Florida State renews push to leave ACC after CFP snub

Florida State's board of trustees is scheduled to meet on Friday morning to discuss the university's "long-term athletics future," according to ESPN's Andrea Adelson. 

Any decision to leave the ACC would be met with litigation, writes Adelson, who recalled one conference athletic director saying in 2022, "There would be a hell of a court fight, I will tell you that."

Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported university lawyers are looking into ways of getting out of "the grant of rights, a legal document between the ACC, its members and TV partner ESPN binding one another together through the 2035-36 academic year."

Florida State expressed its displeasure with the ACC earlier this year, with the source of its ire the media rights deal with ESPN, which is a far cry financially from the deals struck by the Big Ten and SEC.

The ACC adjusted its payout structure to benefit its highest-performing teams, including Florida State, but its College Football Playoff snub has seemingly renewed the university's interest in finding a way out of the conference.

A departure would be extremely costly. 

Per Adelson, "Any school that wants to leave the ACC would have to pay an exit fee of three times the league's operating budget, or roughly $120 million." 

On top of that, the university would have to pay a substantial fee to break the grant of rights if the courts rule against it, with Yahoo Sports estimating it could cost "as much as $500 million."  

The school would likely not get a full share of the TV revenue in a different conference until the next round of media rights deals. For the Big Ten, that won't be until 2030. For the SEC, it won't happen until 2034.

With the CFP expanding to 12 teams next year, it might make more sense for Florida State to stay where it is instead of making a reactionary decision while still emotional over losing out on a playoff spot despite going 13-0 this season.

Florida State won't have to worry about missing out on the playoff if it goes undefeated again. It might even be able to withstand a loss and still qualify if the Big Ten and SEC vultures themselves.

University officials might use the controversial CFP decision as the basis for leaving the ACC, but that move would be influenced by greed above all else.

It doesn't make sense for Florida State to pay such an exorbitant cost (even if it is just the $120 million) unless administrators are certain a move to another conference would ultimately be a positive to the university's bottom line.

As much as school officials have cried about the CFP, Florida State might have the committee to thank if this ends with the university getting what it's wanted for so long.