[GK3]

Sure, it’s all about getting settlement check.

But maybe our resident legal experts can answer this — what if Clemson (and FSU and anyone else) just went ahead and booked home-and-home series with the likes of Bama,  Michigan, U$C, etc etc? How could any governance infrastructure prevent the teams from physically meeting on the field? (Assume for a minute that the SEC wanted Clemson - either now or in the future - would it really prevent Clemson/Bama from happening? How? By suspending Bama? Right….as if.)

I really wonder how much teeth these conference structures have. What’s to prevent Fox or ESPN or whoever to negotiate a separate TV deal to show a “bootleg” game or games?

Other than $$ I don’t see a whole lot of things that can deter a school or schools from going rogue.

"Other than $$" is no small caveat. They'd face breach of contract lawsuits for the sum remaining amount of those agreements. The ACC has the grant of rights and the early exit penalties. The networks all have agreements with the conferences. Not only would those agreements prohibit the kinds of "bootlet" deals you're referring, but even if Fox or ESPN negotiated separate TV deals to show bootleg games, they'd still have to pay the ACC schools the money promised AND air those games as promised.

The reason Clemson and FSU are suing is because even in the world of seemingly unlimited college football money, there's still too much money at stake for them to walk away in breach. And the SEC and B1G are smart enough to smell a tortious interference lawsuit from a mile away and sit back counting their dough in the meantime.

Why do they have to do anything.  Now days contracts are hardly worth the cost of the paper they are printed on. The cost of defending these contracts in court could be enormous and no guarantee you will win.  Competing in Div 1 is simply not going to be worth the cost for a school like Stanford. Just go judge shopping until you find one that thinks your way.

[GK3]

Sure, it’s all about getting settlement check.

But maybe our resident legal experts can answer this — what if Clemson (and FSU and anyone else) just went ahead and booked home-and-home series with the likes of Bama,  Michigan, U$C, etc etc? How could any governance infrastructure prevent the teams from physically meeting on the field? (Assume for a minute that the SEC wanted Clemson - either now or in the future - would it really prevent Clemson/Bama from happening? How? By suspending Bama? Right….as if.)

I really wonder how much teeth these conference structures have. What’s to prevent Fox or ESPN or whoever to negotiate a separate TV deal to show a “bootleg” game or games?

Other than $$ I don’t see a whole lot of things that can deter a school or schools from going rogue.

"Other than $$" is no small caveat. They'd face breach of contract lawsuits for the sum remaining amount of those agreements. The ACC has the grant of rights and the early exit penalties. The networks all have agreements with the conferences. Not only would those agreements prohibit the kinds of "bootlet" deals you're referring, but even if Fox or ESPN negotiated separate TV deals to show bootleg games, they'd still have to pay the ACC schools the money promised AND air those games as promised.

The reason Clemson and FSU are suing is because even in the world of seemingly unlimited college football money, there's still too much money at stake for them to walk away in breach. And the SEC and B1G are smart enough to smell a tortious interference lawsuit from a mile away and sit back counting their dough in the meantime.

Why do they have to do anything.  Now days contracts are hardly worth the cost of the paper they are printed on. The cost of defending these contracts in court could be enormous and no guarantee you will win.  Competing in Div 1 is simply not going to be worth the cost for a school like Stanford. Just go judge shopping until you find one that thinks your way.