Paul Finebaum doesn’t foresee FSU leaving the ACC for the Big Ten
During a skeptical diatribe about Florida State’s fit with the conference, Paul Finebaum put down FSU for the school’s athletics and suggested that the Noles aren’t Big Ten material after they leave the ACC.
“I know Florida State thinks they’re heavily in demand, but there are some questions about what exactly they bring to the Big Ten,” Finebaum said on the June 25 edition of The Paul Finebaum Show. “They don’t fit the Big Ten model. The Big Ten, I believe, other than Nebraska, has highly accredited schools, and I don’t think Florida State really qualifies for that.”
The accreditation Finebaum is referring to is AAU, which could be a roadblock to both FSU and Clemson if/when they escape the ACC. College football radio host and insider Greg Swaim believes Nebraska could get the boot from the B1G if they don’t resolve their AAU situation as the only non-accredited members; proving how much that matters to the Big Ten. The Huskers are a top revenue producer and losing them would come at a cost.
The B1G says AAU accreditation is not an absolute requirement only to avoid exclusionary lawsuits, but they’ve never invited a team that wasn’t AAU at the time,” Swaim prefaced before saying, “Some believe they may even kick out the Huskers for losing their accreditation soon after joining…and they won’t get it back.”
Paul Finebaum’s insult not just at FSU, but also at the SEC
Finebaum just made a clear delineation between the Big Ten and the SEC academically in his putdown of FSU.
As someone who got his start in Birmingham, that’s bait at best and disrespect at worst.
Some have ticketed FSU and Clemson to be B1G-bound regardless of their better cultural fit in the SEC. If the Big Ten could consider Nebraska without AAU accreditation, but with myriad other net positives as a program, they’ll consider teams with national championships in the last two decades.
FSU and Clemson are certain to get invites from both the B1G and the “It Just Means More” conference regardless of what talking heads like Finebaum have to say about it.
