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Published Aug 12, 2011
ACC manual outlines requirements for withdrawal
D.C. Reeves
Warchant.com Managing Editor
While Florida State to the SEC discussion has picked up steam, there are many hurdles to clear before that scenario becomes reality.
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The most notable, of course, is whether Texas A&M decides to take the leap and become the 13th member of the SEC. From there, the frenzy and speculation about which team would be asked to become member No. 14 would ensue. Florida State is among a handful of teams (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Clemson among others) that have been thrown around as a potential fit.
Unless things with Texas A&M sped up very quickly, according to the Atlantic Coast Conference manual, a potential move for FSU into SEC play wouldn't be likely until 2013.
And before that, Florida State Board of Trustees chairman Andy Haggard would have to change his tune from Friday afternoon when he told Warchant.com that there have been no conversations between the SEC and the board of trustees or the FSU athletics department and that the school is happy to be in the ACC.
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher echoed the same sentiment following Friday's practice.
"There's no offer on the table, I have not spoken with anybody about it," Fisher said. "We love the ACC and we love the conference we're in."
According to longtime college football writer Tony Barnhardt, ACC commissioner John Swofford has been assured by Barron that there are no current conversations between FSU and the SEC.
And with all of that, if Florida State were to somehow withdraw from the ACC in the near future, the league's manual requires departing programs to send an official notice of withdrawal to the other 11 conference members and the commissioner's office or before Aug. 15 for the withdrawal to be effective on June 30 of the following year.
This means the Seminoles would need come to an agreement with the SEC and announce its move by Monday, an almost impossible scenario. The Higher Education Committee of the Texas legislature is not meeting with decision makers from Texas A&M until Aug. 16, although according to Orangebloods.com, Texas' Rivals site, the school's Board of Regents just moved up its meeting from Aug. 22 to Monday in an effort to get together prior to the legislative committee meeting.
The manual also states that if FSU would make the leap for the 2013 season, it would only receive 25 percent of its normal "proportionate distribution" (i.e. TV revenue) for its final ACC season (2012). ACC member schools are reportedly slated to receive around $13 million this season in the first year of the league's 12-year, $1.86 billion contract with ABC and ESPN.
Inquiries made by Warchant.com regarding any potential FSU buyout or penalty for a move with the networks or any other entity outside of what is listed in the ACC manual have not been answered as of Friday evening.
Click Here to view this Link.According to the FSU Board of Trustees' website, the next regularly scheduled meeting is on Sept. 9.
For a bit of perspective, according to former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, who held the post when Florida State agreed to enter the ACC in 1991, told Warchant.com that the league's TV revenue jumped from $3 million annually to $17 million annually just four months after the Seminoles made the switch.
This is what the ACC Manual states in regards to a team withdrawing from the league:
Section IV-5. Withdrawal of Members
"To withdraw from the conference a member must file an official notice of withdrawal with each of the conference members and the commissioner on or before August 15 for the withdrawal to be effective June 30 of the following year.
"Upon official notification of withdrawal the member will forfeit the proportionate ownership share of all real and personal properties held in the name of the Conference, be assessed a proportionate share of the Conference liabilities and receive 25 percent of its proportionate distribution share for the terminal year ending June 30."
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