SEC Announces Landmark Expansion Amid Other Re-Alignment News
In one of the most sweeping realignment shifts in modern college athletics, the Southeastern Conference announced Wednesday that Clemson, Miami, and Coastal Carolina will join the league beginning in the 2036 season. The expansion reshapes the SEC’s competitive core and deepens its geographic footprint across the Southeast.
The move comes with significant counterweights: Arkansas will depart for the Big 12, while both South Carolina and Vanderbilt will transition to the ACC, creating a rare three-way realignment exchange designed to shore up competitive balance and preserve institutional fit across conferences.
“Today marks a pivotal moment for the future of the Southeastern Conference,” commissioner Greg Sankey said in a prepared statement. “The additions of Clemson University, the University of Miami, and Coastal Carolina University reflect the evolving landscape of collegiate athletics and the continued commitment of our member institutions to excellence in competition and academic achievement.”
League sources emphasized three priorities driving the expansion: elite football performance, long-term media leverage, and strategic regional consolidation. Clemson, Miami, and Coastal Carolina checked all three boxes.
Viewed for years as an SEC program in ACC clothing, Clemson’s long-standing championship pedigree, top-end recruiting reach, and cultural alignment made them a natural fit. Their addition also creates a seamless rivalry with South Carolina’s replacement: Coastal Carolina.
Miami secures the SEC a stronghold in the South Florida media and recruiting market. With renewed investment and postseason success earlier this decade, the Hurricanes bring both brand power and on-field upside.
No program in college football has ascended more dramatically than Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers bring three National Championships (2028, 2031, 2032), four straight ACC championships (2031-2034), and a proven track record against SEC competition since 2025.
“Coastal is one of the most modern programs in the country; fearless scheduling, strong identity, and real results,” one SEC official said. “This is about performance, not pedigree.”
Arkansas’ shift reunites the Razorbacks with historic Southwest rivals and places them in a more attainable competitive ecosystem after years of inconsistent SEC results.
“This is a homecoming,” Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek said. “We gain geographic clarity and meaningful rivalries.”
South Carolina’s move returns the Gamecocks to a conference that more closely aligns with their institutional peers and competitive trajectory. The ACC regains a major flagship school and a natural regional anchor.
Vanderbilt’s transition has been discussed internally for years. While their SEC membership brought prestige, football competitiveness remained an annual uphill battle. The ACC, aiming to reinforce its academic identity and broaden its institutional profile, saw an opportunity.
“Vanderbilt elevates our academic portfolio and strengthens our footprint in a key market,” ACC commissioner J.P. Morgan said. “It’s a perfect fit for who we are and who we want to be.”
Sources within the ACC acknowledged that Vanderbilt’s athletics department has sought a runway for competitive reset, one the ACC can provide with more sustainable expectations than the SEC’s arms race.
The 2036 season now looms as a watershed moment. Clemson, Miami, and Coastal Carolina will inject fresh rivalries and immediate competitive intrigue into the SEC. Arkansas, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt find more natural homes. And the sport’s southeastern power structure shifts once again.
“This is the SEC redrawing the coastline,” one realignment analyst said. “And everyone else has to respond.”
While the SEC stole most of the national spotlight, it wasn’t the only league reshaping its future. Both the Big 12 and Pac-12 followed with recalibrations of their own—smaller in scale, but potentially just as consequential.
The Big 12 confirmed that Tulane and Memphis will officially join the conference in 2036 along with Arkansas, rewarding two programs that have consistently pushed into the national conversation over the past decade. The move comes as the league approved the departures of Texas Tech and Iowa State, both of which will head to the American Athletic Conference in search of what administrators described as “a competitive reset and long-term stability.”
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark called the additions of Tulane and Memphis “a strategic alignment of ambition and performance,” adding, “These are programs that have shown they can sustain success. They fit our competitive identity and elevate our football and basketball profiles immediately.”
In the West, the Pac-12 announced a cleaner, one for one exchange. San Jose State, fresh off consecutive winning seasons and significant institutional investment, will join the conference as UNLV returns to the Mountain West after struggling to build on its breakout 2024 campaign.
Pac-12 Commissioner Jennifer Cohen framed the move as part of a long-term stability effort, saying, “San Jose State’s growth on the field, academically, and financially, aligns with where the Pac-12 is headed. At the same time, we believe UNLV is better positioned for success back in the Mountain West, where its regional rivalries and recruiting footprint remain strongest.”
These shifts may not match the seismic waves generated by the SEC, but they add another layer to an increasingly fluid conference landscape; one where upward mobility, strategic fit, and sustainability matter more than ever.
