CLEMSON — For a few years now, Dabo Swinney has said the world of super conferences and college athletics was coming.

After what has happened this past week with the Big 12’s and the Big 10’s raid of the Pac-12, Swinney was very prophetic. With the edition of Washington and Oregon on Friday, the Big 10 will now have 18 members starting in 2024. The conference brought in USC and UCLA last year.

The Big 12, which lost Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2021, added UCF, BYU, Houston and Cincinnati last year and this summer has welcomed back Colorado, while inviting Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to their league on Friday.

The Big 12 is now up to 16 members, tied with the SEC and two behind the Big Ten.

“Honestly, it is just the next domino to where it is all going. It is what it is,” Swinney said prior to the start of fall practice on Friday.

Where does Clemson fall in all of this? Florida State came out this past week very adamant about its future in the ACC.

It’s no secret Clemson and FSU have long been disappointed with the league’s revenue distribution. The Seminoles have been more vocal about their disappointment and threats, while the Tigers have quietly planned an exit strategy behind the scenes.

Does this mean Clemson and FSU are the next two dominoes to fall in realignment?

“I do not know if it is going to be this year, mid-season, next year or three years from now. Eventually we are going, and I do not know what the number is, but there will be 40, 50 or 54 teams or something like that,” Swinney said. “It is going to be a 14 or 16-team playoff type of deal. That is what it is going to be.”

Clemson and FSU have been rumored to join the Big Ten or the SEC, but at this point no one knows for sure. The two schools have to get a formal invitation to join another conference before they would be able to leave the ACC.

As of the time this article was written, that has not happened. However, this is a very fluid situation and things appear to be changing every day.

“There is a lot going on for sure,” Swinney said. “Obviously, there are administrators, they have a lot happening out there. My job is to get the team ready to play. That is my job. I do not get caught up in all that stuff.”

Swinney admits he does not know what the future holds for the Tigers, but he is confident athletic director Graham Neff, President Jim Clements and school officials will have Clemson in position to compete at the highest level possible.

But Swinney does know this, the world of college football will not be the same in a few years that it is today.

“I do not know what the league is going to be called or what the divisions, or whatever, but that is where it is going to go eventually,” he said. “There just seem to be steps going there. So, there are obviously a lot of narratives and things like that, and obviously from a lot of conversation about our league, TV contracts and things like that.

“Those things are important, obviously. That is what administrators do. They plan. We have a great president and people are always evaluating the landscape. Just wait until next week, it will be something completely different.”

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