Throughout the offseason leading up to the 2023 college football season, the biggest topic was which conferences would add which programs.
Texas, Oklahoma, USC and UCLA all got the ball rolling and chose their own destiny, while the rest of the Pac-12 and Big 12 were thrown into panic. It then emerged that the conference was the most prepared, aggressive and strategic about its next step in realignment and media rights negotiations. It ended up being the Big 12, which poached four Pac-12 programs, while the rest of the conference outside of Oregon State and Washington State went to the Big Ten or ACC, effectively killing the Pac-12 as we knew it.
Over the past few days in particular, it has become more apparent that there will be more conference realignments underway due to Florida State’s dissatisfaction with the ACC. Florida State is suing the conference over its mismanagement of media rights and for “draconian” exit fees that make exit nearly impossible.
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Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC
According to a ESPN In December, when news of their lawsuit broke, it was revealed that it would cost approximately $570 million to leave the conference without a legal victory or settlement. As revealed last week, ACC programs can buy out their rights.
Something that Andy Staples from On3 think this leads us to another wave of realignment:
Because the ACC opened the door Friday afternoon to a potential next round of realignment. On page 20 of a 40-page filing seeking dismissal or stay of the State of Florida’s lawsuit against the Leon County Florida Conference, ACC attorneys outlined a path to an end point logical in a case pending in two different states. The next step after this endpoint will likely be another shakeup that will once again change our perception of which conferences hold what power.
Depending on what happens at Florida State, Staples also revealed that other programs like Miami, Clemson or North Carolina could also buy their way out. This would certainly accelerate the Power 2 direction of college football that we appear to be heading in.
As for what will happen to the rest of the conference, that’s another major mystery. The ACC should plan for Florida State to leave and do what it can to add more programs.
