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Is Florida State leaving for the Big Ten? Here's what we know about conference realignment
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- Is Florida State leaving for the Big Ten? Here's what we know about conference realignment
Update: After FSU was left out of the College Football Playoff , another round of rumors started about Florida State leaving the ACC for the Big Ten at a January 31 meeting. Here's what we know about that.
Is Florida State leaving for the Big Ten or SEC in the next wave of conference realignment ?
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Last August, the Board of Trustees called a meeting . While the agenda didn't include anything about leaving the ACC, the topic rounded out the meeting , which lasted more than an hour. The timing is also curious: Any team looking to depart in the next year would need to do so by Aug. 15.
FSU, Clemson and other top-tier ACC teams have long been in contention with the conference over revenue distribution as they try to compete with other college football powers. And with Colorado announcing recently that it's rejoining the Big 12 , fans are looking for who might be the next team to make a move .
Here's what we know:
Why would Florida State leave the ACC?
Florida State leaders have been vocal in their displeasure over the conference's revenue sharing plan. Most complaints circle around the ACC's TV contract with ESPN, which extends through 2036 even as the network makes substantial cuts . The Big Ten signed a seven-year, $8 billion deal to air games between Fox, CBS and NBC that goes into effect this season. Next year, the SEC starts a 10-year, $3 billion deal to move from CBS to ESPN .
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Those deals include huge payouts for the schools. Florida coach Billy Napier said projections show each SEC school would get millions more from the new deal, rising from $55 million to potentially more than $70 million . Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said Big Ten schools will receive about $80 million each year from its TV contract, whereas FSU currently receives $42 million .
Is the Florida State Board of Trustees meeting to leave for the Big Ten or SEC?
Not technically. The published agenda did not include any talk about athletics. The closest it comes is a request for approval about a loan for Seminoles Boosters Inc.
But the sudden call to the meeting last week has the rumor mill spinning. Plus there's this: If a school wants to leave the ACC within the next year, it has to submit a written notification to the league office by Aug. 15.
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Florida State President Richard McCullough and the Board of Trustees did discuss potentially leaving the ACC at the end of the meeting, calling it an "existential crisis."
Watch the meeting: Florida State Board of Trustees discuss leaving the ACC
What they said: 4 key quotes from Florida State Board of Trustees meeting about conference realignment
Are FSU and Clemson joining the Big 10?
Rumors are swirling that the Big Ten plans to add Florida State and Clemson from the ACC and Washington and Oregon from the Pac-12. So far, nothing has been made official.
Are the Big Ten and SEC looking to expand?
Not officially, but that hasn't stopped expansion before. Southern California and UCLA announced last year they were leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten starting in 2024, giving the conference 16 teams stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The SEC is reportedly content at 16 teams after Texas and Oklahoma join next season.
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On Friday, reports came out that Washington and Oregon were leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten .
Could Florida State join the Big 12?
If it were, it would find itself reunited with Seminoles legend Deion Sanders. "Coach Prime" is now the head coach at Colorado, which announced last week it was leaving the Pac-12 in favor of the Big 12 . With the earlier additions of UCF, Houston, BYU and Cincinnati, that makes 13 teams in the conference once Texas and Oklahoma leave next year for the SEC.
The Arizona Board of Regents also met Thursday, and the Wildcats reportedly want to join the Buffaloes in leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 . And Friday evening, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Arizona State and Utah had applied to join the Big 12 also, which would put the conference at 16.
What is FSU saying about the Big 10 and SEC?
Not much, but leadership has been loud about the changes needed for Florida State to stay in the ACC.
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At last year's Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference, FSU President Richard McCullough mentioned FSU football and conference realignment and said, "We're trying to do anything we can to think about how we remain competitive. Florida State is expected to win. We're going to be very aggressive."
FSU Director of Athletics Michael Alford said "something has to change" at February's Board of Trustees meeting in regards to conference revenue sharing and the Seminoles' future in the ACC.
When did Florida State join the ACC?
Florida State was an independent team until 1990, when it agreed to become the ninth school to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Under coach Bobby Bowden, the FSU football team instantly became the class of the ACC, which until then had been known as strictly a basketball conference.
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In 1992, their first season as an official member, the Seminoles went 11-1 and finished No. 2 in the AP poll. The following season, they went 12-1 and won the national championship. Florida State won its first 29 conference games, finally falling at Virginia on Nov. 2, 1995.
Did FSU turn down the SEC?
For decades before joining the ACC, Florida State had wanted to join the college football powerhouse known as the Southeastern Conference. In 1990, it finally had its chance during a major nationwide upheaval across the college football landscape. Penn State became the 11th school in the Big Ten; the Southwest Conference was years away from merging with the Big 8 to form the Big 12; and the ACC, SEC and Big East were all looking to add teams, as well.
According to reports, Florida State opted to join the ACC for academic reasons. In-state rival Miami would then join the Big East before joining the Seminoles in the ACC for the 2004 season.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FSU football to the Big 10? What we know about ACC rumors
