Florida State sued the Atlantic Coast Conference on Friday, challenging an agreement that binds the school to the league for the next 12 years with more than half a billion dollars in fees for leaving and taking the first step in a lengthy and uncertain process toward a potential exit.
“Today we’ve reached a crossroad in our relationship with the ACC,” Florida State Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins said during a trustees meeting to approve the legal action.
After months of threats and warnings from Florida State, the lawsuit was filed in Leon County Circuit Court. The suit claims the ACC has mismanaged its members’ media rights and is imposing “draconian” exit fees. Breaking the grant-of-rights agreement and leaving the ACC right now would cost Florida State $572 million, according to the lawsuit.
In a preemptive counter attack, the ACC filed a lawsuit in North Carolina against the Florida State Board of Trustees, claiming the school could not challenge the grant of rights that it had signed and that these issues should be decided in the state where the conference is located.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and Virginia President Jim Ryan, chairman of the conference’s board of directors, said Florida State’s actions are “in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the 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,” their statement said. “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.”
David Ashburn, an attorney representing Florida State, said during the board meeting the ACC’s grant of rights violates antitrust law, has unenforceable withdrawal penalties and is not even a valid contract. The lawsuit also accuses the ACC of breach of contract by not upholding conference bylaws and violation of public policy.
“It’s hard to handicap where those claims will go,” said Mit Winter, a Kansas City, Missouri-based sports attorney. “And I think Florida State knows that as well. I think they threw in anything they could potentially think of as a colorable argument to get them out of the grant-of-rights agreement.”
Florida State is looking for a way out of a conference it has been a member of since 1992. During its time in the ACC, Florida State has won three football national championships, the most recent in 2013, and made the first College Football Playoff in 2014.
The Seminoles were left out of this year’s playoff, despite an unbeaten record. Florida State President Richard McCullough said the playoff snub did not prompt the lawsuit.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(13) OHIO STATE 84, BELMONT 55: Jacy Sheldon scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers for her second straight 30-plus game, and the Buckeyes (10-2) beat the Bruins (7-4) in Columbus, Ohio.
Sheldon, who notched her second 30-point performance of the season on Monday in a 77-71 loss to No. 2 UCLA, was 12 of 18 from the floor, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc against Belmont.
(16) INDIANA 84, BOWLING GREEN 35: Sara Scalia made eight 3-pointers and scored a season-high 32 points as the Hoosiers (10-1) earned their ninth straight win, beating the Falcons (6-4) in Bloomington, Indiana.
Scalia, a second-year transfer from Minnesota who came in shooting 43.7% on 3-pointers, was 8 of 11 from the arc before leaving midway through the fourth quarter. She finished tied for second in program history for 3-pointers made in a game and one shy of her career best at Minnesota. Mackenzie Holmes of Gorham added 10 points and six rebounds.
Amy Velasco scored 14 points, the only Falcon to reach double figures. Bowling Green shot just 23% and missed all 11 of its 3-point tries.
Just over a minute into the game, Lexi Fleming, who came in averaging 16.7 points per game for the Falcons, went down with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
(2o) GONZAGA 67, NEW MEXICO 56: Yvonne Ejim scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, Brynna Maxwell added 14 points and the Bulldogs (13-2) beat the Lobos (9-4) in Spokane.
Gonzaga (13-2) extended its home winning streak to 26, which ranks third in the country behind UNLV (27) and South Carolina (46).
MEN’S BASKETBALL
(6) MARQUETTE 81, GEORGETOWN 51: David Joplin scored 20 points and the Golden Eagles (10-3, 1-1 Big East) beat the cold-shooting Hoyas (7-6, 0-2) in Milwaukee, bouncing back from a loss in its Big East opener.
Marquette won its 18th straight home game, returning to form three nights after an 72-57 loss at Providence. The Golden Eagles have won 19 consecutive Big East home contests.
(10) BAYLOR 107, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 48: Ja’Kobe Walter scored 26 points and made five of Baylor’s 19 3-pointers as the 10th-ranked Bears (10-2) beat the Delta Devils (0-12) in their final game in the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Bears, coming off consecutive losses in NBA arenas to Michigan State and No. 21 Duke, scored the game’s first 20 points after tipping off for the last time in the campus arena they have called home since 1988. The 2021 national champions finished with a 401-169 record there.
(18) CLEMSON 109, QUEENS 79: PJ Hall had 27 points and Joe Girard III scored 19 as the Tigers (10-1) bounced back from their first loss of the season with a victory over the Royals (6-8) in Clemson, South Carolina.
The Tigers perfect start ended last week with a 79-77 loss at No. 23 Memphis. Hall, Girard and the rest of the team made sure they returned to the winning track in their first meeting with the Royals of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
(19) TEXAS 71, TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 55: Dillon Mitchell had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Longhorns (9-2) beat the Islanders (6-6) in Austin, Texas.
Texas shot 48% from the field and had five players score in double figures. Max Abmas scored 17 points, and Dylan Disu and Tyrese Hunter each had 11 points. Brock Cunningham finished with 10.
(20) JAMES MADISON 89, MORGAN STATE 75: Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 29 points to surpass 1,000 for his career and the Dukes (12-0) will enter conference play undefeated after a win over the Bears (4-10) in Baltimore.
James Madison one of three Division I men’s teams that have yet to lose, along with No. 3 Houston and No. 25 Mississippi. James Madison began the season with an overtime victory at then-No. 4 Michigan State, and after outlasting Kent State in double OT, the Dukes entered the Top 25 for the first time.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
