The ACC may never look the same, and the lawsuit that Clemson University filed against the league Tuesday in Pickens County appears to be the latest affirmation that sweeping changes are in the offing.

Florida State was the first to plunge into the legal pool last December, filing a lawsuit against the ACC that challenged the validity of its grant-of-rights agreement through 2036 and questioning the league’s massive exit penalties. The school exhibited a rather vocal and public display of its desire to seek an escape clause.

Clemson, on the other hand, has employed a more behind-the-scenes approach, dipping only its toe into those lukewarm legal waters since.

But on Tuesday, the time arrived for Clemson to make a bold statement of its own: Namely, “Come on in, folks, the water’s fine.”

Sure, it took a little while, but Clemson has joined Florida State in not only expressing its displeasure with the ACC, but also taking a monumental first step toward exiting the league of which it has been a charter and integral member for 72 years.

Given the current climate, Clemson may not be the last ACC program to bid adieu, particularly if Clemson and Florida State are able to successfully navigate loopholes that will facilitate less financially painful departures.

Clemson‘s suit is the latest blow to a conference not only struggling to keep its membership intact, but also attempting to remain financially competitive in a college landscape turned upside down by the transfer portal, NIL and widespread realignment.

Both Clemson and Florida State, who are the ACC’s undisputed football power brokers and therefore perhaps the most desired by potential suitors, see themselves as being shortchanged – quite literally – by remaining in the ACC.

The revenue gap between the ACC and other conferences such as the Big Ten and SEC is difficult to ignore, and that disparity sticks in the craw of the leadership at both Clemson and Florida State, and has for quite some time.

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The ACC lags behind the revenue afforded other conferences, and the gap is projected to continue to widen, which gives pause to how long the Tigers and Seminoles can remain competitive should they remain stuck in neutral.

Clemson University released the following statement Tuesday afternoon regarding the lawsuit:

“The ACC’s position regarding the Grant of Rights, the exit penalty, and obligations owed by members to the conference, as detailed in its public statements and other court filings, leaves Clemson with no choice but to move forward with this lawsuit.

“Clemson has not given notice that it is exiting the ACC and remains a member of the conference.”

The question now is this: But for how long?

One key takeaway in Clemson’s lawsuit states that owing media rights to “games played at a time when Clemson is not a member of the ACC were never a part of any grant of rights.”

If that’s not a tip of the cap to an impending departure, I’m not sure what is.

Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson's lawsuit makes clear ACC exit not a question of if but when