Greg Sankey Pours Freezing Cold Water On Possibility Of Florida State Joining The SEC

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At this point, it’s very clear Florida State is intent on severing ties with the ACC, but it could have some issues when it comes to finding another conference to call home. The SEC has been floated as a possible destination, but it doesn’t sound like it’s in the cards based on what commissioner Greg Sankey recently had to say.

I assume most college football fans are familiar with the legal battle Florida State is currently waging with the ACC in an attempt to wriggle its way out of the grant of rights media deal that theoretically chains it to the conference until 2036.

There’s no way to know how that case will play out, but the prevailing consensus is that the university is doing everything in its power to firm up its position in order to get the conference it’s called home since 1991 to agree to a settlement that will allow it the school to make the move to greener pastures.

However, a report that surfaced earlier this week suggested Florida State has found itself in a fairly paradoxical situation, as its efforts to escape the ACC have apparently made the SEC and Big Ten (the two most obvious destinations) wary of welcoming the Seminoles into the fold due to the drama surrounding the impending divorce.

While SEC commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t address that rumor directly, FSU got some bad news based on what he had to say during an appearance on The Next Round podcast on Thursday where he made it very clear the conference isn’t exactly scrambling to welcome it (or any other school) as a new member.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Our presidents have said very clearly: We’re not going to be to be entangled in legal issues around any consideration of expansion.

So, it’s not a conversation. And we’re not going to take our pie and slice it into more pieces…

This group of 16 is an incredibly strong, well-positioned group of 16 universities and athletic programs in contiguous states and there’s not this need.”

Things could obviously change in the future, but that doesn’t sound great for Florida State.