Conference realignment never ends, it merely takes a few weeks off.
As the dust settles on the Pac-12 becoming the Pac-2, the next domino that many expect to drop is either Clemson or Florida State announcing it will leave the ACC, with the assumption being that if one goes, so will the other one.
No offense to SMU, Cal, and Stanford, of course.
Even though the addition of those new schools could be a windfall for the ACC, Clemson is keeping its options open. According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, the school has hired sports media consultant Chris Bevilacqua to “further explore its conference alignment options.”
While the move isn’t as direct as Florida State’s president threatening to leave the ACC if they didn’t receive better revenue distribution, it certainly sends a message all the same. In fact, CBS Sports reports that Bevilacqua was brought on by the school’s board around six months ago, around the time FSU was throwing its weight around publically about league revenue.
Bevilacqua has become a big name in these circles when it comes to schools and leagues figuring out their next steps in the conference realignment carousel. The founder of CSTV, which became CBS Sports Network, who also helped launch Mountain West Network and Pac-12 Networks, previously consulted with the Big 12, Big East, and Conference USA in various media advisory roles.
While the ACC grant of rights would appear to lock Clemson, FSU, and other conference schools for the next 13 years, there’s always a creative solution out there for boosters and school presidents with TV deal dollar signs in their eyes.
It’s entirely possible that the ACC has checked the necessary boxes to keep the Tigers and Seminoles happy in the short term, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time before the landscape shifts again. The question is…which direction does it send Clemson and FSU?
