Report: Clemson, Florida State Want In The SEC

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.