The Warchant publisher says that FSU is still in contact with the Big Ten...

"

Quote:Yes, there is something to the talk to the extent that we've been told that president Eric Barron is staying in contact with people inside the Big 10. The fact that there has been multiple conversations tells me that this is more than just the typical fan blog driven nonsense. Of course, most of these blogs and some of the Twitter folks are jumping the gun with over the top conclusions with no real evidence."

Nothing earth shattering but interesting nonetheless.

(04-04-2013 12:53 PM)domer1978 Wrote:  The Warchant publisher says that FSU is still in contact with the Big Ten...

"

Quote:Yes, there is something to the talk to the extent that we've been told that president Eric Barron is staying in contact with people inside the Big 10. The fact that there has been multiple conversations tells me that this is more than just the typical fan blog driven nonsense. Of course, most of these blogs and some of the Twitter folks are jumping the gun with over the top conclusions with no real evidence."

Nothing earth shattering but interesting nonetheless.

Yet another candidate for the Eastern Division?

FSU

I'm sure is keeping its options open...however, FSU going to the B1G makes no sense (see WVU to B12) unless there is a crisis.

Does sending fruit baskets count as talking to a conference? If so, ECU was "talking" to the Big East for about a decade. They finally made it though!

(04-04-2013 01:04 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  makes no sense (see WVU to B12) unless there is a crisis.

Maryland to B1G made/makes no sense a year ago.

All I see is something from the WVU board saying that's what he said. Any direct link?

I just don't see it happening.

Big XII maybe, SEC sure if the conference and Florida want to add another Florida school since the conference feels lie it already has that market.

To me Maryland to Big Ten makes a million percent more sense than FSU. Unless like TexanMark said, there's a crisis where FSU has to look.

That would be interesting. I wonder if FSU would play us in DeKalb then? :-)

(04-04-2013 01:04 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  FSU

I'm sure is keeping its options open...however, FSU going to the B1G makes no sense (see WVU to B12) unless there is a crisis.

Actually it makes plenty of sense. SEC already has Florida covered and is looking to expand to other states that they don't already have a presence in yet (North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas) while the B1G wants to expand down the coast and eventually into Florida.

B1G makes more money than any other conference, especially after they renegotiate in a few years.

Right now every school not in a Big 4 conference keeping in contact with several conferences makes sense. You never know what could happen in the course of a few months.

I think its all part of who can get UNC to blink by making them the best offer.

They probably don't want to go alone but what about as part of a eastern division that hypothetically includes

Penn State
Michigan State
Rutgers
UMD
UNC
Duke
UVA
GT
FSU

That's just a hypothetical again, but the point is, I can see UNC and the B1G being pretty happy with something like that.

I think the SEC's offer is more along the lines of "we go to 16, split into 4 team pods. You get your own pod of:"

UNC
Duke
UVA
VT

And see which offer they like better

An FSU / GaT combo likely brings in more $'s than UVA/UNC with the BTN cable fee.

Shalala, with her Big Ten connections, is probably working the angles on a GaT / Miami combo. Why wouldn't FSU be doing the same?

Just might want to include everything that was said.

"I'm not a big fan of feeding the conference expansion/realignment fire but since there has been so much chatter about Florida State and the Big 10 the past few weeks I did some asking around with real sources close to and within the program to find out if there's anything to all the scuttlebutt.

Yes, there is something to the talk to the extent that we've been told that president Eric Barron is staying in contact with people inside the Big 10. The fact that there has been multiple conversations tells me that this is more than just the typical fan blog driven nonsense. Of course, most of these blogs and some of the Twitter folks are jumping the gun with over the top conclusions with no real evidence.

I don't to come off as a know-it-all like "The Dude" and say anything definitively about what this means. It could very well be that this is still a major long shot. My guess is that the odds are still against FSU going to the Big 10. While it seems pretty obvious that Barron has a legitimate interest in FSU joining the Big 10, which isn't surprising giving the financial advantages and academics, there's really no telling whether that interest goes both ways.

Of course FSU not being an AAU member school could be a major hindrance to any possible switch. I'm not going to pretend to know how realistic it is for FSU to obtain AAU status, or how quickly it might happen, but do know it's been discussed by the last couple FSU presidents and nothing has happened. So my guess is getting AAU status could take a long, long time to happen.

One last thing, one person in a decision-making role at FSU told me that if given the choice between staying in the ACC as it currently stands or going to the Big 10 he would vote for the Big 10. The person cautioned that he wasn't thrilled at the geographic shortcomings of FSU being in what is effectively a Midwestern conference but that the financial advantages were too much to ignore.

I haven't heard anything at all lately regarding the SEC or Big 12 so all is quiet on that front."

Who is giving you guys this info? Thought that was a premium article but maybe I am not corrrect on that.

Regardless, I am sure FSU would only move if the Big 10 went to 18 or 20 and brought in more Southern teams.

(04-04-2013 03:01 PM)Ragu Wrote:  Who is giving you guys this info? Thought that was a premium article but maybe I am not corrrect on that.

Regardless, I am sure FSU would only move if the Big 10 went to 18 or 20 and brought in more Southern teams.

I think the speculation on FSU to the Big Ten is largely around three appealing academic schools to distract academic snobs from FSU being a step below most Big Ten schools in academic status and research funding.

(04-04-2013 01:28 PM)AntiG Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 01:04 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  FSU

I'm sure is keeping its options open...however, FSU going to the B1G makes no sense (see WVU to B12) unless there is a crisis.

Actually it makes plenty of sense. SEC already has Florida covered and is looking to expand to other states that they don't already have a presence in yet (North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas) while the B1G wants to expand down the coast and eventually into Florida.

B1G makes more money than any other conference, especially after they renegotiate in a few years.

The SEC still makes more sense because 1) FSU would prefer the SEC, and 2) if it really came down to it, the SEC would offer FSU just to block the B1G from getting any sort of foothold in Florida.

Would really like to see a link to those quotes. Regardless, as to whether it "makes sense", from a pure financial perspective, FSU is the single most valuable possible non-SEC/Pac-12 addition to the Big Ten outside of the University of Texas. In fact, the money between what FSU would bring and the next ones on the list (e.g. UNC, GT, UVA) isn't even close. The only hangup for the Big Ten with FSU would be academics. That's not a small matter, but I'm telling you, FSU fits every single other financial, demographic, TV market, national branding and football recruiting metric that the conference could possible want. Also note that the state of Florida is the #1 home for Big Ten grads that isn't within the current Big Ten footprint. I'm not saying that it will happen (I've long thought that the ACC is stronger than what people give them credit for), but I think it would be naive to think that there's at least some mutual interest between FSU and B1G simply because the dollars are so massive. I find it more likely than UNC ever joining either the B1G or SEC.

(04-04-2013 03:36 PM)JunkYardCard Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 01:28 PM)AntiG Wrote:  

(04-04-2013 01:04 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  FSU

I'm sure is keeping its options open...however, FSU going to the B1G makes no sense (see WVU to B12) unless there is a crisis.

Actually it makes plenty of sense. SEC already has Florida covered and is looking to expand to other states that they don't already have a presence in yet (North Carolina, Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas) while the B1G wants to expand down the coast and eventually into Florida.

B1G makes more money than any other conference, especially after they renegotiate in a few years.

The SEC still makes more sense because 1) FSU would prefer the SEC, and 2) if it really came down to it, the SEC would offer FSU just to block the B1G from getting any sort of foothold in Florida.

Of course, SEC is the ideal conference for FSU, but if the SEC is looking to expand outside of their states, then B1G is the next most attractive.

(04-04-2013 03:45 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Would really like to see a link to those quotes. Regardless, as to whether it "makes sense", from a pure financial perspective, FSU is the single most valuable possible non-SEC/Pac-12 addition to the Big Ten outside of the University of Texas. In fact, the money between what FSU would bring and the next ones on the list (e.g. UNC, GT, UVA) isn't even close. The only hangup for the Big Ten with FSU would be academics. That's not a small matter, but I'm telling you, FSU fits every single other financial, demographic, TV market, national branding and football recruiting metric that the conference could possible want. Also note that the state of Florida is the #1 home for Big Ten grads that isn't within the current Big Ten footprint. I'm not saying that it will happen (I've long thought that the ACC is stronger than what people give them credit for), but I think it would be naive to think that there's at least some mutual interest between FSU and B1G simply because the dollars are so massive. I find it more likely than UNC ever joining either the B1G or SEC.

When it comes to expansion, the B1G are really targetting the following:
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- one of the two top Florida state schools
- UNC

Everything else in terms of leaked interest has been basically other schools to acquire to help facilitate the targets in joining up.

OU & KU remors = destabilize the Big 12 and get Texas to jump as well.

UNC & Miami rumors = attempt to get FSU to grab the bait first

UVA/GT rumors = destabilize the ACC to get UNC and FSU

Duke rumors = a nice prize to go along with UNC

All of the above combined = attempt to get Notre Dame to finally commit

If the B1G could get its way ideally, they'd expand to 22 or 24 and add ND, Texas, KU, OU, FSU, Duke, UVA, GT along with BC and Syracuse to close out the Northeast tv market

(04-04-2013 01:09 PM)CommuterBob Wrote:  Does sending fruit baskets count as talking to a conference? If so, ECU was "talking" to the Big East for about a decade. They finally made it though!

Actually, ECU did not make it though to the the Big East. They will be a non-charter member of the AAC.