Bobby Bowden’s message to FSU? ‘Stay in the ACC’

[huskymedic]

Gist of story|

>>In an interview that will air Sunday morning at 9 a.m. ET on the SiriusXM show College Sports from All Angles with Jack Arute, Arute asks ex-FSU head coach Bobby Bowden what his message would be to his former school in regards to future conference affiliation. His response? In essence, get your football program in better shape and get back to ruling the ACC before even thinking about moving to a higher-quality football conference.

“My message would be stay in the ACC,” Bowden told Arute in a transcript provided by SiriusXM. “Do you want to win a National Championship at Florida State? You’ve got a better chance in the ACC than you have in the Big 12, or even the SEC.

“You say, ‘Well, gosh, they’re much stronger in those conferences.’ Yeah! They beat up on each other and you can’t hardly get there. You know what? Florida State, wait ‘til you get good enough to rule the ACC then you start looking for someplace to jump. But my opinion? They should stay right where they are.”<<


http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/17/bobby-bowdens-message-to-fsu-stay-in-the-acc/

 

[Chin Diesel]

His message is very clear to FSU.

FSU isn't good enough to compete for national championships in the Big12 and is better served trying to be the big fish in the little pond (ACC) rather than try to be a big fish in a bigger pond (Big12).

And above all else, his point is for FSU to get their shiitt together first before they worry about conference hopping. Winning solves many issues including donations from alumni.

Two sides to the swords here.

First off, Bowden is correct in that FSU has a much better chance of having a 12-0 or 11-1 record in the ACC than they do in the Big 12.

The flip side to that is what happens if there are one-loss teams in the SEC, Big10, Big12, Pac12 and ACC. Which team is most likely to get left off the 4-team playoff based on conference strength? Historically the ACC's conference strength is fifth out of those five conferences. Meaning? Meaning a 0ne loss FSU requires their loss to be a "better" loss than the one loss from a team in the other four conferences. Because if there's five one-loss teams and all of the losses are comparable (not exactly equal, but close enough) FSU sits at home.

So Bowden's position is that FSU needs to get their shiittt squared away first, start getting real good records and then hope that the Pac12, Big10, big12 and SEC don't have undefeated or one-loss teams because FSU isn't good enough to compete in the SEC or Big12.

 

[Hoophound]

Of course, they might recruit better if they are in a better conference. Several players we follow in recruiting around here accumulate offers from ACC, Big East and C-USA teams only to jump at the first SEC offer they get. The recruiting line that you have to beat the best to be the best is a good one.