If ACC splinters, SEC must feast and stick Big Ten with the scraps
By: Blake Toppmeyer - USA Today Sports/Yahoo! SportsErect the fence, Greg Sankey, and keep the Big Ten off the SEC's lush Southern lawn.
Defending against the B1G northern neighbor should be a key motive for the SEC's commissioner in future realignment moves.
No, the SEC is not at risk of losing members, but the Big Ten might be intrigued by some ACC brands, if they came to market. The SEC can’t sit back and allow covetous yankee paws to cross into the South.
The SEC enjoys college athletics’ catbird seat, but the Big Ten isn’t far behind. In terms of media rights riches, they’re crushing their peers.
That makes those super-leagues desirable destinations for schools in other conferences with a wandering eye. Count several ACC members among those caught peeking.
Seven ACC schools – Clemson, FSU, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia and Virginia Tech – have examined the bonds of the ACC’s media rights deal, according to multiple reports last week surfacing from the ACC’s spring meetings.
The last thing the SEC or ESPN, its media partner, wants is for the Big Ten thinking it can seize the ACC’s top members.
ACC schools, including marquee football brands like Clemson and Florida State, are handcuffed by the league’s grant of rights deal that runs through 2036.
An expiring grant-of-rights deal makes a conference vulnerable to raids, while deals with many years remaining and carrying high exit fees help protect a conference.
The SEC plundered Oklahoma and Texas two years ago amid the Big 12’s expiring grant of rights, and an expiring Pac-12 deal aided the Big Ten’s seizure of Southern Cal and UCLA last year.
If the ACC’s deal continues to hold membership in place, the SEC should not rush to expand beyond 16 teams. In this alignment, it’s sitting pretty. The Big Ten will face difficulty surpassing the SEC’s clout without the help of the ACC’s top offerings, and no other conference is a threat.
If ACC schools somehow wriggle free, the SEC must prove itself the most desirable destination and fend off the Big Ten. Turning 16 into 20 with the addition of Clemson, FSU, Miami and UNC would fortify the SEC’s foothold.
Imagine the Big Ten gaining recruiting and media market inroads into a football hotbed like Florida. Can’t have that.
If you haven’t noticed, our country’s population is migrating. Folks are flooding southeastern states like Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. The SEC and ESPN shouldn’t want any Southern eyeballs drifting toward CBS, Fox and NBC, the networks in cahoots with the Big Ten.
Media rights distribution is not the end all, be all to athletic prowess, at least not until some of that media rights revenue gets transferred directly into athletes’ pockets. If revenue equals success, then why hasn’t Texas A&M won a football national championship since 1939?
A school with a well-funded NIL collective, a fertile recruiting base, a reputable coaching staff and a good transfer portal strategy should remain competitive, regardless of conference affiliation.
Still, university brass are inclined to chase the all-mighty dollar. And the SEC and Big Ten simply offer the most cash.
“Our conference is third in the country in distribution. As we look at the projections, at least in this decade, we're going to continue to be there,” ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips acknowledged to reporters last week.
The ACC reportedly will consider pivoting away from equal media rights distribution in favor of weighted distribution, based on a school’s success.
FSU athletics director Michael Alford previously lamented the ACC’s media rights distribution, but bolting a media rights deal isn’t as easy as breaking up with your junior high girlfriend. This separation requires more than, “It’s not you … but actually it’s you.” If escaping a media rights deal were that easy, the ACC probably would not remain at 15 members.
As it is, an ACC member exiting in violation of the agreement reportedly would face a financial penalty of about $120 million and forfeit its media rights for the duration of the ACC deal.
So, while eyes wonder, feet remain rooted.
In previous rounds of realignment, the SEC and Big Ten were earthquakes that caused subsequent tremors.
The SEC historically expands into bordering states ands invites schools that mostly fit its Southern identity. The Big Ten casts geography and identity aside. With USC and UCLA in tow, the conference will spread from Piscataway, New Jersey, to Los Angeles. But, it hasn’t penetrated the South.
FSU and Clemson, in particular, make sense for the SEC’s identity, and UNC and Miami would increase the league’s terrain. If only they were free to maneuver.
“We’re not going to get in the middle of those (grant of rights) issues. They've got to figure out their futures,” Sankey told the SEC Network last year.
That’s a fine attitude. The ACC’s waffling brotherhood and third-rate media rights deal is not the SEC’s problem, nor should it interfere with a deal that involves the SEC’s broadcast partner.
But the SEC can’t be caught flat-footed, either.
If the ACC splinters, the SEC should feast on the tastiest offerings, and stick the Big Ten with scraps.
