The last National Championship foe Auburn football faced off against in the big game, Florida State, was deemed the best ACC fit in the SEC by Saturday Down South’s Adam Spencer — who said as much answering a question from a reader about which “Magnificent Seven” school would fit best in the conference in the latest SDS Mailbag.
“There are a number of attractive options out there, obviously, from North Carolina to Virginia Tech to Clemson, Florida State and Miami,” Spencer prefaced before saying, “But, to me, the clear No. 1 option is Florida State. Proud football tradition, a men’s basketball team that usually is pretty good, etc. The Seminoles have a built-in rival in Florida, also. In terms of generating revenue, I think that FSU is a pretty good bet.”
FSU had hit hard times during the post-Jimbo Fisher years, but Mike Norvell has steadied the ship and has the Seminoles on the cusp of college football dark horse status — particularly if Florida State is able to take down LSU in Orlando during Week 1 of the season. With a budding rivalry with one of the SEC’s current powers, the reigning SEC West champion Bayou Bengals, forged through what will hopefully be two instant classics, an existing history with the Tigers from the 2013/2014 title game, and a far deeper and more extensive in-state rivalry with the Florida Gators, it’s hard to call the Noles a non-fit for the conference. Especially if the ACC is on the brink of imploding.
Auburn football set to benefit from college football conference realignment
Whatever the future holds for the sport of college football, Auburn football and the rest of the current SEC stand to benefit. The same can probably be said for the northeast-based non-Magnificent Seven ACC schools that could end up in the Big Ten.
As conference realignment continues to restructure the sport, the Plains will continue to linger as a pillar program — regardless of which programs join the SEC.