still, that might not mean much to the league as we’ve already seen Texas land an invite against the wishes of Texas A&M.
Should the SEC not become a viable option, and commissioner Greg Sankey has said the league isn’t looking to expand at the moment, the Big Ten is still on the table. We saw the conference add a number of prominent PAC 12 programs over the offseason while it also boasts former ACC affiliate Maryland.
Time will tell if this is the next step in conference realignment. If the Tigers get their way, it could be.