By Greg Swaim

It’s been very interesting to see how things will wrap up in college conference realignment, but we probably won’t know for quite some time how everything will eventually shake out, as there are a lot of legal holdups that are going to keep the process from going to fruition anytime soon. 

The Big 12, which was left for dead two years ago when Texas and Oklahoma announced that they were leaving for the SEC, has not only survived but thrived, as they’ve added Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado from the Pac 12, in addition to BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston, added last year and will join this year. 

The Big 12 will have 16 teams going into the 2024 season, while the Big Ten poached Oregon and Washington from the Pac 12, so the Big 10 is in great shape as well. Obviously, the Pac 12, which is down to just four teams, is basically dead as a power five conference. 

The ACC, on the other hand, has possibly as many as eight of their current fifteen teams may try to leave the conference. If that were to happen it won’t be a conference much longer, similar to the Pac 12.

However, Florida State who was the kingpin for getting everything done to try to break that once thought to be an unbreakable grant of rights agreement. Florida State now appears like they may be holding off on that until they can get all their ducks in a row legally. 

So while it would cost the Seminoles an exorbitant amount of money to leave and go to the Big 10 or the SEC, if they were to stay in the same conference (ACC), has a grant of rights which goes to 2035, they would lose over half a billion (with a B) dollars compared to what Rutgers and others will get in the Big 10, so obviously it’s a money grab right now and everybody’s trying to move to where their entire athletic program will be financially stable. 

It will be very interesting to see how things shake out and it may last for years, so stay tuned!

Greg Swaim has been the director of Greg Swaim Sports and the Greg Swaim Recruiting Services since 1988 and has over a thousand college coaches subscribing nationwide. He hosts the “Greg Swaim Show” daily on multiple radio stations across the country and live on YouTube. He also hosts hundreds of football, basketball, baseball and softball exposure events annually to give the best exposure at GregSwaim.com.