The USC Trojans are no stranger to realignment in collegiate athletics. Just last year, the Trojans left their longtime home in the Pac-12, to join the Big Ten, a move that had massive implications for the state of college sports. Now, new rumors emerged this past week that Clemson and North Carolina could potentially look to leave the ACC for the SEC. Could another waive of college football realignment be upon us? If so, what would that mean from a national perspective?
Realignment never sleeps
After arguably the wildest year in college sports history during which seemingly half of the schools in the country changed conferences, it felt as though things were finally calming down. A reminder: When it comes to realignment, things are never calm.
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Could the ACC survive?
The ACC’s status as a “power conference” in college football is already on thin ice. While it is clearly above all of the Group of Five Conferences, it is well below the SEC and Big Ten in terms of the caliber of its members.
Having Clemson is one of the few things keeping the ACC’s status as a “power conference” alive. If the Tigers were to depart, it would effectively be a glorified Group of Five league, similar to the new Pac-12. Could Clemson’s departure create a domino effect in which other schools were to depart as well? If so, would the league be able to survive?
“Power Two” Gap Continues to Widen
Of all of the schools that have won a national championship in football since 2002, Clemson is one of two that is not currently a member of either the SEC or the Big Ten. If the Tigers were to join the SEC, that would leave Florida State as the only program with a national title in the past 23 years that is not in one of those two conferences.
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Potential on-field impact
Clemson won two national championships under head coach Dabo Swinney in the 2010s, taking down Alabama during the height of the Nick Saban journey in order to do so both times. Over the past few years, however, the Tigers have fallen somewhat back down to Earth. While the Tigers are still clearly the class of the ACC, they have struggled against SEC and Big Ten competition in nonconference play.
North Carolina, meanwhile, is coming off an up-and-down stretch under former head coach Mack Brown. This offseason, the Tar Heels made perhaps the strangest hire possible when they gave arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all-time in Bill Belichick his first head coaching job at the college level.
How Clemson and North Carolina would fair on the field in the SEC is a massive question hovering over this entire saga.
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Who could be next?
Clemson and North Carolina leaving the ACC would likely not be a standalone move—it would almost certainly trigger other schools to change conferences as well. So who would be the leading candidates?
The obvious answers are Florida State and Miami. If Clemson were to join the SEC, those would be the lone programs outside of a “Power Two” conference with a football national championship in the BCS/CFP era. In addition, Duke may not be a football powerhouse, but their storied basketball rivalry with North Carolina could lead them to pursue other options should the Tar Heels leave the ACC.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Clemson, North Carolina could cause more college football realignment
