Ross Dellenger walks back report on FSU and Clemson joining the Big 12

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger walked back his report on FSU and Clemson joining the Big 12
Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger walked back his report on FSU and Clemson joining the Big 12 / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages
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Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger shared on July 11 that the Big 12 realignment scenario he proposed for FSU and Clemson is merely speculation and not a concrete report that the Noles and Tigers would be joining the universally recognized No. 3 conference in the country.

"Just to clarify: My comments from a radio interview yesterday should be taken as speculation about possible realignment options and nothing more," Dellenger posted on X.

Dellenger's speculation about such a move was pretty in-depth while speaking with John Kurtz.

“You look at Florida State and Clemson’s options, the first option would probably be to get into the Big Ten or the SEC,” Dellenger said (h/t On3). “The second option would be, in some way, to reform the ACC with a smaller number of teams where you would be at a financial advantage because you wouldn’t split the TV distribution with 18. Maybe, you would split it with 10, so they can re-form in a smaller group. And Option Three is to probably join another league, which there’s only one other Power Conference league and that’s the Big 12.

“You look at those options – again, they probably prefer No. 1. I don’t know if that’s gonna happen because the SEC has schools in those states already in  and , and the Big Ten, I don’t know how interested they are in coming south. Those things might happen. But I think there is at least early conversation between the Big 12 and those schools about the possibility. I don’t know that it’s anything serious yet because they do have to get out of the ACC, whether that’s through a settlement or a court rule. So we could be months, if not years, away from something. That does seem to be one of the possibilities is the Big 12.”

'Talk from Vegas' indicates Big 12 moving in on FSU and Clemson

Longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim is the one who indicated that the Big 12 would be the only invite FSU and Clemson will receive with the Big Ten sticking to their AAU accreditation guns and the SEC not having interest in having multiple teams in the South Carolina and Florida markets.

He also indicated four more ACC teams will join them.

"As we've said for a year, FSU and Clemson will not get a B1G offer, due to neither being AAU accredited," Swaim prefaced before saying, "But from Vegas the talk is the SEC has now turned the pair down. With new sponsorship the B12 probably won't pay quite what the other two do, but with those two they'll pay double what the ACC does.

"And it won't end there. The talk is the B12 will take six from the ACC."

Where this leads is anyone's guess, but the Big 12 possibility makes more sense when you remember Brett Yormark has worked to get private equity involved with the conference; possibly to satisfy FSU and Clemson's monetary demands.