Could it be that conference realignment, after what seemed like an endless cycle of movement, is finally coming to a halt? Everyone from school presidents to athletic directors to college football fans, in general, is looking for a bit of a breather after what has been a wild month of conference shakeups. While ACC members Florida State and Clemson made attempts to continue the shakeup by threatening to leave the conference, it looks like they'll have to stay for now, as the SEC and Big Ten seemingly have no interest in further expansion, according to Dennis Dodd at CBS Sports.

Where does the ACC, Florida State, Clemson go from here?

Where does the ACC go from here? Looking at the ACC's school roster, there are obvious money-drawing teams within the conference. You have the obvious upset members in Florida State and Clemson, but outside of them, you also have Miami, North Carolina, and even Virginia Tech. There's also Georgia Tech, which plays in the heart of Atlanta, a big television market, although it competes with Georgia. These teams do hold value, but the hold-up is obviously in the lack of revenue.

As handcuffed as the members of the conference are in the grant of rights deal with the ACC, in which the conference owns their broadcast rights until 2034, the conference and the members that make it up have no choice but to look toward a resolution through evolution.

ACC shouldn't seek conference expansion

Believe it or not, evolving shouldn't come from expansion, simply because there aren't any more reasonable, money-drawing options in teams available. The other conferences have eaten them up to this point. The teams that currently reside in the ACC are the best options available, who, if not for the grant of rights, most likely would have already gone to either the SEC or Big Ten.

It simply makes no sense for the ACC to further expand, especially to the west coast for Cal and Stanford. For one, that completely diminishes the name recognition of the conference, not to mention that it would be a logistical nightmare (something the Big Ten will soon discover).

Two, the problem the ACC has now is that there's not enough money to go around for everybody to compete against the other high and mighty conferences, leaving them at the lower end of the food chain. Adding yet two more schools only decreases the amount of revenue for each team. If conference expansion is indeed driven by football revenue, what would be a good reason for highly academic schools like Cal or Stanford to join the ACC? There isn't one.

Florida State, Clemson, and others must make the most out of what they've got

The ACC will be entering a more performance-based model in 2024. Back in May, the ACC board of directors endorsed this method, which will focus on postseason performance.

“These ‘success incentives' are based on performance in revenue-generating postseason competitions—more specifically, the College Football Playoff and NCAA tournament,” ESPN's Andrea Adelson wrote. “A larger share of that revenue will go to the teams participating rather than being divided equally among all members.

“All other revenues, including those from the league's current television contract, will continue to be shared equally. While the complete specifics have not yet been solidified, the success incentive initiative will begin in 2024-25, once the expanded College Football Playoff begins.”

Media rights and revenue are running thin now

It's pretty plain and simple now. If the Seminoles and the Tigers want the best, they're going to have to be the best. That's the only option they have left now. They can threaten to leave all they want, but what they have to ultimately realize is that it would take a great cost for them to remove themselves from the conference. In order to break away from the ACC, Florida State, Clemson, and others would be required to settle an exit charge equal to three times their yearly earnings (roughly around $120 million). Additionally, the school would have to successfully manage retaining their media rights from the ACC for the broadcast of future games.

Let's say even if Florida State and Clemson could afford such a divorce—what's the better option afterward? As we've seen, the landscape in college football can change in a moment's notice. In the last month, we've seen six teams announcing their departures from the Pac-12, leaving for the greener pastures of the Big Ten and Big 12. When the 2024 season finally does roll around, there will be 34 teams combined between the Big Ten and SEC conferences. So, you then have to ask: how much money is left to spread around?

The Pac-12 learned the hard way that after all the flip-flopping going on between conferences, these networks finally looked at their budgets and essentially realized they had hit their peak. With that being said, the ACC chose the best course of action and moved toward an incentive-based model, as all other options were exhausted, and probably will be for the immediate future.

This is the ACC now; it's time for Florida State football and Clemson football to accept it.