College football realignment: Paul Finebaum casts doubt on Florida State joining Big Ten
Florida State appears to be the most likely candidate for the next phase of college football realignment, as the school has taken the ACC to court to challenge its exit fee.
But should the Seminoles make a run for it, college football analyst Paul Finebaum doesn't believe the Big Ten would be interested, and it's because of an academic issue.
"I'm not convinced that they will want Florida State," Finebaum said on his show.
"I know Florida State thinks they're heavily in demand, but there are some questions about exactly what they bring to the Big Ten. They don't fit the Big Ten model...
Finebaum added: "The Big Ten, I believe, other than Nebraska, has highly accredited schools, and I don't think Florida State really qualifies for that."
The accreditation Finebaum referred to is the Association of American Universities (AAU), a prestigious research association in which most of the Big Ten's schools are members, aside from Nebraska. But that exception implies the Big Ten is willing to look outside that group.
Florida State is currently ranked at No. 53 in the U.S. News and World Report list of universities in the country, although ahead of incoming Big Ten members Oregon and Washington.
But one area Florida State excels in is attracting viewers for its football games, with over 40 million people tuning in last season, according to figures obtained by Nole Gameday.
That should make the school a highly lucrative property for any conference looking to increase its media presence in the scramble to out-do each other in TV revenue.
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Florida State was originally among the so-called "Magnificent Seven" schools — including Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech — that looked into a way out of the ACC last spring, but the conference introduced a new revenue-sharing proposal to keep those institutions happy.
But it's clear that Florida State was not satisfied by that settlement, and if the school can break out, it would almost certainly try for the SEC or Big Ten.
That is, if the Big Ten will have it.
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JAMES PARKS
James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.