And what happens with the ACC? The Big 12's new deal -- and subsequent grant of rights -- has left it in a solid position through 2030-31. The fact that every major conference television deal expires and can be reupped before the ACC comes back to the table illuminates the fears around the ACC. The ACC's deal with ESPN runs through 2036, and part of the reason it ran that long is because it allowed the league to form the ACC Network. But there are increasing nerves about the more than $30 million annually its competitors will be earning above the ACC. About half the league is fine with the financial status quo. And there's another half -- those schools most invested in football -- that continues to look for creative ways to find more money, whether within the league or by finding a way out. Unequal revenue sharing continues to be discussed, but that can't cover a $30 million delta. "There's a disparate nature to the ACC," an ACC source said. "You have publics and privates and big schools and small schools. It's a little bit of the ACC uniqueness. But times like now, it really, really shows itself. In the last year, it has become so apparent." Sources around the league stress nothing is imminent in terms of a breakaway, but the search for new financial avenues continue. "I don't expect anything in six months," an industry source said. "But in six years, it'd be shocking if everything looked the same. The other leagues get an additional bump before the ACC comes up." Just how binding are the grant of rights? School after school has gone to league headquarters to study them, so if there was an easy way out, some smart lawyer would have found it by now. (The ACC, like most leagues, doesn't allow copies of the television contracts and grants of rights out of the building, which protects the contracts from FOIA requests.) The essence of an ACC escape is that it would cost more than $100 million to leave and the schools would still need legal wrangling to get access to their own games' TV money for more than a decade. That's significant risk -- but there's also plenty of risk for the high-profile schools of falling hundreds of millions behind national competitors. "Different lawyers have different opinions," an industry source said. "Eventually, someone will take the leap. You'd assume that others would follow right behind." As usual in college athletics, the lawyers would be sure to cash in. The only certainty from any type of attempted breakup or breakaway would be billable hours. "If you are going to try and get out of the grant of rights, you better have a war chest," an industry source said. "You're going to need it to pay legal fees."