While saying they're not looking for a ride, the Clemson board of trustees has pulled up its skirt and stuck out its thumb, hoping that a more football oriented conference will pick them up.
How else to take these comments?
Tuition was also on the agenda, but it was left for later. The board clearly has priorities in order.
The SEC supposedly has an understanding that they'd prefer to have one major school per state going forward (obviously the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee predate this), which theoretically means they wouldn't be able to go after Florida State, Miami, Clemson or Georgia Tech.
But who knows. The world is in flux and no one has a clue where it will stop.
Two things to keep in mind though. First, there is a lot of money and power involved, and it's an election year, so at some point, politicians will get involved. That's just a given: over the past few years, senators from Hawaii, Utah and Idaho have gone after the BCS, to little effect.
And second, no one is leaving the NCAA anytime soon. Why? Because of tax laws. The money that's around will be eaten into by travel for non-revenue teams; if college sports is treated like a normal business, many of the assumptions we currently have get turned on their head.