Why Clemson, Florida State won't make SEC move

Rumors surfaced last week of Clemson and Florida State possibly leaving the ACC for the SEC. The news was quickly shot down by both schools, as each stated they had not been in contact with the SEC.

Clemson and Florida State are two of the largest brands in the ACC and losing both would be detrimental to the conference. But there are other reasons why leaving can not happen. ESPN’s ACC reporter David Hale explained why the two schools will not join the SEC in a Twitter thread.

How the Grant of Rights impacts the future of Clemson, Florida State

Behind every conference realignment is the impact of television money and rights. The ACC has a Grant of Rights agreement, which means that if a school ever tried to leave the ACC before 2036, its television rights revenue would remain with the conference.

“FSU, Clemson & every other non-ND ACC team are contractually obligated to forego their TV revenue through 2036 if they departed before then,” Hale tweeted. “In hard numbers, that’s approaching a half-billion dollars — or five to six times what Texas and Oklahoma are on the hook for.

“Yes, they’d earn more in SEC, which might help offset some financial damage, but it would also put them at a significant competitive disadvantage in their new league. If the rest of the SEC is flush with cash and FSU and Clemson are paying down a $500 million debt … that’s a problem.”

Clemson and Florida State could try to negotiate its way out of the deal, but that would be very pricey. There wouldn’t be much incentive for the ACC to let Clemson out of the deal. Hale also explains the schools would be at a financial disadvantage if they left the conference. While they would be making more money in the SEC, they would be using part of the check to pay the ACC.

“Right now, Clemson is a big fish in ACC’s small pond,” He wrote. “Do you really think Dan Radakovich and Dabo [Swinney] are eager to move into a far more competitive league at a financial disadvantage? And the ACC wouldn’t be inclined to budge an inch on the Grant of Rights buyout because Clemson and FSU are existential issues.”

SEC might not want Clemson, Florida State to join

Clemson and Florida State are huge brands. The two schools have combined for six national titles. But just because they are pillars of the ACC does not mean the SEC would want to welcome them.

“Then there’s the question of whether the SEC would even want to add Clemson and FSU,” Hale said. “Neither expands the SEC footprint and both would have current SEC members strongly against it. SEC folks I’ve talked to say teams like Virginia Tech or North Carolina could be better targets for that reason.”

Clemson and Florida State would also be facing a much tougher path to the College Football Playoff if they left for the SEC. With a four-team playoff, the odds of making it year in and year out takes a dip. The ACC would be in deep trouble of having a team represent the conference. A 12-team playoff format would shuffle that, but no formal timeline has been set.

More importantly from the SEC perspective, schools in the conference would not be on board with the Clemson and Florida State joining.