According to college football insider Brett McMurphy, FSU and Clemson are “gonna leave” the ACC, and the Big Ten, not the SEC, could be where the two southern schools end up.
“They’re gonna leave,” McMurphy stated (via On3). “The question isn’t if, but when. I attended ACC Spring Meetings a few weeks ago and… Basically, sources with the ACC assured me that, as expected, the ACC will fight this until the end. Obviously, they will have to settle at some point, but the ACC will delay that settlement for as long as possible.
“Because as soon as they do reach a settlement and there is a number established for Florida State and Clemson to exit, then that opens the door for other schools to leave. The North Carolina schools, the Virginia schools. Certainly the SEC would have interest. I don’t think they have interest in Florida State or Clemson because they’ve already got Florida and South Carolina.”
FSU and Clemson belong in the SEC but may break ground for the Big Ten instead
FSU and Clemson have established rivalries in the SEC with Florida and South Carolina, and going to the Big Ten wouldn’t take those off the schedule. But given their locations and recent history with schools in the SEC — particularly Clemson with their series of College Football Playoff matchups with Alabama, though FSU’s recent home-and-home with LSU and their 2013/14 national title game against Auburn were notable in the sport as well — it’d feel right for them to end up in the “It Just Means More” conference.
The B1G would benefit from expanding into the deep south, and with those additions, they might perhaps outperform the SEC in terms of total skill. They have already overtaken the SEC in revenue.
That’s a difficult pill to swallow for SEC fans, but the tide is reversing, especially with the Tide turning to Kalen DeBoer rather than Nick Saban and Brian Kelly’s grip on LSU lessening.
