FSU AD takes shot at ACC in another sign the Noles will be leaving conference

FSU AD Michael Alford took a swipe at the ACC while discussing Clemson's lawsuit with the conference, and his comments certainly lend credence to the idea that the Noles are not long for the conference; whose championship couldn't even get them into the College Football Playoff field in 2023 after an undefeated season.

“You’re looking at two institutions that want success and see a changing environment in college and want programs to compete at the very top level," Alford prefaced before saying, "That understands to compete at a top level we need to have our options available and want their programs to compete at an elite national level."

Reading between the lines, Alford doesn't see the ACC as the top level. And beyond the CFP snub, it's not hard to see why. The SEC and Big Ten will have more teams in the 2026 CFP when the field expands to 14 teams and with it, they'll be getting a higher revenue split. Besides Clemson, every single team that has won the CFP since its inception has been from the SEC and the Big Ten.

It's far from a stretch to say that the SEC and Big Ten are that elite tier; specifically with the latter given the additions of USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon.

FSU and Clemson lawsuits against ACC set to be followed by UNC and UVA

The domino effect that saw Clemson follow FSU's footsteps in suing the ACC will trickle down to UNC and UVA according to longtime college football radio host Greg Swaim. Those schools will attack the ACC from a basketball side; which is particularly devastating since that's what the conference built its reputation on originally.

With comments like Alford's becoming the norm from the FSU camp, the public perception continues to sour for the ACC. If there ends up being four active lawsuits from its two football powerhouses and two of its strongest basketball schools?

It's over for the ACC as a "Power" conference. And probably as a conference in general.