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Conference realignment has stolen the college football headlines this offseason as teams leave their current leagues in search of greener pastures. Legendary head coach Steve Spurrier is now giving his opinion on a few possible additions to the SEC.
Those potential newcomers hail from the ACC, who currently fears attrition from its top football brands. Spurrier, surprisingly, doesn’t see an issue with bringing on former rivals Clemson and FSU.
The ACC is one of many conferences being affected by conference realignment. The league has seen some unhappiness from the Tigers and Seminoles, who believe their programs to be more valuable than what the conference can offer.
The duo went as far as to round up five other ACC members in hopes of finding ways out of the current grant of rights agreement, which ties schools to the conference through 2036.
It’s even been reported that Clemson and FSU would consider going independent in hopes of landing interest from other leagues.
So, it was no surprise to see the Tigers and Seminoles as two of the schools that rejected Stanford and Cal’s addition to the conference.
Rather than expand their current league, Florida State and Clemson could be more focused on their next destination. After seeing the SEC and Big Ten land massive TV deals over the last few years, the college football powerhouses want a piece of the pie.
Many peg the SEC as the most suitable fit, but many within the league might have hesitations about bringing them in. While they boast national championship winning resumes on the football field, the conference currently houses both of their instate rivals.
The additions of the Tigers and Seminoles wouldn’t necessarily expand the SEC’s media footprint, which may not make them as valuable to the league as, say, Texas and Oklahoma who will join next season.
Steve Spurrier is not one of those people opposed brining the ACC programs in. He even added a third when asked about conference realignment this week.
Here’s what he had to say on Mike Bianchi’s Open Mike podcast.
“Yea, if they come into the SEC, heck, that would be good, I think. And maybe bring Miami or Clemson, I guess would be the other one that would be a possibility.”
That answer is somewhat surprising given his ties to both Florida and South Carolina. The head ball coach is the all-time wins leader at both programs, having led the Gators to a national title and the Gamecocks to their first ever SEC title game.
He sees it as an advantage in scheduling, particularly for South Carolina and Florida. Their instate rivalry games would mean even more given the conference standing element. It would also add an additional SEC game across the board for all teams.
Spurrier quipped at the league’s lack of non-conference difficulty, noting that only two teams have more than one Power Five non-SEC opponent on the slate. Those two are, guess who… the Gamecocks and Gators.
Never misses a chance to give a compliment at the expense of others in the league.
We’ll see if Clemson and FSU are able to get out of the ACC and move to a stronger league in the near future. If so, we know where Steve Spurrier hopes to see them land.