No one knows how long it will be before the next college football realignment move is made. Alabama football fans are far more interested in recruiting and chasing 2022 championships. Going along with that is an Alabama attitude of ‘bring on all comers’ bold enough to believe they can compete in the SEC.
College Football is Big Business
The business side of the college football world thinks a bit differently. If a major realignment is inevitable, as most college football experts think, then opportunities must be maximized.
Pat Forde wrote on Monday that Notre Dame can and will play a waiting game. As a national brand, the Fighting Irish are the ultimate catch. Notre Dame is not a must-get for the SEC. For the Big Ten, the Irish are a must-get, in that Notre Dame giving up independence for another conference would be a blow.
A couple of days ago, while joking around about a fictional phone call between Greg Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner, Kevin Warren, I suggested the top SEC targets should be Clemson, Miami and Florida State.
It could be that very soon, Kevin Warren will be encouraging those additions to the SEC in a real call to Greg Sankey. As Pat Forde commented, Notre Dame can wait patiently if it chooses. But can it wait once it becomes obvious the ACC will fall apart? The Irish could be left with diminished independence or being forced to align with a weakened Big 12 or struggling Pac 12.
From that perspective, the SEC raiding at least two of the top ACC targets could help the Big Ten.
In that vein, I checked out the three FanSided sites for Clemson, Miami and Florida State to glean the mood of their fans.
Writing for Chop Chat, Kelvin Hunt said,
"As always, the ACC Conference is reactive instead of proactive, depending on their Grant of Rights to hold the conference together. However, I don’t think ACC schools with value can afford to be afraid to test the waters since all signs point toward the conference being fairly worthless in the next few years compared to the SEC and Big 10."
The chatter coming out of Tallahassee is either the B1G or the SEC would be fine, but being in the same conference with Florida and potentially Miami has strong appeal.
On the Rubbing the Rock, Clemson site, there is strong opinion the Tigers should leave the ACC. John Chancey, writing for the site argues the Big Ten is a better fit for Clemson than the SEC. The claim made by Chancey is that “SEC cultures are a dreadful fit” for Clemson.
Down in Coral Gables, almost all the chatter is about Miami’s recent recruiting success. Judging by Canes Warning, Mario Cristobal’s program is poised for a return to greatness. In whatever conference Miami resides, the Canes are expected to be a dominant team.
What will happen next and when? Much will happen and CFB will forever be changed. The when could be days or weeks or could be many months.