Florida State could have had it all in 2023. QB injuries missed out on a playoff spot, and then it went downhill. The 2024 season was something to forget. Just two wins for a program that went undefeated a year prior. Now, as we look ahead to the 2025 season, there is some off-the-field drama surrounding the program. We know about the uncertainty around their ACC status. Is it resolved for now? Seems like it. Before that, rumors indicated that the Seminoles had been looking for ways to get a wild card entry to the Big Ten or the SEC; however, the Power 2 conferences reportedly don’t want to add any other member to their shell, especially the ones that are still fighting with some legal restraints.

That doesn’t mean there is no way for Florida State to cut ties with the ACC as a slap on the face against all their missed opportunities and an uneven status triggered by a lower competitive spirit and resources of ACC than the other fellow conferences. Sure, they have a slim scope to enter the mainstream conferences, and not for nothing, of course. Both the conferences expanded adequately last season, with the Big 10 adding USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington and the SEC including Oklahoma and Texas. But there is an easy way out to melt the ice of indifference, which is a stern recruitment streak.

Insider Brian Smith started the discussion on the March 14 episode of Locked on Seminoles with a simple question. Can Florida State make the playoffs next year? Really? A 2-win team making the playoffs the next season? Well, there’s precedent. Arizona State won three games in 2023 and made it to the playoffs in 2024. What helped? Well, the portal and new coaches. Why is making the playoffs such a big deal for the program? On the one hand, it means success. On the other hand, more eyeballs, and they can finally catch the attention of the Big 10 and the SEC, as per Smith. How else can they catch their attention? By recruiting better.

Brian Smith added, ”I feel good about where they’re at with the defensive line recruiting. I think they’ve turned the corner, and they should be in a pretty balanced position moving forward. That’s huge, but now, you need to be in that kind of situation. This is the big bugaboo for everybody, the offensive line.” Mike Norvell has already turned his focus into the portal after going 2-10 in 2024. They have swooped in a lot of big fish, including Shamar Arboux, Jayvan Boggs, and Ousmane Ktomah in the class of 2025.

But it’s not about just a single sport recruiting, by the way. The conferences will look for a holistic depth chart of all the sports, including another prime one. ”What about the basketball team? Is it point guard? Is it a Center?  Whatever, every team has something different in Florida State athletics. That’s all got to happen; you need better recruiting across the board at Florida State,” Smith continued, vouching for more portal efforts in multi-sports.

However, as per the new revenue distribution model, FSU is likely to bag an additional 20 million annually, and there couldn’t be a better chance to ace up the recruitment game to better manage a tougher schedule in 2025. Smith suggested, ”They should be dumping some of that money into the coffers for recruiting. That’s going to be a major factor for the Big 10 and really any conference. They’re gonna, I don’t care if it’s the Big 12 being to take a G5 team, they’re going to want to know, can you really make this step? Can you be consistent in our league? Recruiting is one of the easiest parameters to look at because they’re going to look at those rankings.” 

And the rankings do not look good. Florida State’s 2025 class is ranked No. 18 in the nation. The bad news? No 5-star commit. They have been hanging around 11th to 20th rank in the past few years. Top SEC and Big 10 teams are never out of the top 10. So, that certainly needs to change for the program.

But the new settlement deal calls for risk as a byproduct of the desperate attempt to appease the revolting states.

The massive financial edge to FSU might backfire in the form of a  major ACC shake-up 

On March 3, Florida State and Clemson finally saw a silver lining at the end of a financial conundrum holding them back. The main resistance to their exit was about the ACC giant ownership of media and TV rights over the millions of dollars. It bound them with a huge exit fee if they intend to leave before 2036.

But in a twist of the event, FSU and Clemson were granted a get-out-of-jail-free card. As part of a new settlement, the exit fee for any conference member comes down from about $700 million to $165 million and will keep descending by $18 million per year. But it’s not a wise move for the rest of the conference’s health. ”The ACC is taking money out of the pockets of some of its schools and giving Florida State and Clemson even more money to leave the league if they want to. Big picture: band-aid bullet hole. This is not going to work in five years,” analyst Drake C rightfully points out. ‘

It would be no surprise if UNC or any other member wants the same for themselves in a few years, seeing the financial boost of Mike Norvell and FSU. So, it’s a self-dug hole that can bite back at the conference higher-ups, leading to a complete dissolution of the house.