Report: Seven ACC schools met about future in conference

A handful of ACC schools reportedly met with each other over the past several months to determine how unbreakable their deal with the ACC is, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

Amid realignment in college football, the next wave could come soon with a vengeance. McMurphy revealed “The Magnificent Seven” schools that could look to break off from the conference.

The Big Ten recently added USC and UCLA while the SEC is set to bring in Oklahoma and Texas. Now, the ACC’s future could be murky.

“Clemson, FSU, Miami, UNC, NC State, Virginia & Virginia Tech are ‘The Magnificent 7’ ACC schools, sources told Action Network HQ,” McMurphy wrote on Twitter. “These schools, Ross Dellenger reported, have met in past several months, w/lawyers examining grant-of-rights to determine just how unbreakable it is. ACC deal runs thru 2036.”

Dellenger, as McMurphy said, reported the original story. He confirmed McMurphy’s report on what’s next with college football realignment.

The timing of the report is interesting considering the ACC Spring Meetings got underway this week in Amelia Island, Florida.

One of the largest looming topics of this year’s meetings will be revenue distribution, as schools like Clemson, Florida State, and Miami are expected to push for revenue distribution models that will put more money in their pockets and less in other members of the conference.

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum spoke with Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning’ on Monday to discuss the ACC meetings. And Finebaum gave his take on their revenue situation from the perspective of the conference’s less funded teams.

“I would put my foot down,” Finebaum said. “Because college sports, especially college football, can be cyclical and there was a long period when Florida State was a non-entity. And I think you made the point perfectly, you took to the Big 12, you especially look at the University of Texas, which we all know went out and did their own deal. Credit to them, but it helped expedite at least three, maybe four, schools from the Big 12.”