RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Stormeo]

some would say it was long-awaited, but this week, Florida State University (FSU) filed an official complaint for declaratory judgment against the ACC, challenging the validity of the ACC's Grant of Rights (GOR) as well as the severity of its withdrawal penalties.

FSU's Board of Trustees (BOT) estimated exit fees to leave would be upwards of $572M. https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1738216363447955520

FSU's legal counsel also claims that ESPN has a "unilateral" right to extend the current GOR from 2027 to 2036, though importantly that it has not yet, and that current ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips back in 2021 gave ESPN in writing the right to decide on that extension by February 2025. https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1738218765681082608

legally, ESPN's media rights contract with the conference requires the conference to have a minimum of 15 members. (yes, Notre Dame counts as one.) consider the three recent additions of Stanford, SMU, and Cal.

and speaking of those additions, FSU's full list of "breach of contract"-related claims against the ACC (headlined by FSU's disapproval of those additions) can be found here: https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/status/1738261956677583043

the ACC anticipated this action taken by FSU, and one day earlier filed a lawsuit against the FSU BOT stating that any matters regarding both the university and the conference must be subject to jurisdiction of the state of North Carolina, where the ACC is headquartered – rather than, say, courts within the state of Florida friendlier to its flagship university. https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1738253803596488931

in the coming weeks, it is believed/rumored that at least one other ACC school will soon take on a pursuit similar to FSU in effectively challenging the GOR's validity thereby trying to initiate a departure from the conference. that school is Clemson University.

and the University of North Carolina is at least eventually expected to follow suit. (FSU, Clemson, and UNC were the three schools that voted against the additions of Stanford, SMU, and Cal – NC State also was going to vote against the additions but inexplicably flipped in the end, becoming the deciding vote.) beyond that, potentially at least one more university is looking heavily at ultimately departing in this same way – Miami (FL), Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina State are all said to be in the mix, which wouldn't come as any surprise to those who are familiar with the conference's "Magnificent 7" incident from several months ago.

all ACC schools, including Notre Dame, will be watching to see how things play out – the full timeline of which is naturally impossible to predict – and where they themselves fit into this. to what should come as no surprise, there have been feelings of panic and mistrust between the ACC schools for months now; backdoor communications between ACC schools & other conferences have been set up. each entity is planning for the worst, especially after having witnessed what just happened to the Pac-12.

allegedly, FSU would be willing to pay more $ in a negotiated settlement in order to depart the conference as soon as possible. if that's not possible, everyone'll be in it for the long haul. but many believe this song & dance at least between the ACC & FSU only ends in a negotiated settlement. we shall see.

the poll lasts until the end of March, btw.

[Stormeo]

in terms of rumors, hereby dated the twenty-fourth day of December, 2023:

—FSU to the Big Ten, since the Noles at this point straight-up despise ESPN which fully sponsors the SEC's media rights, is as likely as ever.
—both the Big Ten & the SEC want UNC & UVA, but neither want NC State & Virginia Tech.
—it's likely that UVA & Virginia Tech are tied at the hip right now, unless UVA makes a political move to free itself [up]. that could determine where both schools' go, if anywhere.
—as the main sponsor of the Big Ten's media rights, Fox would prefer FSU be paired with Miami (FL) over Clemson if all three become available to the Big Ten.
—although the Big Ten & SEC supposedly have interest in Clemson, the Big 12 may become their landing spot should the Tigers follow through in pursuing an exit from the ACC. (that's what being in South Carolina vs. more densely populated states like Florida, North Carolina, or Virginia gets you.)
—the Big 12 would take whoever becomes available to them, aside from maybe Boston College, Wake Forest, Syracuse, and the new ACC additions.
—some believe the Big 12's most realistic targets outside of the 'Magnificent 7' schools are Louisville and Pitt.
—absolutely no one will forget in the end that Duke University exists.
—and the existence of the University of Notre Dame du Lac will not be forgotten about either, hard as we try.
—Big 12–ACC[–Pac-2] merger talks are ultimately as unsubstantiated as they are believable.
—speaking of the Pac[-2], even as the two schools just won the rights & assets to the conference, they will not be joining any conference until after the departing ten schools leave on August 2.
—speaking of August 2024, the deadline to withdraw from the ACC in time for the 2025-26 academic year is August 15. that's apparently a soft goal FSU has in getting their own baggage handled. the Noles of course won't be doing that though if the ACC continues to own the Noles' media rights by then.

[pilight]

How many years are "coming years"?

_________________
I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[Stormeo]

[okstateguy]

There are three truths. The B1G and SEC are nearing a status that completely separates them from the Big 12 and ACC. The Big 12 diluted their product in a panicked move to add G5 schools, and the ACC raiding of the Big East ultimately watered their brand to the product it is now. There are no schools left with the brand value and market that could for sure pass an expansion vote outside of ND. FSU is the next closest, but don't think they move the needle enough in a superconference to not reduce payouts. There is only one solution that combats both of these truths and restores some level of balance to college sports: a Big 12/ACC Merger. Big 12 drops the G5 schools, 8 ACC schools join, and 4 schools join in non-football sports with a 5 game scheduling agreement in football. This would make the P3 that would be:

B1G:
USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, Iowa
Michigan, Michigan St, Minnesota, Northwestern Illinois
Ohio St, Penn St, Maryland, Rutgers, Wisconsin

SEC:
West: OU, Texas, TAMU, LSU, Arkansas, Mizzou, Ole Miss, Miss St
East: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, SCar, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vandy

Big 12:
East: FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC, NC State, Virginia, VA Tech, WVU, Louisville, Iowa St(Duke and ND in non-football sports)

West: TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech, OK State, Kansas, Kansas St, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Arizona St(Oregon St, Stanford in non-football sports)

_________________
okstateguy

[Michael]

[Stormeo]

[Stormeo]

[Michael]

[Stormeo]

not to say the Big Ten presidents aren’t a tight-knit group, but they did just add four schools and became the first ‘Power’ conference to 18. seems that they’ve at least been interested in expanding their circle.

that FSU made this move seems to imply they [think they] have a landing spot in either the SEC or the B1G once they get out of the GOR. maybe the Noles are still interested in the ESPN-sponsored SEC – or will be in the future when tensions have maybe calmed – but it’s hard to see that right now. nevertheless, we’ll just have to wait & see how this unfolds, as no one knows for sure given how uncharted these waters are for school and conference alike.

Clemson’s future in either the B1G or SEC is a bit harder for people to see, which might be why the Tigers haven’t made an official move yet even as they – like the Noles – have been expected to for a little while now. the landing spot naturally is the most important part of this for these schools. (not to say Clemson for sure wouldn’t raise the Big 12’s payouts though if they joined, cuz they might – but probably not enough to really compete with the B1G/SEC if they even did.)

[tfan]

[Queenie]