Florida State sends ACC a warning shot amid rampant conference realignment

Florida State sends a warning shot at the ACC in the latest wave of conference realignment.

The ACC has been awfully quiet in the latest wave of conference realignment, but Florida State could be bringing a swift end to that.

With the Big Ten and SEC adding members, the Big 12 replacing members and the Pac-12 fighting for its dear life, the ACC has sat back and watched the chaotic world of realignment unfold before their very eyes. Although the Pac-12 could die, no conference is in worse shape long-term than the ACC, and Florida State knows this. Their media rights deal is horrific, and they will get lapped.

So it comes as no surprise that Florida State athletic director Michael Alford had some blunt criticism of the league in which the Seminoles play.

"“At the end of the day for Florida State to compete nationally, something has to change moving forward.”"

Florida State had been a successful national independent before joining the ACC in the early 1990s, so don’t think for a second the Seminoles won’t bail on the league for a better financial opportunity long-term.

Simply put, the writing is on the wall for the ACC to get better or get left behind in athletics.

Let’s look at why Alford is absolutely right when it comes to Florida State’s beef with the ACC.

Florida State sends out a warning shot at the ACC for league to get it together

Although the SEC is about to get even more powerful with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas coming over from the Big 12 in 2024, one would think if the league were to expand to 18 teams, Florida State and Clemson would be its preferred additions of choice. Florida and South Carolina would need to get over themselves, much like what Texas A&M has had to do with Texas joining.

Culturally, Clemson and Florida State would be incredible fits in the SEC. These are two of the 15 most notable college football programs in the history of the sport. They have won national championships in the last decade. Together, Clemson and Florida State have held up the ACC for the better part of two decades, while the Miami and Virginia Tech additions have only been so-so.

The big thing plaguing the ACC is its current media rights deal with ESPN does not expire until … 2036. Every other Power Five conference is either negotiating a new media rights deal or just completed one like the Big 12 has. Clearly, the Big Ten and SEC are pulling away from the rest of college football, but somehow, someway, the Big 12 is going to survive this and be even stronger.

What makes this so especially troubling is the Big Ten and the SEC will be able to renegotiate another time before the ACC can even enter the negotiating process once. The SEC is closing in on $1 billion TV contracts, while the Big Ten is sure to eclipse that. The ACC pulls in maybe a quarter of that. So with that in mind, why does it have to be Florida State to force the issue in the league?

Well, the Seminoles account for roughly 15 percent of the revenue generated by the 14-team league, yet they get the same percentage split as everyone else, just slightly over 7 percent. Not to say the ACC will collapse if Florida State were to leave, but the Seminoles are one of only a few teams in vulnerable Power Five conferences that can move the needle and capture a TV audience.

Overall, the ACC needs find a loophole to get out of its media rights deal before it is too late. It may not be possible, but they have to try. Even more troubling, the ACC is probably in the worst position of any Power Five league of getting two teams into the expanded College Football Playoff. Florida State was much improved a year ago, but only Clemson would have made it with 12.

Ultimately, the next potential wave of college football realignment probably starts with Florida State. You could loop Clemson in with the ‘Noles as well, but they have the larger fanbase in a much more populous state. Florida State has the highest ceiling of any team in the ACC. So why would they ever league? Much like Oklahoma leaving the Big and USC leaving the Pac-12, money…

Unless something drastically changes, Florida State could have plenty of reasons to leave the ACC.

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