Florida State Football: If the Big 12 Comes Calling the Answer Should Be Yes

Shots have been fired. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Florida State launched a salvo this weekend that let us know the power players at Florida State are looking for a new conference home.

Call me crazy, but I don't put much faith in Randy Spetman's dismissal of the Big 12 rumors. Truth be told, in today's college football climate, the Seminoles would be fools not to listen and entertain all offers. Cash is so clearly king now, and Florida State is in desperate need of the cash money.

Don't think that "need" is real? Look at Maryland and their cutting of sports in the face of a $4 million deficit. Listen to a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees talk about coaches leaving because Florida State will not be able to keep up with schools steadily increasing their budgets. Or, just look at the massive budget deficit itself.

In short, money problems in Tallahassee are very real, folks.

While some folks have come out very strongly with respect to Florida State's future remaining in the ACC, there must be one caveat given: money. The culture, the Olympic sports, the academics and the presence of Texas and Oklahoma are all reasons to stick in the Atlantic Coast Conference. However, as Missouri showed in the move to the SEC, if the money is right you can make some of the other issues work.

Put it this way, if the money is where the Seminoles need it to be, the cash covers their deficit, allows them to keep pace with Florida and gives them a better shot at weekly sellouts in Doak Campbell, then the move to the Big 12 should happen.

To break it down further, the ACC has a $20 million-$23 million buyout clause. If the Big 12 is willing to loan half, as they did with West Virginia, and the league is set to push towards $20 million in their new television deal; the opportunity should be seized by Florida State.

That extra $4 million a year is enough to help offset their increased travel budget. Throw in the rights to their third-tier contests, and you have a start on the way to narrowing the gap that exists with the cash pumping Gators from across the state.

In playing a Big 12 schedule, Florida State would also be staring at more fans in Doak Campbell. Currently their schedule features Miami, Clemson and Florida as annual draws. When Virginia Tech is on the slate, that's an additional "must-see" game.

The rest of the ACC schedule is a crapshoot at best. Wake Forest in October or November, even with the Deacons' recent success against Florida State, is not quite the draw you want out of the middle tier game.

North Carolina and Duke from the Coastal certainly help pack the Donald L. Tucker Center, but Doak Campbell does not see the same swell in crowds for football. Boston College, Virginia and Georgia Tech just are not needle-movers when it comes to packing the house.

In the Big 12, the ticket sales would get a boost. Not just because of Texas and Oklahoma, but even the next tier of teams: WVU, TCU, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech scream football. Kansas State and Baylor have been hot of late, but for the sake of fairness they are likely to return to earth soon.

That would give games against Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor and Kansas State as equal to what currently constitutes the bulk of the Seminoles' ACC schedule.

Getting better games on the schedule, with schools that are pushing to be better than just "okay" at football is a positive when selling out the stadium is a factor.

Simply put, if Florida State can get a solid deal out of the Big 12, then the Seminoles have to take it. Not to remove themselves from the shadow of the UNC/Duke power conglomerate, rather to provide some real relief to their university from a financial standpoint.

Jimbo Fisher likes coaching at Florida State, but he is not there to do charity work. When the time comes for the big payday to roll in, the Seminoles need to be in a position to keep him, not have him walk out the door for LSU or any other big payroll job.

But keep in mind folks, that is all if the money is right.