Private equity money could lure Florida State, Clemson to Big 12 Conference

The biggest offseason story for the Big 12 Conference hasn’t necessarily been the inaugural season for four teams from the Pac-12 Conference — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah — but the financial opportunities the league seems to be pursuing.

It’s those potential moves, including naming rights for the conference and possible investment from private equity firms that could lift the Big 12 up into the stratosphere of the SEC and Big Ten — and potentially draw in ACC schools Florida State and Clemson, according to The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel .

That’s if the SEC and the Big Ten don’t want them, obviously.

From The Athletic: “The Big 12 presents an interesting, if less plausible, alternative. On the one hand, that conference makes no more than the ACC does now, so, what’s the point, right? But if Brett Yormark gets his wish and gets his presidents to sign off on a private equity deal, it may be able to pay Florida State and Clemson a lot more than they make now, even before negotiating a new TV deal. In that scenario, those schools might be able to make Big Ten/SEC money without having to play a Big Ten/SEC schedule.”

The Big 12 lost two teams to the SEC — Oklahoma and Texas — in 2024 but has added eight new teams in the last two seasons, including BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston in 2023.

Florida State and Clemson are currently suing the ACC to get out of a possible $130 million exit fee to leave the conference before 2036.