Heartland College Sports' Joe Tillery believes UCF was playing into the FSU and Clemson to the Big 12 rumor when the Knights' official X account shared EA Sports College Football 25 video game footage of UCF playing the Noles and Tigers.
"Rumors have been swirling about the Big 12 pursuing Florida State and Clemson in the event that the ACC suffers a similar demise to that of the Pac-12, which likely fueled UCF’s decision to load up a game against the pair of schools," Tillery wrote.
"While the posts appear to be nothing more than an admin having a bit of fun with the UCF audience, one statement remains true: the Big 12 is definitely still open for business."
Longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim reports that FSU, Clemson, and up to four other ACC schools could make the jump to the Big 12 by August 15.
"So getting a lot of you asking me which six ACC teams the Big 12 is likely to poach," Swaim prefaced before saying, "Obviously very early in the process, and we'll know who's leaving by 8/15 for the ACC deadline, but here would be my educated guess as of today...Clemson, FSU, Card Nation, VT, The U, and either NC State or GT."
FSU and Clemson joining the Big 12 not set in stone
While the current rumors indicate FSU and Clemson are Big 12-bound, one has to remember that this stuff moves quickly. It wasn't long ago that the SEC and Big Ten were the only two options for the Noles and Tigers.
It could be just as quick for the Big 12 rumors to fade away.
What makes the Big 12 smoke so easy to believe is Greg Sankey's comments denying interest in them at SEC media days and the Big Ten's AAU accreditation requirements coupled with Brett Yormark's desire to get private equity involved with the conference.
Just remember though: things could change again as the college football world figures out how to sort itself next.
And for all we know it probably will.