Just as the rumbling rumors of Florida State moving from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big 12 had begun to hush, here came the Saturday afternoon bombshell.

"How do you not look into that option?" asked Andy Haggard, chairman of Florida State's board of trustees, to Warchant.com. "On behalf of the Board of Trustees I can say unanimously we would be in favor of seeing what the Big 12 might have to offer.

"We have to do what it is in Florida State's best interest."

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The comments rolled across the ACC like an earthquake. There's a big difference between talk and action, and the Big 12 and FSU haven't spoken even informally, sources said, but this was taken deathly serious among the power set. Truth be told, it wasn't even that unexpected.

The first shock to the system hit Wednesday, when the ACC came to terms with ESPN on a 15-year, $3.6 billion agreement that sure sounded good in the press release. Each school was supposedly getting an additional $4 million a year. The average would be $17.1 million annually. Not bad, it seemed.

The reality was bad, however. The initial bump in television revenue is actually just over $1 million a year, sources said, and a total in the $12 million range next season. The deal is back loaded so the bigger money comes in escalator provisions that, considering how broadcast rights keep growing, probably will be below market by the time any sizeable gains are realized.

That additional $4 million per school, per year? That won't come until 2021, nine years in, sources said.

Privately, almost everyone was troubled by the deal.

Furthermore, there was consternation over the length of the deal, which could favor ESPN. Some wondered if it wasn't agreed upon just to save face, the later money making it look like the ACC landed a windfall in today's dollar.

The deal is done though. The only option is to further expand to 16 teams and force renegotiations. Unless that means adding Notre Dame (highly unlikely) there is no one available that would improve the value of the league.

[Related: FSU chairman blasts ACC, opens door for Big 12 move]

So here's Florida State, which acknowledged this spring it is running an operating deficit and may have to trim up to $2.4 million a year in expenditures. It's saddled with what it considers a less-than-desirable football schedule as it tries to lure 80,000-plus all the way to the Panhandle. The addition of Syracuse and Pitt to the league slate won't help that problem in the least. And it's literally surrounded by cash-rich SEC clubs.

Across the ACC, the television deal was seen as anywhere from a disappointment to a disaster, sources said.

In Tallahassee, it may have been the last straw.









Yes, this threat feels real, people in the ACC believe. Chairmen of the Board generally don't unload like Haggard did unless they were encouraged by someone behind the scenes, who for political reasons can't speak so boldly.

And even if this was a rogue action, as the moves by Texas A&M and Missouri from the Big 12 to the SEC show, once trustees get involved things happen quickly and the status quo isn't the result.

"Ugh," said one league source, which pretty much said it all. ACC football has never lived up to its expectations – much of the blame, ironically, is FSU's mediocrity – but you lose the Seminoles (and maybe Miami) and the future gets more difficult.

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