ESPN Quiets Conference Realignment

Conference realignment may finally slow down for a couple of years. 

The ACC and ESPN announced Thursday that ESPN has picked up the option to continue televising ACC sports until 2036. They did so just before the February 1st deadline. 

The deal would have ended in 2027 if they had declined the option. That could have opened the door for Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, and others to leave for the SEC or Big Ten. 

This was already reported in the fall, but the ACC says it is working toward a settlement with Clemson and Florida State to end the four lawsuits between them in multiple states. 

This will have many ripple effects, especially if the settlement eventually comes through. 

First, it effectively ends Florida State and Clemson’s brief flirtation with the Big 12. For a couple of news cycles in July, that story made headlines–including in an interview Yahoo! Sports reporter Ross Dellenger did with me at Big 12 media days. 

If the Seminoles and Tigers broke free from the ACC and couldn’t yet get into the Big Ten or SEC, the Big 12 would have been a last-resort stopgap. 

ESPN’s decision also likely pushes any Power Four conference realignment off for at least a few years. 

That doesn’t mean we’ll be waiting until 2036, when the ACC TV deal is up, though. The end of the decade will be a time that could produce plenty of change. Here’s what Dellenger said about that on a WOLF Sports Twitter Space earlier this week. 

“The next big significant moment in college sports as far as realignment is concerned is 2031”, Dellenger said. “It’s when two of the four TV deals come to an end. That’s the Big 12 and the Big Ten. The SEC’s comes up three years later. The ACC’s comes up about five years later, but that could change. You could actually have it where three of the four power leagues come open around 2031. About 2027 or 2028, you’ll start to have conversations about that.”

Reporting in the fall indicated that Florida State and Clemson were pushing for the ACC to compromise and change the expiration date of the league’s grant of rights from 2036 to 2031 in exchange for them dropping the lawsuits. 

Thursday’s ESPN report says the two schools are asking the ACC to reduce penalties for breaking the grant of rights after 2031. 

Either way you slice it, they’re gearing up for some significant movement when the other Power Four TV contracts come up at the end of the decade. 

For now, though, we could be heading into a period of relative stability on the conference realignment front. 

I’m totally okay with that. Even as someone who is fascinated by realignment and creates content about it, I can acknowledge that it’s been an exhausting couple of years for everyone. 

The Big 12 can take some time to focus on itself and maximizing revenue with the current 16-team alignment, though Brett Yormark will still keep his eye on UConn, I’m sure. 

I will leave you with one big disclaimer, though. Realignment can strike at any time, even when it feels like nothing is looming. 

I’ll never forget hearing former Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby say this literally two weeks before news broke that Texas and Oklahoma were leaving for the SEC. 

As my friend Greg Flugar would say, you always need to keep your head on a swivel these days in college athletics.

What You Need to Know

• We got another insane Big 12 hoops ending this week. Arizona’s Caleb Love hit the shot of the year from beyond half-court on Monday night to send the Iowa State-Arizona game to overtime. The Wildcats went on to win 86-75. 

• UCF is squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble in Joe Lundardi’s latest Bracketology update for ESPN. The Knights are currently the last team in the field after nearly beating Kansas in Lawrence. That leaves the Big 12 with eight teams currently in.

• Iowa State Head Coach T.J. Otzelberger gave 247 Sports an update on forward Milan Momcilovic’s injury. Momcilovic hasn’t played since January 21st and is averaging 10.3 points per game while shooting 44% from three-point range this season. 

• ESPN picked Utah (yes, Utah) to win the Big 12 football championship in 2025 and advance to the College Football Playoff semifinal. You can read more here if you can’t get behind the paywall. I actually don’t think it’s quite as crazy of a pick as it might sound like on the surface–if new QB Devon Dampier works out, you know the Utes will have an excellent defense to go with him. 

• FanDuel released its 2025 Big 12 championship odds. K-State and Arizona State are the co-favorites, and Iowa State is surprisingly far down the list. If you believe in ESPN’s Utah pick, there is great value with the Utes here. 

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