Tag: Florida State ACC

Florida State files lawsuit against ACC — should Stanford and Cal feel safe right now?

This could get really wild.

As soon as Florida State was snubbed in the College Football Playoff selection process, a lot of people who follow college football realized how big a deal that was. It was clear that Florida State wasn’t just going to sit down and quietly accept that ruling. The Seminoles were unbeaten as a Power Five conference champion, and yet they got left out. Alabama, which lost a game, got in over the Seminoles.

Florida State — the school — was mad at ESPN. It was mad at the SEC. It was also mad that its own conference, the ACC, is viewed as second-rate compared to the SEC and therefore played a role in the big snub. The Seminoles had already expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with the ACC. The playoff snub made sure they were going to try to leave the ACC as soon as possible.

Now we have news which affirms that point. Florida State has in fact filed a lawsuit against the ACC. It’s a move to get out of the conference and blow up the existing conference structure. It raises the point of whether Stanford and Cal should feel safe in the ACC. It raises the point of whether this whole realignment map is going to remain intact. So many questions exist.

Here are the main details to know about, from Pete Thamel of ESPN and others. Everyone across the country is reacting to this:

Florida State playoff snub could destroy the ACC, completely reshape realignment again

Realignment could spin furiously after the Florida State controversy. We’ll explain.

The snub of Florida State in the College Football Playoff was, first and foremost, a playoff story. Who is in and who is out? That was the most immediate drama on Sunday. If Florida State had been included, it would have been a much quieter Sunday than what we actually had. Because a 13-0 Power Five conference champion was excluded from the playoff, however, a true firestorm erupted. This was unprecedented in the playoff era, which dates back to 2014. The selection committee crossed a bright red line.

The fact that the snubbed team just happened to be from the ACC, and that the SEC benefited from the ACC getting snubbed, is an explosive event not just in the realm of the playoff and the bowl schedule, but in the realm of realignment. There’s a lot to talk about here.

Let’s dive in:

Florida State fan describes Stanford and Cal to ACC as ‘frozen leftovers’

The term is a clever reference to ACC negotiations having been frozen, but now resuming, in pursuit of Stanford and Cal.

If you ask ACC fans about the idea of adding Stanford and Cal, some of them might accept the reality that more television money is necessary. If you ask those ACC fans from schools other than Florida State or Clemson, they will probably concede the point that the ACC needs to add Stanford and Cal as insurance against FSU and Clemson eventually leaving the conference. Most ACC observers think Florida State and Clemson will leave. It’s a matter of when, not if.

The practical dimensions of the ACC adding Stanford and Cal — which has picked up considerable momentum over the past 36 hours — are conceded by people who live and work in the ACC footprint and its media markets. However, no one in the ACC is doing cartwheels over this. It’s not exciting. It isn’t a huge boost to the conference’s football and basketball brands. It is seen mostly as an act of survival — necessary, perhaps, but ridiculous.

Florida State fans led the chorus in noting the absurdity of Stanford and Cal potentially joining the ACC. One fan called the two Pac-4 refugees “frozen leftovers.” Let’s see how others reacted to this latest realignment plot twist:

Why George Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 should be talking to Florida State and the ACC

Florida State wants out of the ACC. This doesn’t mean the #Pac12 should invite FSU, but it could offer a last-minute rescue plan.

We are talking about college sports realignment now, much as we did throughout July of 2022 after USC and UCLA left for the Big Ten.

It has been striking to notice how many articles we wrote in July of 2022 which are still very applicable to the larger college sports scene in August of 2023. These are not settled matters. These are not resolved questions. They are still up in the air and could break in various directions.

One item still unresolved from last summer is whether the ACC’s grant of rights really is an airtight seal keeping teams from leaving the conference, or whether it can be torn up and renegotiated. It has a lot to do with Florida State and Clemson. It could also give the Pac-12 a possible avenue to a last-minute survival plan.

Let’s walk through the details here and explain them: