[...]Alabama | MrSEC.com[...]…

[...]Alabama | MrSEC.com[...]…

[...]Alabama | MrSEC.com[...]…

If it was simply about academic association then I think Florida or Vandy or most any other school in the SEC would be working hard to get into the ACC instead of people talking about it being the other way around. There are plenty of very solid schools in the SEC who also bring the athletic brand that FSU does and so I don't see the ACC rejecting SEC schools if they thought the money was there.

I would argue that perhaps the reason why we want to stay in the ACC is academics. We are an SEC level school in academics. We are rubbing shoulders with Duke, Miami, GT, Wake, BC, UNC, UVa in the ACC, all schools that make us look better academically by conference affiliation. I personally think it's BS that just b/c you're in the same ATHLETIC conference with smart schools makes your school look smarter. For instance, the Pac12 is very diverse in academic success. Stanford and Berkeley are great schools. As is UCLA. However, they're not making Oregon or a school like that look any better. I'd argue that the only conference where academic success is completely crystal clear is the Ivy League.

I like to pretend Slive is working on that one behind the scenes, but one thing I've learned about expansion is that i dont have the first clue about expansion- i think after yesterday, there are lots of people feeling the same way

all those programs have had rough periods, but what they all have in common is when they get even a few things going they IMMEDIATELY blow up on the national scale

If ND wins 3 games in a row, ESPN anoints them National Champs and they get 75% of CFB coverage. There are maybe 10 programs of this stature in the entire country, and FSU became one of them thanks to Bobby Bowden

if they are even halfway descent, EVERYONE in the country tunes in to watch

certain programs never die, they just lie in wait and their National Appeal is always there

even though ND hasn't had a good team in 20 years, nobody doesn't think they still aren't a Tier 1 program. Every conference in America would kill their first born to land Notre Dame. FSU owned the 90s, and every kid out there grew up with the Noles being the most dominant program in the land

You'd rather have NC State? Seriously? More people in North Carolina watch FSU than NC State, guaranteed

UF undergraduates: 32,064 (2010)
FSU undergraduates: 31,005 (2010)

UF Alumni > 330,000
FSU Alumni > 280,000

The only truly significant differential I found was in the graduate enrollment (something like 18K to 8K). Both schools are freaking huge for what it is worth. Based on your claim that UF had a much higher alumni population, I expected a much larger gap. Kind of surprised me… but truthfully I think the appeal that FSU brings goes WAY beyond the alumni and student base. As it does for UF and Bama, etc…

"The OU-Florida State game earned a 5.8 national rating, representing 6,608,000 households and 9,307,000 viewers. It was the network's highest-rated, most-viewed Saturday night football game since the Big 12 championship on Dec. 5 in 2009 (7.5 rating, 8,608,000 households and 12,693,000 viewers). KOCO-5 received a 37.3 for its highest OU rating since the 2010 Big 12 final against Nebraska (39.6)."
http://newsok.com/ou-florida-state-telecast-produ…

FSU has three games in the top ten of all time BCS bowls – and the last one was 2001, ten years ago. Doesn't sound like a brand people will watch regardless of how good 7hey are.

If the decision is based on tv markets (and the Syracuse, Pitt and Colorado moves make m
uch more sense from a tv market perspective than a football perspective) I just do not see the Noles moving into the SEC.

FSU should have joined the SEC in the 90's. I think both the league and FSU would have benefited a great deal. I agree that FSU is a fit from a football perspective, but I think this is only about tv markets for football, not football performance.

UF already locks up every Florida market for the SEC. FSU adds nothing in terms of new TV markets to the SEC. UF has a much higher alumni base than FSU do to its size and has many mor ealumni

I agree that FSU would be a great addition to the SEC from strictly a football perspective. That is why they were a great fit in the early 90's. But expansion today is all about TV contracts and tv markets. One thing should be abundantly clear – expansion today is about tv markets and tv contracts.

Adding Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC makes no sense from a football perspective. But it makes a ton of sense to add New York and Pittsburgh to the ACC markets when talking to ESPN about a new TV contract. Adding Colorado to the PAC12 means nothings in foorball or even basketball brand – but it does add the Denver TV market to the PAC 12.

FSU adds one of the biggest brands in the country. It's like adding Nebraska to the Big Ten. Networks would pay top dollar for an FSU addition because they know that any game featuring FSU will draw more eyeballs in markets all across the country.

John

Florida State is one of the top brands in the country. Networks would pay for their name. Just as Nebraska helps the Big Ten.

This one isn't about new markets. This one is about a brand so big that influences markets across the country… like a Nebraska or Alabama or Texas or Ohio State.

John

The OU game TV ratings beat LSU vs Oregon handily. I’m not saying that to slight the SEC or LSU, just to say that FSU is still a national commodity. (and growing, thanks to a better team)

The Pac 12 now has a much bigger contract and many more large tv markets.How big are the Pac12 college football brands? USC and Oregon as a recent power. Yet the Pac 12 can now pay $21M per school from the tv contract $4M more (at least) per school than the SEC – http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2011/0…

Now that the ACC is adding New York and Pittsburgh as markets, I would not be surprised to see their payouts per school from the TV contract to pass the SEC as well.

At some point, if these other schools get more money per year from their TV contract they will be able to spend more of athletic facilities than most SEC schools. Everything I have read has stated that TV contracts are all about TV markets, total viewers and ratings. I do not see FSU making a huge impact on that compared to another school that is already in a top 25 tv market.

FSU brings no net new TV markets. The PAC 12 contract shows that TV markets are more important than college football brand.

If FSU gets in the SEC, I think it is because higher priority choices already made a decision while Slive and the SEC were hoping to avoid law suits and not cause otehr conferences to break up.

FSU wants in!

FSU and the SEC are a perfect fit culturally and geographically.

Whats the problem?

FSU brings no new markets to the SEC. The SEC need more large tv markets. The current SEC has one top 10 tv market (Atlanta) as you have written before. Texas A&M brings into two more (Dallas and Houston) great fan support and helps improve the SEC's academic status (AAU member). FSU does not bring in any markets, their stadium is not close to full for home games against weak opponents and they do nothing to improve the SEC's academic reputation.

Maryland or Clemson can bring in new markets from the ACC (more tv money) and both are higher ranked universities than FSU (more acdemic prestige). Neither may want to jump, but I think both make more sense to the SEC presidents.