Florida State Announces Joining Big 12

The Big 12 was almost the Big 8 once again (some of you old schoolers will remember that back in the day, it was just that). It didn’t stay that way long, however, as the conference added West Virginia and TCU earlier, and as of Wednesday, the Florida State Seminoles.

In a statement released Tuesday, Florida State president Erric Barron listed a number of reasons for the school’s decision to join the Big 12.

- The ACC is more of a basketball conference than a football league.

- The ACC is too North Carolina centric and the conference’s TV contract gives the stronger basketball schools an advantage.

- The Big 12’s powerful football schools are a better match for Florida State.

- The Big 12’s impending new TV contract might make Florida State $2.9 million more per year than the ACC’s new deal and Florida State needs the money.

The formal announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on Thursday.

The Big 12 is curently in talks with a number of other schools to fill the 12th spot in the conference (and possibly more in the future as super conferences become a reality). Among the suspected schools are Clemson, Miami, Louisville, Southern Miss, Rutgers, and Notre Dame.