CLEMSON – Is Clemson on the clock?

What does that mean?

You do not know what I am talking about?

If not, you might want to read the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), which got passed through the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee last week and is heading to the full Senate Floor for consideration.

The legislation is the first comprehensive federal framework for college athletics, and it may soon be brought for a full vote on the Senate floor.

Again, what does that have to do with Clemson?

Well, if the bill becomes law, especially with the way the bill is currently written, it kills realignment at the major conference level. That means “Clemson to the SEC or the Big Ten” dies with it.

There is a catch. The bill is not a law, so Clemson could leave the ACC tomorrow for “greener pastures” if it wanted to.

But there is no reason to do that just yet. It is still “just a bill”—as the old School House Rock song said. It is not going to vote tomorrow or next week, for that matter, and if it does, its still has to pass through the House before it can be voted into law. So, we still have a ways to go.

But schools and conferences that want realignment to still take place do not need to mess around. Though overall, conferences are okay with the PCSA, no more realignment causes concern for restless ACC schools like Clemson and Florida State that recently sued the conference in order to better free up their grant of rights and buyouts.

Group of 6 schools are also worried because the bill will lock them in with no chance of moving up to the Power 4 leagues. The bill basically states that no Power 4 conference can expand from the current footprint it already has.

Here is another kicker.

If an ACC school, such as Clemson, intends to leave the conference, it must officially notify the league in writing on or before June 1 of the preceding year to be granted an exit on June 30 of the following year.

That deadline has come and passed for this coming year, which means if Clemson filed its notice to leave the ACC today, it will not be able to compete in the SEC or Big Ten until June 30 of 2028.

The exit fee for leaving the ACC next year is $129 million.

On a side note, and this something to take note of, seven ACC schools did not send a letter independently to lawmakers supporting the PCSA. Clemson was one of those seven schools, according to Yahoo Sports and documents released by the Senate Commerce Committee. The others were Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Cal, Miami and Virginia.

Some seem to believe this was a move by the seven ACC schools to either show good faith with the SEC and Big Ten, which are against the bill, or they are against the bill themselves.

No one knows for sure. So, the question – is Clemson on the clock?