Well, FSU’s AD finally had enough of the chatter and reporters calling and asking for comments.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, FSU athletics director Randy Spetman said his programs were “committed to the ACC” and that any conversations about the school switching conferences is pure nonsense.”We’re in the ACC. We’re committed to the ACC,” Spetman said. “That’s where our president and the board of trustees has committed to, so we’re great partners in the ACC.”
For the past seven days, what started as quiet chatter on message boards and blog sites quickly turned into a matter of serious conversation among those following college football.
Florida State, the speculation said, was contemplating a move out of the ACC and was planning to go to the Big 12.
Spetman flatly refuted such accusations.
“I’m not out negotiating,” he said.
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Spetman also told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday that any reports about him or any of his fellow FSU officials out talking to Big 12 officials are patently false.
“They’ve said I’ve been in Texas all this week,” Spetman said. “My wife was wondering how I was getting back and forth every day.”
According to Austin American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls, Spetman may be telling the truth.
In a tweet from Thursday, Bohls said that Texas and Texas Tech officials were surprised about the rumors involving FSU and similar rumors involving the Seminoles’ ACC partner, Clemson.
“‘First I’ve heard of it,’ one high-up says,” Bohls tweeted.
When pressed about why reports are existing with respect to his school and Big 12, Spetman added: “I don’t know why people have written that.
“I don’t know how they can say that — and I don’t mean to pick on the media — but how can the media person come out and say that there was a Florida State person in a meeting that wasn’t true? How can they get away with that? To my knowledge, nobody from our organization was there. So I don’t know how they can get away with saying that.”
Will this help end the rumors? I doubt it.
There is some simmering discontent by FSU fans over how they feel the ACC treats football. They are angry about the budget problems of their school, and are choosing to blame it on the ACC’s media contract rather than their own Athletic Department. There is fear, envy and frustration at the money the SEC is getting.
Those feelings will be echoed and put out there by message boards on the Big 12, to keep the rumor going. FSU fans will bring it up. Someone with “inside information” or “in the know” will post and claim how it is going to happen. The “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” cliche will be used to rationalize the perpetuation.
Other than the dealings with the ACC, a move to the Big 12 wouldn’t solve the other problems. They would only be shoved aside for the short term honeymoon while all is rainbows and unicorns. Soon enough, the frustrations would begin anew. The money for capital improvements would still be lacking. The Big 12 would be seen as too Texas-centric. The next SEC contract would renew the envy. The 3d Tier rights money still wouldn’t be enough.
The main reason for the anger, though, is something simple. FSU isn’t winning. They aren’t a national player like they became accustomed. The Seminoles have been overhyped and without the winning, the fans are looking for reasons to put the blame.
I know they didn’t like the Pitt and Cuse additions, but who else were they going to get?
The ACC, according to the “football schools” is still a basketball conference. The conference favors basketball and basketball interests (read: schools in North Carolina). The commissioner is a former UNC AD. ACC football is a joke, and all the other schools are gravy training off the football money. Yet football is treated as the red-headed step-child.
Pitt and Cuse were added for basketball reasons, not football.
There are legitimate issues with the ACC’s football side. The officiating is really in bad shape. Conference scheduling is not done with what appears to be much thought.
Again, take all the complaints we’ve had about the Big East and use them for the ACC.
From that article Chas posted earlier, it appears to me that FSU has bigger problems than the ACC revenue sharing agreement. They need to upgrade their facilities and address the lack of cost control inside of their Athletic Dept. Those problems won’t go away just because they decided to join a new conference. And, addressing facilities issues might help their recruiting.
If FSU does end up leaving, I say go ahead and grab Rutgers. It is a better academic fit with the ACC than FSU. It helps solidify the NY market (along with Syracuse). And, over the last decade or so, RU has played better football than FSU. The ACC would still have Miami for the Florida media markets.
Not enough time, but, quickly,
The ACC is a conference, not a league. Football is the money, we all know this, however, these schools all have football and basketball, and most with about 10 or 12 other sports.
This is also a case of one, maybe two schools unhappy about their money cut. Not half the conference.
This might be a good subject Reed for an article to discuss in the future.
I understand some similarity, but I would compare it as a camp fire (ACC) to a forest fire (BE).
IMHO.
BTW…lucabrasi…very well played first comment.
Dobie, How’s Zelda and Maynard G going these days? Actually, since ’05, RU & FSU may be a toss-up, and RU was definitely better back in the Ray Rice years (05 & 06.)
However, there is no comparison between the Florida State football and Rutgers football programs.
Yes, they had a few down years, and Rutgers a few good, but, let’s not kid ourselves, trading out Florida State for Rutgers is a loser on the ACC’s end.
Would be like swapping UCONN for Miami and saying “no biggie”.
Yes, Miami has been down, and have troubles ahead with violations, but, they’re still Miami in many peoples minds.
If they go, they go, but, let’s hope they don’t go anywhere.
Oklahoma-FSU national audience
Miami-Ohio St. national audience
Alabama-Rutgers Who’s watching??
USC-UCONN Who’s watching??
I agree we’d have to get somebody, let’s just hope it doesn’t ever get to that, unless someday they add UCONN and ND to get to 16.
Status Quo for the next 10 years would be fantastic for me.
Had to reply to “why me”. Good stuff! Thought you were kidding, just checked it out. Boise State having second thoughts.
Interesting. Could effect us.
My thoughts, if anything changes in BE this year, and they would try to hold us, the lawsuits would rear their ugly head from Pitt and Syracuse.
Pitt, Nordy, Steve have given the impression and vibe, and a couple quotes, that we are gone in 2013.
The marketing and fan reaction alone would be huge if this did not happen now. I don’t know how’d you’d ever gauge it in money or support, but, I believe everyone was willing to take this year, but everyone is on the train for ACC next year.
Interesting though, if Boise cancels and BE can’t get to 12!!!
Good night all, heading out of town for family adventure!!
Chas: there is no way you can compare the dissension in the ACC to the dissension in the Big East. In the Big Least it is literally the basketball versus the football schools. It is a conference whose sole existence in the beginning was basketball. This caused the fatal error of rejecting Penn State. It is doomed to failure in the long run. Reed or you need to do some research on the ACC and bring everyone up-to-date on it’s history. Please refrain from comparing the ACC to the Big Least. There literally is no comparision.
As to everyone else — Yes, FSU is a bigger name than Rutgers. However, Rutgers is not a bad choice. First of all, FSU has been down for quite a few years. Secondly, as Chas linked earlier, their athletic department is currently a bit of a mess. Rutgers does have a decent football program, a recently renovated football stadium and a fan base that travels well. And the basketball program is on the rise after a few down years. And just as importantly, Rutgers will draw eyeballs from the NYC market.
The difference between the ACC and the Big East is this — the BE nearly falls apart when it loses quality programs like Miami, BC and Pitt. When the Big East loses those schools it expands by bringing in Houston, San Diego State and Central Florida. If the ACC were to lose FSU (which I think is highly unlikely) there are strong universities which will gladly take FSU’s place with little drop in either ESPN revenue or overall strength of the athletic competition (at least for the revenue producing sports).
Va Tech and FSU carry the football and maybe Miami can come back. If those three stay and more importantly become relevant again, the ACC is in fine shape meaning stable. Pitt also needs to step up and pull its share like not wetting the bed every time on national TV.
By elitist, I mean Duke and NC. Yes its a collection of private and public much like the Big East but Tobacco Road has historically called the shots and the non Carolina schools are resentful.
Pitt for all intents and purposes is private but I don’t equate private with elitist. Elitist is arrogance. The only school Pitt looks down upon is WVU and most other schools do as well for good reason.
Good for Pitt. If nothing else it puts a stake in the ground as a reference point for future negotiations. Without this “disapppointing” suit, Pitt wouldve remained at the whims of the less than competent Big East.
We’ve been above board this whole time, despite that its been impossible to make any sturdy, reliable plans due to the shifting BE landscape. Impossible to really know what was in the best interestes of the school. NThe law suit seems necessary to establish any sort of reference point for futher plans vis-a-vis the BE.
However, you have a moot point, I believe, because it has to be close to a 100% probability Pitt is let out of BE by next spring/summer.
My WAG is also that Pitt has a good enough argument on the financial damages side of the equation that they may be able to leave without paying a nickel to the Big East. Fifty-fifty on that aspect, perhaps.
They may both “suck” as football conferences, but, I would then have to say, there must be different levels of “suck”!! LOL
The Big East football conference makes the ACC football conference look like the SEC.
C’mon, Rutgers, UCONN, Cincy, USF
vs. Clemson, Va Tech, G.Tech, FSU, Miami, and almost every other team in the ACC on given years will have a decent year.
Let’s all get away from the BE-ACC comparisons.
No, of course the ACC does not compare with SEC football, but, please, there also is no comparison between the ACC and BE, including football.
LET’S NOT KID OURSELVES, WE’VE HIT THE JACKPOT!!
Especially with were we might have been now, if we didn’t move.
Now, if Dixon can keep it going, and Chyrst can come through, the next 5-10 years could be the best time in Pitt sports in a long, long time.
If ACC football “sucks”, then we really need to come up with a new word to describe BE football.
Last article I just read on Yahoo, suggests Miami not Clemson might be tagged up with FSU.
While neither team has been up to snuff recently, they still are by far the 2 ‘Name Brands’ in the ACC. And also would lead to less recruiting for the ACC in Florida.
ESPN better ante up some more money in the earlier years of this contract or this could become a disaster for the ACC. I guess maybe their thinking could be along these lines. Even if the Big 12 implodes someday with Texas and the others leaving for the PAC 12, FSU & Miami with their football ‘Name Brands’ wouldn’t have a hard time finding a new conference to settle in.
According to that article the new ACC TV contract is ‘backloaded’ on the money upgrades, which does nothing for FSU or the others now.
What just sounded great just a few days ago, now is beginning to lose that new car feeling.
