Report: SEC not likely to be destination for Florida State, Miami, Clemson

With the college football regular season behind us, conference realignment talk is back. At least it is for Florida State, who is once again looking to move on from the ACC. Not making the College Football Playoff only intensified their feelings, with the Seminoles having a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday to discuss their future.

As Florida State begins to look at options, the SEC reportedly is not a likely one. According to Dan Wetzel of Yahoo, the SEC would not want to add the Noles or two of their other ACC counterparts — Clemson and Miami.

“The SEC is believed to be a less likely option for Florida State, Clemson or Miami — the three most desirable football properties (and this is about football mostly),” Wetzel said. “The league is set to begin as a 16-team operation next season existing in contiguous states. It is already powerful. It is already rich. It has now taken over large swaths of Texas.”

Wetzel reports part of the reason the trio might not be wanted by the SEC is due to location. Those three would not bring new land into the conference, with the Florida Gators and South Carolina Gamecocks already being in their respective states.

Also, it’s not like the SEC is desperate to add some big-named brands. Wetzel mentioned the Texas Longhorns just being added, accompanied by Oklahoma. Alabama and Georgia are the top two programs in the sport right now. Throw in a couple more names such as LSU and Tennessee — you get the point.

Back in the summer, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that North Carolina and Virginia will be the most coveted schools to come out of the ACC whenever the next round of realignment arrives.

“This is what makes the prospect of landing North Carolina and Virginia integral in both leagues’ down-the-road expansion plans,” Thamel said. “Outside of Notre Dame, there are no programs that will be as coveted by the SEC and Big Ten thanks to both geography and market.”

Wetzel’s report did not specifically name UNC or UVA but an SEC source did tell him “My sense is there is more opposition than interest.”

Florida State is clearly fed up with the ACC and has been for quite some time. The conference’s Grant of Rights is thought to be “ironclad” but the Seminoles are determined to get out of them.

Once officially free, a conference will want to bring Florida State in. For the time being, the SEC is not expected to be one of them.