Rumor: SEC and Big Ten waiting on Big 12 to poach from ACC to not seem like 'predators'

Longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim is reporting that the SEC and Big Ten are waiting on the Big 12 to poach schools from the ACC to "avoid looking like predators" during the inevitable next round of conference realignment.

"The B1G and SEC want the Big12 to poach ACC teams first, 'to avoid looking like predators,' however I don't see those teams making a move until FSU, Clemson, UNC, and UVA do," Swaim prefaced before saying, "So we're apparently in a standoff situation for now, waiting for someone to make the first move."

This rumor sounds a bit hard to believe, truth be told. The Big Ten seemingly had no qualms destroying the Pac-12 by pilfering on USC and UCLA in 2022 before finishing the job in 2023 by bringing on Washington and Oregon. As for the SEC, the "It Just Means More" conference has been dominating college football for years on end, and in one fell swoop, can add two programs that have won three of the last 11 titles; with Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2014) representing the only two schools the conference can't have access to.

Conference commissioners showing humanity and not trying to destroy other conferences for their own profits just doesn't sound believable in the year 2024. It's been a long time since that kind of thinking has sounded believable all told.

ACC contingency plan if SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 start poaching schools

The winds of change are starting to blow. With FSU, Clemson, UNC, and UVA all looking for an out of the ACC's Grant of Rights, there is reportedly a contingency plan in place for the conference as Power conference membership looks like a fading concept.

Per PressBox DC's Jim Williams, Memphis, Tulane, Wazzu, Oregon State, UConn, and USF can join the conference if the expected ACC exodus takes place.

Those schools come mostly from the Group of 5/6 ranks and the schools planning on leaving, well minus Virginia at this point in time, are what give the Atlantic Coast Conference any bit of national relevancy.

Don't expect conferences to show mercy on each other. Once the top brands are up for grabs, there will be realignment in short order.