When it comes to conference realignment in recent years, the best rule to go by has usually been where there’s smoke there’s fire.
That’s why the reports of Florida State and Clemson leaving the ACC to join the Big 12 Conference are just so impossible to resist … and would seemingly explain the Big 12’s recent moves to generate money from selling a stake in the conference to a private equity firm and selling the naming rights to the league itself.
“According to sources, there is an internal belief in the Big 12 that Florida State and Clemson are likely to join the conference within the next year or so,” WildcatAuthority.com Senior Editor/Publisher Jason Scheer wrote in a post on X on July 14.
The Big 12 has been one of the most aggressive conferences in terms of expansion in recent years, losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC in 2024 but adding eight schools across the last two years.
The Big 12 added UCF, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston in 2023, then added four Pac-12 Conference teams in 2024 with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.
One big hurdle for Florida State and Clemson is pending litigation — both schools are suing the ACC over paying a $140 million fee to leave the conference before 2036.
Florida State’s entrance in EA COllege Football 25
— Barstool FSU (@FSU_Barstool) July 13, 2024
Inject this into every vein! pic.twitter.com/ydnT9uLVAr
