As if passing the NIL wasn’t enough to shake things up in the world of college football, Oklahoma and Texas officially began the process of moving to the Southeastern Conference to keep the fun going. Auburn football’s conference will grow to 16 teams by the year 2025, and for a second it looked like that number could change to 18.
The Sooners and the Longhorns broke the news just last week that they would not be renewing their grant of media rights contract that expires in 2025. They formally asked the SEC for membership, and all 14 members voted unanimously to bring on the Big-12 teams.
With the Big-12 set to crumble without its two biggest members and other CFB powerhouses eager to get in on the notoriety and money of the SEC, there is potential for realignment all over the NCAA.
According to Marc Ryan on Twitter, both Clemson and Florida State University reached out to the SEC about joining and leaving their own conference, the ACC. However, Ryan reports that the SEC is concerned about the streaming numbers for the two teams and would be more interested in Notre Dame.
Per a reliable source, Clemson+Florida State have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference.
— Marc Ryan (@MarcRyanOnAir) August 2, 2021
The SEC is concerned that streaming numbers for Clemson+Florida State don't bring what Oklahoma+Texas do.
Notre Dame is the only "free agent" left that would "add to the pot."
Immediately, this set SEC fans and Auburn football fans alike into a flurry of speculation. Adding Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC is admittedly a big pill to swallow, but Clemson and FSU?
I would like to see how Florida and South Carolina handles this…
— Dusty Perez (@texanmuricandkp) August 2, 2021
Me: "There's probably 0 truth to this."
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) August 2, 2021
Also Me: pic.twitter.com/8rBMpA3THs
abolish conferences & just play who you wanna at this point.
— gabb 💕 (@gabbgoudy) August 2, 2021
As quickly as the rumors started, Clemson tried to put an end to it, claiming that they did contact the SEC about membership. Fans pointed out that the ACC grant of media rights contract extends all the way to 2036, a little later than the Big-12’s 2025.
The Athletic reached out to Clemson about the Clemson/SEC rumor making rounds today. An athletics spokesperson just now: "There is no truth to the report that Clemson University has been in contact with the Southeastern Conference regarding membership."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) August 2, 2021
Of course, the schools wouldn’t want the news to break before they’re ready, so it’s possible that the two schools could be the next to join the SEC. Expect more changes to come, from Alabama and Auburn football moving to the SEC East to a rapidly growing conference.