According to McMurphy, Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech are calling themselves “The Magnificent Seven,” which is referring to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger that talked about seven programs that are trying to find their way out of this awful TV deal.
“A subset of seven schools in the 14-member conference has coalesced over what many of them describe as an untenable situation,” Dellenger writes. “Officials from the seven schools, led by Florida State and Clemson, have met a handful of times over the past several months, with their lawyers examining the grant-of-rights to determine just how unbreakable it is.“
It appears that the ACC might not be sitting on solid footing right now if the reports are true. Outside of the Big Ten and SEC, conferences seem to be dealing with all kinds of fluidity as they try to do what’s best for their respective futures.
The Big 12 is in the best shape of the remaining three power five conferences, with expanded members and the best TV deal of the trio. Plus, if they can add a couple of pieces out west, they might even get a better number. The only thing that is certain is that things will keep changing as the conferences position themselves moving forward.
This summer is pivotal for the landscape of college athletics, and will certainly be one of the top storylines to follow as we inch closer to media days in a couple of months.