Will Clemson Announce a Departure from the ACC Soon?

Could the Tigers have found a way out of the ACC? A new report says the chances are good.

Clemson Athletics

Could Clemson be on its way out of the ACC? After years of watching other schools and conferences consolidate power around the country, reports have surfaced that Clemson may be the next team on the move.

Gene Sapakoff of The Post and Courier put out an article that quoted an unnamed Clemson senior administrator answering the question of whether a Clemson announcement regarding leaving the ACC could come soon.

"Stay very tuned", the administrator said. Followed by "Sooner than later."

Sapakoff was writing from the perspective of South Carolina Gamecock officials who don't appear to want Clemson in their own conference but Marc Ryan of The Fan Upstate and CBS Sports Radio put out a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, early on Wednesday morning with his thoughts on what these quotes could mean for Clemson itself.

A new report claims that Clemson may be on its way out of the ACC / Clemson Athletics

According to Ryan, this implies that Clemson has found a way out of the Grant of Rights that was holding them in the ACC for the time being. It's unclear if this would also mean the same for Florida State.

While it's not known whether the ultimate goal is the SEC or the Big Ten for the Tigers, Ryan went back to a tweet he posted just over two years ago where a source told him that both Clemson and Florida State had reached out to the SEC about joining the conference after the news about Texas and Oklahoma had become public. 

At the time that source seemed to think the SEC's interest wasn't as strong in welcoming new members but a lot has happened to the landscape of college football lately and it may be the timing is right for both the Tigers and Seminoles to join the premier conference in the south, if for no other reason than to keep them from joining the Big Ten.

A lot of speculation is assured in the coming weeks and months until something is officially announced but until then it at least appears clear that Clemson may not be long for the ACC.