Joe Kinsey
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If the latest report is true, the reshuffling of college football conferences appears to have taken another step towards the creation of a super league that would leave the rest of D-1 college football behind and it rests with the power of the SEC.
Marc Ryan, a sports-talk host in South Carolina reports a “reliable source” tells him that Clemson and Florida State have “reached out to the SEC about joining the conference.”
The hurdle, according to the source, appears to be the streaming numbers that Clemson and Florida State bring to the table. The source says that Notre Dame is the only remaining “free agent” program that can “add to the pot.”
Is it believable that Clemson and Florida State would combine forces to test the SEC waters? Of course, it’s plausible. Why the sniffing around?
Last week, OutKick founder Clay Travis explained how the SEC TV contract with ESPN works and why the conference is hunting down A-list programs.
“Now as the SEC prepares to add Texas and Oklahoma to the conference, OutKick can report that the conference has a mandate that no other conference does, the biggest and most lucrative television deal in all of college sports is portable,” Clay wrote. “The SEC can guarantee potential expansion candidates that they will enter as full share equals the moment they begin play in future years, a guaranteed opportunity no other conference has at the present moment.”
The problem for Clemson and FSU is that the ACC is locked into a TV deal with ESPN that runs through 2036. Does any of this mean Clemson & FSU will never end up in the SEC? Folks, we’re watching what appears to be the collapse of the NCAA and the rise of the SEC as the new college football governing agency. Greg Sankey is Roger Goodell.
As for the TV deals controlling the landscape at this time, the SEC has a $3 billion deal with ESPN/Disney that will run for 10 years starting in 2024. CBS has effectively been cut out of college football starting in 2024 while Fox Sports remains in the game with the Pac-12, B1G and the remnants of the Big 12 on the TV schedule. Notre Dame’s deal with NBC runs through 2025.
Which schools will join forces to negotiate their way into the SEC? Will NBC come to the table with some massive figure to keep Notre Dame? Will Notre Dame and Clemson team up and go to the SEC and leave Florida State abandoned?
Buckle up. College football’s changing fast and there’s a good chance you’re going to say ‘that will never happen’, and then it’s going to happen.
Per a reliable source, Clemson+Florida State have reached out to the SEC about joining the conference.
The SEC is concerned that streaming numbers for Clemson+Florida State don't bring what Oklahoma+Texas do.
Notre Dame is the only "free agent" left that would "add to the pot."
— Marc Ryan (@MarcRyanOnAir) August 2, 2021
Major College Football is in for a MAJOR Fruitbasket Turnover whether in the next 3-6 months or next 12-18 months. It’s coming and no amount of “wish it wouldn’t” is going to stop it.
Hopefully most “traditional rivalries” will withstand the Tsunami of Change… but maybe not ???
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“Folks, we’re watching what appears to be the collapse of the NCAA and the rise of the SEC as the new college football governing agency.”
I SAY: Anything that brings about the end of the NCAA is beneficial to football as a sport. For all I care, The SEC should bring in Notre Dame, Penn St., Ohio St., Michigan, USC and UCLA and call it quits.
Tell the NCAA to pound and and write a “minor league” deal with the NFL.
for those who think the NCAA is a “good idea,” let me add what my wife reminded me of:
BOTH of our kids played NCAA women’s college soccer. One at D2 and one in D1. Every year we helped our kids update their status of the medications they take… the NCAA has a problem with my youngest kids asthma inhaler!!! Do you realize Midol is illegal for women? Do you realize your kid MIGHT be disqualified for drinking certain FRUIT SMOOTHIES??? Do you know your 21-year old athlete cannot be seen in a picture with an alcoholic beverage??? I’m not talking abut one they are drinking — that is a huge foul — but one even in the hand of someone else (even in the background) or a bottle sitting on a table — we got tagged by the university “compliance officer” for a picture of my kid IN A PUBLIC PARK because you could see a Miller Lite can IN THE TRASH CAN!!!
The NCAA is simply a Cat-lady named Karen making up arbitrary rules to prevent kids from having fun or living a life. It’s time for them to go.
Let every D1 team join the SEC. a 120+ team super league.