FSU and Clemson just wasted the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12's time

FSU and Clemson may just return to the ACC after all following a summer of lawsuits and rumors that the Noles and Tigers would be leaving their conference and shifting the power balance in the college football world. The SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 were all floated as potential landing spots at some point this year.

CBS' Brandon Marcello reported that the ACC is offering concessions, including shortening the Grant of Rights agreement, to convince FSU and Clemson to remain in the conference.

"The ACC is exploring a new revenue structure in an attempt to resolve lawsuits with Florida State and Clemson and keep both universities in the league, sources confirmed to CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello," Marcello's colleague, Cameron Salerno, reported. "ACC presidents first discussed a potential new deal during in-person league meetings last week, and those talks continued in a conference call on Tuesday. 

"In addition, shortening the current grant of rights agreement is also on the table. The ACC's current grant of rights agreement with ESPN runs through 2036, but under the new proposal, it would be set to end in 2030."

FSU and Clemson lost themselves leverage with early-season losses

Would we be having this conversation if FSU wasn't 0-3 with losses to Georgia Tech, Boston College, and Memphis? Or if Clemson hadn't been blown out 34-3 by Georgia in Week 1?

We don't know for sure, but it's possible that those losses took away the teams' leverage.

This means that the real pulling of the leg was the Noles and Tigers giving the SEC and Big Ten the false impression that they were "Power 2"-worthy programs, or having the Big 12 thinking that bringing in private equity to pay for their ACC buyouts would've been a sound investment.

All those rumors just for FSU and Clemson to be back in the conference they relentlessly sued? What a waste of everyone's time.

Good luck to FSU, Clemson, and the ACC on their shaky relationship continuing because no conference wants to overspend on two entitled schools that are more likely on the way down than up at this point in time.