ACC Commissioner: We Will Fight to Protect Our Conference Amid FSU, Clemson Lawsuits

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips doesn't intend to stand idly by and watch the conference disintegrate.

"We will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes," he told reporters Monday as part of the ACC's media days. "We are confident in this league and that it will remain a premier conference in college athletics. These disputes continue to be damaging and disruptive to the league."

The comments come as litigation filed by Clemson and Florida State against the conference remains ongoing. The schools are hopeful of nullifying the ACC's grant of rights, which would make it much easier to exit before the current media deal expires in June 2036.

Part of Phillips' optimistic outlook for the ACC centered on its finances, which he believes will help it remain ahead of the Big 12 and sit third in the major conference hierarchy behind the SEC and Big Ten.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark will disagree with that assessment. Despite having lost Texas and Oklahoma, Yormark maintained at the Big 12's media day they "solidified ourselves as one of the top three conferences in America" with the additions of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah.

Conference bragging rights have always been a small part of college sports, but it's not quite the same when you're only fighting for the bronze medal. The precarious nature of the current alignment erodes the sense of solidarity as well.

ACC fans are well aware of how the conference's outlook hinges squarely on the grant of rights and whether Clemson, Florida State and potentially others can nullify it. The Pac-12 will be a cautionary tale for a long time to come.

Phillips is in a difficult position because he has to project a sense of strength despite everybody knowing the reality of the situation. It won't take much for the ACC to go from the third-best conference in the country to one struggling to survive.