No time to stand still: SEC needs Florida State, Clemson to close gap with Big Ten

 No time to stand still: SEC needs Florida State, Clemson to close gap with Big Ten

Let me take you back to 2024, and an offseason of discontent in the ACC. 

Florida State and Clemson so desperately wanted out of the cash-strapped conference, they were willing to pay nearly half a billion dollars to do it — if they could just find any takers. 

Hello, Greg Sankey? Clemson and Florida State on Line 1. It's your move, again. 

What FSU did to SEC heavyweight Alabama last weekend, and what Clemson nearly did to LSU, should make clear what was obvious all along. To Sankey, the most powerful man in college sports and SEC commissioner, and anyone else in earshot.

Florida State and Clemson are SEC schools. They look the part, they play the part. Everything they do screams SEC big boy football.

So if your Sankey, you pick up the phone when the Clemson and Florida State presidents call again (because at some point, they will), and reply with one simple yet resounding plan of action. The Tigers and Seminoles pay all exit fees and leave no monetary or legal strings attached to the ACC, and they're welcome in the SEC.

Because the narrative that FSU and Clemson don’t bring “value” to the SEC has always been a strawman argument.

No one – I mean, no one – believes a team that has played in seven of the 11 College Football Playoffs (and won two by beating, you know, Alabama) doesn’t bring value to the SEC. No one believes Florida State, one of the top television properties in college sports (even during a 2-10 season), doesn’t add value to the SEC.

If ESPN paid pro rata for Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC, they'll certainly pay the same for Clemson and Florida State.

Look, the 16 SEC presidents know the Seminoles and Tigers would be mega athletic and financial additions to the conference, on the level of Texas and Oklahoma. And truth be told, the SEC needs them in the football-driven world of college sports.

The bully on the block hasn’t won a national title since 2023, and was knocked to its knees in Tallahassee and Columbus, and nearly in Clemson, to begin this season.

I know this is difficult for the good folks at the SEC offices in Birmingham, Alabama, to hear, but the Big Ten has put space between itself and the SEC. On the field, and as a revenue-generating entity.

Sankey has never been one to stand still, and is always looking to make the SEC better and stronger. His first big expansion move (Texas and Oklahoma) was a no-brainer, and came crawling to his door.

Florida State and Clemson will do the same. It’s only a matter of taking the call and providing the parameters. 

https://csnbbs.com/thread-1014947-page-5.html

Since 1980-45 years
FSU 3 MNCs, 17 top 5s, 21 top 10s, 34 ranked
Clemson 3 MNCs, 7 top 5s, 11 top 10s, 29 ranked

National titles since 1980
7 Alabama
5 Miami
3 FSU, Clemson, Florida, Ohio St., Georgia

Sicem TV rating analysis 2013-2021
FSU #9 5.589 million
Clemson #10 5.419
SEC average 4.780
SEC median 4.405
Big Ten average 3.723
Big Ten median 3.652

Its kind of a no brainer for the conferences and for ESPN and Fox to want FSU and Clemson to be with the brands in the SEC or Big Ten.