Nobody likes you: Florida State unlikely to get Big Ten, SEC bid barring ACC collapse

Well, this certainly raised alarm bells on Tuesday afternoon. Brett McMurphy's intel for The Action Network painted a perfectly clear picture when it comes to Florida State's undying want to leave the ACC for another league. Apparently, Florida State has been so disruptive throughout all this that neither the Big Ten nor the SEC will welcome them into their leagues, barring a collapse of the ACC.

The fact Florida State is not an AAU university already made it difficult enough for the Seminoles to get a Big Ten bid, as pretty much all of their members either have, or had, this research accreditation working in their favor. While adding the Florida territory could be cool, Miami is an AAU school and might be a better cultural fit over Florida State. As for the SEC, they already have a team in Florida.

Here is what SEC commissioner Greg Sankey had to say about future conference expansion.

“We’re focused on our 16. Period. I'm not going to guess about what happens next. We can certainly remain at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful.”

While other sources would say varying things to McMurphy, none of them were good for Florida State: There apparently is not an appetite for conference expansion, the Big Ten would rather take its commissioner Tony Petitti's lead on the matter, and if the ACC were to break up entirely, the two most sought-after schools would be North Carolina and Virginia, which both leagues want.

Above all else, it seems as though many people in the know cannot trust Florida State after this:

“Look what they did: getting the attorney general involved, accusing [former ACC commissioner] John Swofford of rigging the television rights to help his son, filing a suit to expose ESPN’s TV deals — something the other three power leagues are against, by the way," said one of McMurphy's sources. "They’re not a good partner. There’s no congeniality. No one wants that."

Florida State and Clemson may be fits in the new Big 12, but it does not seem like they are interested. All in all, it seems as though Florida State is trying to reignite more conference realignment and no one is willing to take the bait. In the eyes of many university presidents, conference commissioners and athletic directors, Florida State has done irreparable damage to its brand over its ACC divorce.

What would it take for the ACC to collapse and for the rest of the Power Four to gobble up what is left?

Florida State is not the belle of the ball regarding conference realignment

Truth be told, I feel bad for their fans. They have waited patiently for their football program to be good again, only to be let down by the conference they are propping up. For all intents and purposes, Florida State should have made the College Football Playoff over Alabama, but getting absolutely smoked by Georgia in their "quit bowl" certainly rubbed even more people the wrong way. Grow up!

This is tough because all things equal, Florida State should be a top five job in the country. The Seminoles can get to heights in the ACC that not even Clemson can attain. When they're firing on all cylinders, there's not much the league can do to contain them. And that is the problem. They're bored and they want something better. The problem is the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Unless Florida State and Clemson really want to meet the new boss, same as the old boss in the new Big 12, here is exactly what will need to happen for the Seminoles and Tigers to get what they want in the end, which is an invitation to join either the Big Ten or the SEC. They need North Carolina and Virginia to be the first movers. They are the schools that carry the necessary cachet to ingnite this.

You may think to yourself, why them? Well, these are two public universities and the flagships in-state. Not only that, but they offer tremendous academics, as well as rich traditions in multiple sports. Factor in that the SEC does not have a footprint in North Carolina or Virginia, and they could be all about it. These schools occupy the territory that both the Big Ten and the SEC would honestly want.

From there, you will see other schools like North Carolina State and Virginia Tech follow, which could work in all three other conferences, to be totally honest. Miami feels more like a Big Ten school, and you and I both know the SEC is not going to welcome Georgia Tech back. No way, you quitters! After that, you would see the ACC get carved up like the Pac-12 did with other teams going everywhere.

Teams like Louisville, Pittsburgh, SMU, Syracuse and West Virginia fit pretty seamlessly into the Big 12. Duke and Wake Forest are harder to gauge, but I would lean Big Ten over SEC. However, Vanderbilt needs a buddy—Boston College, Cal and Stanford, who cares really? Again, this is all about North Carolina and Virginia driving the bus, and not Florida State and Clemson. They are the captains now!

Florida State tried to lead a coup, but it didn't take, so they must wait patiently for chaos to happen.