Paul Finebaum weighs in on Clemson and Florida State’s potential SEC fits
The future of the ACC has an obvious impact on the future of college athletics and that clearly impacts Notre Dame. If the ACC were to be no more, or at least if a handful or so of the biggest brands in the conference were to leave, where would they go?
There has been a lot written and discussed in the last few weeks. Current ACC powerhouses Clemson and Florida State clearly have a huge part in that. If the ACC can’t figure things out is it an obvious fit for the Tigers and Seminoles to land in the SEC?
Paul Finebaum joined “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on Thursday and shared thoughts on potential landing spots for a few of the ACC’s biggest names.
Why we care at Fighting Irish Wire
We’re interested here because obviously if the ACC blows up then so does Notre Dame’s deal with the conference. If that goes then it’s fair to expect Notre Dame’s independence wouldn’t be able to be maintained any longer.
With conferences scheduling fewer and fewer marquee games out of conference, Notre Dame’s ability to maintain a path to a national championship would be difficult, as much as most Irish fans, myself very much included, wouldn’t like.
Finebaum on Clemson
“Clemson, to me, quite frankly, doesn’t bring that much,” Finebaum said. “I know it brings a national championship program from a couple of years ago. Clemson won twice, but from a geographical standpoint, I don’t think they add anything. I think South Carolina already covers the area in that part of the world very well.”
Finebaum on Florida State
“I think Florida State is similar. I don’t think they’re nearly as attractive as they think they are…besides, Florida already covers that part of the world and so I think Miami, to me, would be next. I think it’s an important part of the country. It’s a very populated part of the country too.”
Finebaum on ACC Contracts
“It’s so difficult to get out of these agreements, as you know,” Finebaum remarked. “I think if everyone had a free get out of jail card, we would see activity that would resemble the skies over Atlanta right now, but we don’t. I firmly believe at least 40 percent of the ACC would leave tomorrow, maybe more. I think these contracts like the ACC, like others, just do not allow anyone to get out without paying a fortune.”
Personal Thoughts
Clearly nothing is imminent here, but planning is clearly in the works. Geography clearly means nothing anymore in terms of rivalries, it only means something if it acquires more households for TV contracts to get richer off of. That’s why UCLA and USC will soon be in the same conference as Penn State and Rutgers.
I sure am glad all this realignment and blowing up of college football traditions that have made the game great for literally over a century are making some TV executives a lot richer. It’s so good for the game (fyi – this paragraph was typed in sarcasm font).
