Paul Finebaum: SEC, Big Ten more interested in adding North Carolina than Clemson, Florida State

As SEC Media Days rage on, Paul Finebaum and Heather Dinich of ESPN are examining any and all potential future additions to the conference.

Namely, a couple of schools from the ACC have been seemingly on the market, and some are theorizing the SEC could be interested in potentially adding a program like Clemson or Florida State. However, Finebaum doesn’t see it as a likely possibility, instead believing North Carolina has a better shot to join the conference.

“Clemson, and especially Florida State, have been making a lot of noise,” Finebaum started, via Get Up. “Florida State just went rogue, about a year ago, saying it’s too good, essentially, my word, not their’s, for the ACC. Clemson has been a drafting partner. But there doesn’t seem to be any interest right now, in really either the Big Ten or the SEC, for them.

“I think the real school to keep your eye on down the road, if the ACC starts to show fractures, and that’s the University of North Carolina. Both the Big Ten and the SEC, I think, would listen, if Chapel Hill called, and then the question is, who else would come along with them, from the ACC.”

As for Dinich, the ESPN analyst added the Virginia Cavaliers as a potential addition as well, but she doesn’t think SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is out there trying to sway any other teams to join the SEC, it’s up to them to come to him.

“Yeah, I would just add Virginia to that list too, but I do believe Greg Sankey when he said, ‘I’m not a recruiter,’ of course he’s — people are calling him, but he will not entangle the SEC in any of the legalities that are going on with the ACC, that’s for sure,” Dinich added.

Conference realignment can be a fast and furious game, but it seems like the ACC is in a bit of a purgatory at the moment. With the SEC and Big Ten not exactly interested in what they have to offer, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the conference moving forward.