Tag: Florida State Big Ten

RUMOR: Florida State working to leave ACC for Big Ten within next month

Rumor has it that Florida State will be heading to the Big Ten

Rumor has it Florida State will be heading to the Big Ten.

Conference expansion and realignment has been major news storyline across  college football for the last two years, and it appears another big shake-up is on the way. On Friday, a report emerged that Florida State is working to leave the ACC and join the Big Ten within “the next month.”

Blue Bloods Bias shared a report on the potential massive realignment news (which can be found below) on Friday, and it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise honestly. It’s been no secret Florida State has wanted to get out of the ACC, and the latest College Football Playoff snub may have been the breaking point for the Seminoles.

The Big Ten is set to add four teams in the upcoming year: USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. The additions will push the league to 18 teams. Should Florida State actually head to the Big Ten, my assumption would be another program would join them to make a 20-team conference. North Carolina, Miami (Florida), Virginia, Clemson and, of course, Notre Dame would be top contenders to pair with the Seminoles.

Click on the tweet below to learn more about this rumor and the potential of the Big Ten adding Florida State soon:

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Stanford and Cal in the ACC? Surely this isn’t a long-term solution for college sports

Yes, Stanford and Cal needed to join the ACC to avoid a financial hit, but if Florida State leaves the ACC, what happens then?

Stanford and Cal found their lifeboat. They got to the Good Ship ACC and were rescued. They received blankets, hot coffee, and sandwiches. They were taken care of and will survive. Truly and genuinely: Good for them. They weren’t stranded, unlike Washington State and Oregon State.

However, life in the ACC is not going to be completely stable. Florida State wants out of the ACC, and the Seminoles seem to view their situation as a matter of when, not if, they will depart the conference. What will happen then?

If Florida State does leave, that’s a big hit to the ACC football brand. Clemson might want to leave for the SEC. North Carolina could become a central Big Ten target, and Duke might join the Tar Heels. Remember: Former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is a North Carolina alumnus. UNC to the Big Ten is not a ridiculous scenario, certainly not in comparison to Stanford and Cal going to the ACC.

Realignment might have slowed down for now, with the only short-term question being the fate of Washington State and Oregon State. However, Florida State is likely to leave the ACC in the next several years. What happens when the Seminoles pack their bags?

People are still bewildered by Stanford and Cal going to the ACC, as you can see below. When you look at how people are processing all of these wild developments, it is clear that no one thinks this is a healthy, sensible way to arrange college sports. Surely we can all do a lot better than this:

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:

Maryland returning to ACC would solve many college sports realignment problems

If Maryland returned to the ACC, either Florida State or Stanford could join the #B1G. We’d get Duke-Maryland basketball back!

Realignment, as we keep finding out, is not a permanent thing. We thought in May the chessboard was going to remain relatively stable for the next few years until the new College Football Playoff television rights deal was negotiated for the 2026 season and beyond.

San Diego State and SMU joining the Pac-12 was viewed two months ago as possible realignment move, but that was going to be it. The Pac-12 would have stayed intact, and the other Power Five conferences would remain unchanged. Everything seemed quiet … and then Colorado bolted for the Big 12.

All heck broke loose.

The Pac-12 abruptly splintered and was reduced to the rubble of four teams. The Big 12 grew to 16 schools, and the Big Ten ballooned to 18 just days after commissioner Tony Petitti said his focus was only on getting USC and UCLA smoothly integrated into the conference.

Permanence is not part of the reality in realignment. Therefore, while a lot of different scenarios simply aren’t going to happen right now, they could happen in a few years. The idea the chessboard is fixed just doesn’t hold water.

By the end of this decade (the 2020s), it’s hard to see the ACC retaining all of the schools currently part of the conference. There is bound to be at least one defection if not more from the ACC. That would likely cause more defections and/or changes in the landscape.

It is worth looking at various conference and school changes which, if made, would make college sports so much better and serve the interests of numerous schools, not to mention fans and media. These changes aren’t going to happen in the next few years (we think), but it’s worth mentioning them.

Let’s start with the ACC, since that conference is the most likely to undergo changes within the next five years:

North Carolina State is blocking Stanford and Cal to the ACC

Naturally, Florida State and Clemson would be against this move. North Carolina? Maybe. But why #NCState? This is fascinating. #ACC

Our friends at Fighting Irish Wire are looking on with interest at the ACC, where Notre Dame has been pushing for Stanford and California to be invited to the conference.

Some national commentators have thrown out some very interesting (read: wild) ideas about Notre Dame and what the Irish should do. Fighting Irish Wire is chuckling at how often — and how badly — the national college sports media world wants Notre Dame to join a conference, when that just isn’t happening.

However, as much as national pundits and personalities might be erroneous and tiresome with their constant insistence that Notre Dame should join a conference, they do have a point in this regard: Why should Notre Dame have a vote on ACC matters when the Irish aren’t a full member in football? It does seem reasonable enough that the ACC should insist on full football membership before granting Notre Dame a vote.

That brings up the larger question, though: Why aren’t more ACC schools voting against Notre Dame’s push to have Stanford and Cal join the conference? The conference has 15 votes with Notre Dame included. The conference needs 75 percent of schools — at least 12 of the 15 (11 isn’t enough) — to approve the Stanford-Cal plan.

Currently, 11 schools are in favor, four are not.

We can understand why Florida State and Clemson would vote no. Why would they want to give Notre Dame anything it wants? Those schools are unhappy with the ACC to begin with. They don’t want Notre Dame to get its way. Moreover, adding Stanford and Cal probably means FSU and Clemson have to split ACC revenues with even more schools. The ACC gets stronger without making concessions to FSU and Clemson, which aren’t getting nearly as much TV money as they should be.

That makes sense.

It makes some sense that North Carolina is also voting against the Stanford-Cal plan, though this one is a little more tricky. Does UNC privately want to go to the Big Ten? If it does, voting no makes sense.

It’s the fourth school voting against the Stanford-Cal plan that is eye-opening. North Carolina State is the fourth no. What really is fascinating about all of this is N.C. State is voting no whereas in-state neighbor Wake Forest is voting yes. Another North Carolina-based school, Duke, is voting yes.

Nine other ACC schools — Boston College, Syracuse, Louisville, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Miami, Georgia Tech — are joining Notre Dame in voting yes as well.

What is it about North Carolina State that is making the Wolfpack oppose this plan while other ACC schools are approving it? Is this the way the 15 ACC schools think, or are the 11 “yes” votes voting yes only because they want to make Notre Dame happy on the surface but secretly oppose the plan and know that four schools will never allow it to happen?

It’s very intriguing.

Let’s look at ACC and national reactions to the revelation that North Carolina State has joined Florida State, Clemson, and North Carolina in opposing Notre Dame’s Stanford-Cal plan in the ACC:

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: