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FSU AD has interesting analogy for school's relationship with the ACC as Noles seek exit

By Andrew Hughes

Florida State University Athletic Director Michael Alford speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony
Florida State University Athletic Director Michael Alford speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony / Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA
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FSU AD Michael Alford had an interesting analogy to describe the Noles' relationship with the ACC as they seek an exit from the conference in what would be the next major round of conference realignment.

In essence, Florida State is still running out ground balls -- a metaphor for the Noles giving maximum effort to all things ACC-related even though the program is actively trying to sue their way out of the conference's Grant of Rights agreement.

“I’ll say you run out every ground ball. That’s the baseball analysis for you. We’re going to continue to run out every ground ball,” Alford said (h/t On3). “But what we do know is analytics and we do know the revenue gap coming in the future and how it’s just going to get worse and worse.

“You’re seeing networks really consolidate the major brands of college football. And they want brand on brand being played against each other. And that’s something that we see. That’s something that we think is not finished. We think there’s even more change coming in the upcoming years, and we’re taking this day by day.”

SEC would take FSU over Miami in any conference realignment scenario

It's a widely held belief that FSU is the first domino to fall in the eventual downfall of the ACC. Clemson would be next, then UNC, then, UVA, so on and so forth.

When the time comes for the other Power conferences to poach the remains of the ACC, Tar Heels Wire's Zack Pearson believes that the SEC will have a preference for FSU in the Florida market over Miami.

"Honestly, Miami could go either way here," Pearson prefaced before saying, "There are arguments to make for both conferences in terms of a fit for the Hurricanes. But I do think the SEC would take Florida State over Miami, which leaves the Hurricanes for the Big Ten, giving the conference a presence in Florida."

FSU and Clemson feel like obvious SEC additions, while the Big Ten scoring UNC, Virginia, and Miami would be the other allotment of the ACC's top brands.

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