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An ACC administrator believes the SEC and Big Ten are hoping the conference bleeds out and eventually goes away. Over the past two years, realignment has been prominent in college football as the Big Ten and SEC have been the leading conferences, creating two super conferences.
In the realignment, the Pac-12 has been decimated, and an anonymous Atlantic Coast Conference administrator claimed the Big Ten and SEC are hoping that happens to their conference.
“Now look,” said one administrator to Yahoo. “It would have been the smart thing to do. The SEC and Big Ten have cut us open and they’re just watching us bleed out.”
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Although the Atlantic Coast Conference hasn't lost any schools yet in college football realignment, FSU, Clemson and North Carolina are among the schools that have voiced their frustration with the conference.
ACC commish calls lawsuits 'disruptive'
FSU and Clemson are suing the ACC, which commissioner Jim Phillips says is disruptive.
"It's difficult, it's disruptive, it's harmful but that's the world we live in. It hasn't changed one iota about how we've interacted with them and it shouldn't," Phillips said, via ESPN.
The schools are suing the conference over its withdrawal penalty and grant of rights. Both schools have expressed interest in leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference, but they are currently locked into the conference for the time being.
However, Phillips is confident he can mend fences with the two schools and keep FSU and Clemson in the conference:
"You have to stay optimistic, and you work through these things. I don't know where it's going to go. But I will continue to remain optimistic about our league ... and I won't ever change until somebody else tells me differently. Am I going to fight and protect the ACC? Absolutely. I have to do that. That's my responsibility. So we'll see where it goes."
The ACC did add three new members to the conference, with SMU, Cal and Stanford joining for the upcoming season. The 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference college football season begins Saturday, Aug. 24, with SMU playing at Nevada and Florida State taking on Georgia State at 9:30 p.m. ET.
