College Football Live - Florida Frenzy

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

Host Kelsey Riggs is joined by Sam Acho & Jordan Reid as they address an ACC storm brewing in the Sunshine State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome into college football live. I'm Kelsey Riggs, and we're coming right out the tunnel with breaking news as Florida State's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to sue the ACC and challenge the legality of the league's grant of rights and it's $130 million exit fee for a school to leave the conference. Now, the grant of rights gives the ACC control over Florida state's media rights, including television revenue, home game broadcasts of all sports, currently runs through 2036. This is the first move. for Florida State potentially looking to leave the conference as we bring in now. Our college football insiders, Andrea Adelson and Pete Thammel, who have been all over this story from the very beginning, guys. A lot of new things to get through, a lot of legs to this story and big news this morning as they held this meeting for the first time with the board of trustees to talk about this. And to get this news out, we hear from board chair Peter Collins and Florida State President Rick McCullough what they had to say first. Take a listen. I believe this board has been left no choice but to challenge the legitimacy of the ACC grant of rights and its severe withdrawal penalties.

I believe that we have exhausted all possible remedies within the conference and we must do what we believe is best for Florida State not only in the short term but in the long term. This is certainly not where I would prefer to have ended up. I think that I would prefer a different pathway, but I feel that we have in many ways, exhausted all our options because these things are timely. And you can't wish and hope that somehow they'll get fixed in the next year, two, three, four, or five. By that time, I don't think that will be competitive. Okay, so ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips released this statement in response, saying in part Florida State's decision to file action against the conferences in direct conflict with their long-standing obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments

to other members of the conference. All ACC members, including Florida State, willingly and knowingly, re-signed the current grant of rights in 2016, which is wholly enforceable and binding through 2036. Each university has benefited from this agreement, receiving millions of dollars in revenue, and neither Florida State nor any other institution has ever challenged its legitimacy. So this is unprecedented. As he said, no school has ever challenged the media grant of right. So Pete, I want to start with you. Take us through the potential

timelines of what happens next for Florida State and when. So think of this step, Kelsey, as if Florida State is lighting the match. And there's still quite a bit of wick left before the dynamite blows up and they actually attempt to leave the league. It's a first step. What we do

know for certain is that Florida State will play in the ACC in all sports in 2024-25. The next date that really looms large for Florida State is they have six months to see how things go legally. And then come August 15th of 2024, they would have to make a declaration whether or not they want to leave the league for the 25-26 season. So they have basically six months of legal runway to see how things go.

The most critical part in Florida State finding an eventual landing place, Kelsey, is that they need to be cleansed of any legal exposure. The SEC or Big Ten is not going to take them when they could potentially get dragged into a lawsuit if there would be any torturous interference. So the legal process really has to play out for Florida State, and it's not known right now. It's too early to say whether that could happen in the next six months. We'll get back to those landing spots in just a second, but I want to dive a little bit further into this first, Andrea. And you've been, as I mentioned, following the story from the beginning, You've been in Tallahassee this week having conversations with different people there.

A lot of people, you hear this and their mind goes immediately to the college football playoff. What just happened a couple of weeks ago, Florida State was left out. Andrea, what can you tell us about how much that played or factored into this decision from Florida State? Well, Colise, there's no question that people at Florida State are upset and angry about what happened with the college football playoff. I mean, Rick McCullough called it the college football playoff invitational today because they didn't get in. But it's not as if Florida State just cooked this up over the last two weeks. It would essentially be almost impossible to come up with the legal argument that they've come up with from December 3rd up until now. So what I can tell you based on the conversations I've had with people at Florida State, shortly after the Big Ten added USC and UCLA, they really started to take a look at the grant of rights in earnest because they knew this landscape is shifting.

we have to protect our own best interests moving forward, the ACC falling further and further behind from a revenue perspective. That was just not going to cut it for Florida State. So they had their own legal team and an outside legal team go to the ACC offices where the grant of rights is housed. That is the only place you can take a look at the grant of rights. And you are not allowed to make copies of it. You're not allowed to take it out of the building. And you're also not allowed to write down sentences verbatim. There is somebody who is standing over you while you were taking a look at that grant on rights and taking notes. And if your notes are too long, they're going to tell you, don't forget, you can't take that down verbatim. So you can imagine how long the process has been,

because you can't just do that in one visit. It takes multiple visits by most of those legal teams to be able to get the information that they need to craft an argument. After the August board of trustees meeting in which we heard we're going to have to consider leaving the ACC. That's really when the Florida State legal team started in earnest to make their argument. So this is something they've been working on for quite some time. And it really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to those who are familiar with this, that Florida State would go this route, Coachwell playoff or not. Pete, we just heard Andrea mentioned.

You've got to go to the offices in Charlotte to get a look at this grant of rights. And we know that Florida State has done it. The next question that other people think among the comments, or among college football is, okay, well, who else? We heard about seven schools this offseason that we're looking at the grant of rights, talking about the revenue gap. What can you tell us about, will this have a ripple effect or other schools from the ACC now looking at Florida State and thinking of following suit?

Sure, Kelsey. I do think there have been a half dozen or more schools that at least gone to ACC offices at some point to read and examine those grant of rights. But if we have to look to the future, I don't see. an entire flurry of schools doing this, but there are three or four ACC schools that are probably more serious than the rest and taking a look at it. That list would start with Clemson. They've done their due diligence. They've examined it. Athletic Director Graham Neff has made clear as FSU officials had, although a bit more subtly, that the finances long term for a program that wants to play for

national championships like Clemson aren't really tenable, being an estimated $30 million dollars behind annually. North Carolina would probably be the next school to talk about potentially leaving. North Carolina is going to be the second most coveted school by either the Big Ten or the SEC because of the brand and because of their location. They obviously, I believe, are the 11th most populous state in the country, and they would bring in new markets to both leagues. So I think that the list would start there, and then there's been varied interest in the

Miami's in the Virginia's, NC states, and Virginia Techs as they go. But again, I think their schools have been cautious and they will see how things play out in the early stages for Florida State here before anyone makes an imminent movement. Andrea? Yeah, I agree with what Pete is saying. I've heard the same things about all of those schools. And the thing is Florida State doesn't have an invitation to go anywhere right now. They have to essentially be clear of all of this before they can figure out what their landing spot is going to be and where they're going to go. But I can tell you, there are administrators inside the ACC who are very happy that Florida State is the one that's taking this step and going out in front just to see how this whole thing is going to play out

before they make their own decisions about what their futures are going to look like. Andrea, you mentioned that they would have to have a landing spot. And I guess that's what I want to dive into more, because where would Florida State go? Because you think, obviously, of what's happened with the SEC, the expansion, the Big Ten, we've heard in Red, lot of both of your reporting about the SEC, and obviously they already have Florida. That's a similar market that I'm sure would be interesting if Florida State was in that as well. What can you tell us about where Florida State would be looking to go or options that they have in the future should this get down the road much further from today? Well, I can tell you one place they're

not going to go and that's independent. It's just not financially feasible for Florida State to be an independent. So scratch that off that list. Well, that really leaves two main options, the Big Ten and the SEC. I think the Florida State folks would be leaning toward the Big Ten because they could get the Big Ten into the state of Florida. It's a market in the South

that they don't have yet. Yeah, they've got the East Coast and the West Coast, but they don't have the South. Richard McCullough came from Harvard, and he's working really hard to get Florida State AAU designation, which I think just about every Big Ten school has.

That's extremely important to him, and they want to be able to do that if that can make them more attractive to the Big Ten. But again, there's no, invitation. Would they say no to the SEC? Obviously not. But I think because the SEC already has Florida, they feel like working the Big Ten could potentially be the best option for their future. But if things work out in Florida State's favor here, with the judge, they filed this in Leon County,

Florida. And they get declaratory judgment from this judge. They're essentially free to leave the ACC at the end of this year. They have backdated their withdrawal date to August 14th, In that case, maybe there's a landing spot in the Big 12. That's a long shot because I don't think anybody is expecting this to be resolved within the next six months. But certainly, that's an option based on the way Florida State has written their lawsuit. All great points by Andrea there, Kelsey. And I really think that when you look at Florida State's future, it's very interesting. When we're in this era of conference contraction, there's no way a big brand like Florida State that's had national

championship success multiple times this generation is going to be left without a landing spot in the long term. In the short term, where they go may depend on if the SEC wants to play defense. There's not an immediate voracious appetite for Florida State and the SEC. It's a redundant market. Florida, as Andrea mentioned, would obviously be not be pleased if Florida State came in. I don't think Auburn and Georgia would be pining forward either. But what the SEC doesn't want is the Big Ten flag planted directly in their backyard. But with the Big Ten, when they look for expansion, the schools that look and feel a lot more like Big Ten schools

in the ACC right now are clearly North Carolina and Virginia. They're also contiguous states, and they represent new markets, much like Florida would. So it will be interesting to see how the chess game gets played between these two leagues. It's like they both have binoculars in Birmingham and suburban Chicago, and they're looking at each other to see who makes the move. And we are all looking at you guys for all of the information.

Pete Thammell and Andrea Adelson have been all over this from the beginning. We appreciate all the insight here on college football live. As Pete mentioned, just the match right now being lit. And we will see if it is blown out or if it turns into a fire later down the road in something much bigger. Meanwhile, let's get to some other conference realignment news that we have as Oregon State. And Washington State have come to an agreement with 10 schools departing the PAC 12 that will end litigation related to the control. of the conference as a part of the agreement the 10 departing schools will forfeit a disclosed portion of their revenue for the rest of the 2023-2020 season.

Coming up on college football live, Jordan Reed, Sam Ocho standing by, and Jordan has his latest NFL draft quarterback hotboard out. Find out what playoff quarterbacks Michael Pinnock Jr. and J.J. McCarthy need a do to help improve their draft stock. That's ahead on College Football Live. From Searchlight Pictures comes rental family, now playing only in theaters. Earning rave reviews at TIF, rental family is emotional, funny, and the feel-good movie of the year. Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser stars as a lonely American actor living in Tokyo who struggles

to find purpose until he starts working for a Japanese rental family agency. Along the way, he forges some surprising human connections and discovers unexpected joys within his built-in family. Experience rental family, now playing only in theaters. Tickets now. Welcome back to college football live. If you have missed it, we have breaking news today as Florida State's board of trustees voted to unanimously sue the ACC and challenge the legality of the league's grant of rights and its $130 million exit fee for the school to leave a conference. This move would be the first step towards Florida State deciding its future with the ACC. Let's get to some other

big stories. And Jordan Reed has his latest update to his quarterback hot board for the 2024 NFL draft and no surprise. Caleb Williams still sits atop the list. The former Heisman trophy winner opted out of USC's bowl game, but still hasn't formally declared for the draft. This year he threw for over 3,600 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. As we take a look now at who else Jordan has in his top 10. He's got this year's Heisman winner, Jaden Daniels, at number three. And this year's Heisman runner up, Michael Pinnock, Jr., right behind him at number four. Bow Nicks finished third in Heisman voting this year. Jordan currently has him at number six.

So let's bring in Jordan Reed and Sam Ocho now for more on this. And let's focus on the two guys that we're going to see in the college football playoff. Michael Pinnock's Jr. and J.J. McCarthy. Let's start with Michael Pinnock Jr. And Jordan, you have him projected to be a late day one, early day two prospect. What can he do in the college football playoff to potentially improve that stock? Well, there's a lot that he can do, Kills. And I think the first thing that he has to start with is,

fighting Texas secondary up. If he can go out and have a really good day against their secondary, he can answer a lot of questions. Now, what is the one big negative that Michael Pennix has on his resume right now? It's the durability. He's had four season-ending injuries and four consecutive seasons. But he's been phenomenal this season. But as a scout put it to me, when are we going to start giving credit to Michael Pennix Jr?

For now playing two fully healthy seasons leading the Washington Huskies to a 13-0 record, 4,200 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, then eight interceptions this season. but the big question is how is he going to protect himself and how is he on the move? That's the big question that scouts want answered against Texas. That's a good point. Of course, he has the injuries in the past, but he has proven that he can be healthy. And he could be really successful, Sam, so successful at the collegiate level. But Sam, where do you think he's a good fit at the next level?

I think it'd be a great fit for a team that already has a current quarterback. And the one reason I say that is based off some of the injury issues. Now, Michael Pennix Jr. is one of the best, if not the best quarterback in Olive College football. statistically, but as you hear from scouts or people in the NFL, they may look at some of the ACL injuries and say, we need to go in a situation like Heading Hooker of last year where he went to Detroit and was backing up at a future of a program. And so for me, I think Michael Pennix Jr., I know Jordan Reid had mentioned Minnesota Vikings as a team, he could maybe go to and say, hey, maybe this is a team.

You may not be the starter day one, but you're our long-term future plan. Okay, so we're going to get to see him against Texas. Meanwhile, Jordan, we're going to get to see Jane J.J. McCarthy and Michigan go up against Alabama. So what can J.J. do to improve his stock? Well, this is the one player that scouts are really intrigued by just because it's been a situation of where JJ has had some limitations of where he hasn't been able to show what he could do as a passer in the Michigan offense. If you look at his season statistics so far, he's only had 11 of 26 career games of where he's had 25 plus passing attempt.

So it feels as if they're kind of holding him back a little bit as far as a passer just because Jim Harbaugh wants to run the football. That's what he wants to do. But against Alabama's defense, there may be some things of where that can be exploited with him as far as him being a passer. So he's going to have an opportunity to show that Michigan can win because of him. And you have an opportunity to do it on the second biggest stage, college football playoff semifinals coming your way, January 1st, looking forward to that, but it is already bowl season now. And we've got another great game coming your way tonight as dynamic dual threat quarterback Haines King and Georgia Tech take on star running back, RJ Harvey and UCF.

Looking forward to the union home mortgage Gasparilla Bowl tonight at 630 Eastern on ESPN and ESPN Plus. When we come back, it is the last college football live of 2023. So let's get some season awards handed out. Find out what the guys think is the catch of the year, the game of the year. We've got some really good sound from coaches you don't want to miss. Grandma Saban used to bake the best cakes in the world. And I used to stand by the oven when I was a kid and say, When's this cake gonna be done?

When's this cake gonna be done? Hey, Tyler, you can have all your opinions that you want. Let me tell you something. You're part of the problem. I got receipts. I know who they are. They're fighting for cliques. We're fighting for wins.

It's always been Ohio against the world. And it'll continue to be Ohio against the world. Bet! And we're going to take the cake out of the oven. We will tell you when it's the time. Really? Yes. I don't know who my cyrus is.

Like, what is it? What does she ever do with a rick and ball? Hold on. Hold on. Oh, no. Do you believe in that? So no, no. Strong no.

Like, yeah. No. I think the cake's been in the oven, out of the oven, back in the oven. I think it's, you know, ready to go. Sam, I think the cake was exactly as Nick Saban described it. He knew all along.

Oh, and it's great. And I love hearing the soundbikes from the coaches all season long. You forget about some of the great quotes, They are, in fact, great quotes. Ryan Day was so good when he was so fired up after that game. That was one of my favorites. Let's take a look at some of the season awards. And Jordan, catch of the year for you is what?

Well, Sancho and Kils, it is the season of giving, but Ricky Piersol, watch how he snatched this ball out of the air against Charlotte. That was one of my favorite plays of the year. The way he snatched this ball, wham, just what makes that catch so great is that he takes the contact right after it as well. That was one of my favorite catches of the year. Ricky Pirsaw, kudos to you. season of giving, but you snatched the ball out of the air on that one. Well, anything you can do, I can do better. I'm going to go Keon Coleman because he did something similar versus Syracuse.

Watch what Keon Coleman does in the middle of the field. And yes, there wasn't as much contact. But this dude, talk about getting vertical and literally taking the ball. That's more than a rebound. That's like a long jump, high jump, triple jump, whatever one to call. Keon Coleman is a dude, transfer from Michigan State from a basketball player, dog. We saw him come right out of the game, do that in their first game against LSU as well. Those are two really,

really memorable catches. But we had some big games, too, Sam. What was the game of the year for you? Oh, it's easy for me. A game I did the halftime of the Colorado, Colorado State game. What is a triple overtime? I was up until 2 a.m. A crazy game. You saw people get injured.

You saw injuries. You saw a lot of emotion. You saw passion. You saw great plays by walk-ons. It was an unbelievable game. A winning O.T. Now you see Tori Horton making plays. I felt like triple overtime, how late the game went. I'll put it that way.

It was great. That was a rough next day for us East Coasters, Sam. I'll never forget that game. It was, yes. I'm going to have to go with the Iron Bowl. The Iron Bowl was terrific. And if you think about it, Jaylen Milrow, this saved their entire season. The Iron Bowl was terrific this year.

Jordan Hare, it never lacks for entertainment. The Iron Bowl this year, the 31-yard completion from, from, excuse me, Jaylen Mill Road to Isaiah Bond in the back corner of the end zone, easily my game of the year by far. The play that he made at the end, I thought it was over. You get that penalty. You've gone back and you convert on that, what, fourth and like 31. So impressive stuff from them, and we're going to get to see more of them.

We lost. It looks like our friend, but it sounds like there's some Christmas things that are happening. Where'd Sam go? There are Christmas things happening. Don't worry. I'm kind of supposed to be Santa Claus, but we didn't have much time in between the segment. So I'm giving out gifts. I got a beard, but I don't want to cover my face.

There's the beard. This is me. Santa Claus. I'm handing out some gifts for Christmas. Ho, ho, ho. And I'm going to start, number one, with this gift. And who we're going to start with, Amy? Amy's my producer's in my ear.

I'm Santa Claus right. I'm not Sam. We're starting with Biff Pogie, head coach of University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Get this man a long-sleeve shirt. Why? Biff Pogie. He's a healthy individual.

No, it's the vibe. He's a fun millionaire, billionaire. But, bro, we need you to get a long-sleeve shirt. It's coming in the mail. Santa Claus will be sliding down your chimney. Or maybe you get a beard. Maybe you might be sliding down somebody else's chimney. Neither here nor there.

You can do a lot of things. Biff Poghie, lost sleeve shirt. Second gift we're going to give. You heard the Nick Sabin sound, right? About, you know, Grandma Sabin and baking cake. I have a seven-year-old daughter. Her name is Sophia. Easy Bake oven for Nick Sabin.

Coat Sabin. Don't have to worry about Grandma Sabin anymore. The cake, which was Jalen Milrow, and maybe it was Ty Simpson, the quarterback situation. It has now been solved. But here, you're gifting an easy bake oven for coach Sabin and an honor of Grandma. He made it look easy, didn't he? He made it look easy.

All right, you got one more, right? Jay Norvelle. Last but not least, this is a season of giving. Let's try and have, you know, be together a little bit. Talk about the game of the year. Jay Norvel, I'm going to get you some coach prime shades. Prime glasses. Why?

There's a little bit of conversation. You know, you don't wear glasses in front of your, you know, mom and dad. You know, take your glasses off. A little bit disrespect, but I will say this, season of giving. You got some shades. Jay probably doesn't even want to wear sunglasses ever again. We will see you in the new year. Happy holidays from all of us here on College Football Live.