Clemson Tigers News: ACC motions to dismiss Florida State lawsuit

Clemson has been keeping a close eye on the lawsuits filed between the Atlantic Coast Conference and Florida State University, for good reason.

It is generally accepted by observers that Clemson would prefer to leave the ACC if one of the Power Two conferences, the SEC or Big Ten, were to offer them an invite. Like all ACC members, they are contractually bound to the conference for the next decade, unless someone can find a way to get out of that contract.

Enter Florida State, who took the leap of filing a lawsuit against the ACC when they were snubbed for the College Football Playoff. The ACC saw it coming and filed its own lawsuit first.

This week, the ACC filed a motion in Florida to dismiss or pause Florida State's lawsuit against the conference. The Seminoles’ lawsuit was filed in Florida, where the school could benefit from sovereign immunity.

This comes on the heels of Florida State's motion to dismiss the ACC’s lawsuit in North Carolina. The ACC is incorporated in North Carolina and they have been headquartered there for many years.

The ACC reasons that their lawsuit filed in North Carolina was filed first and therefore should take precedence. FSU claims the ACC didn’t follow proper procedures to allow all constituent schools a vote before filing their lawsuit.

The outcome of these motions could indicate if Clemson could potentially have an advantage in a lawsuit against the ACC

Each entity is trying to get the lawsuit in the state where they are disadvantaged thrown out, and the outcome of these motions could provide us with the first real indicator of how this might work out when it is all said and done.

If it is true that Clemson would also like to exit the Grant of Rights that has them locked into the ACC until 2036, it is to their advantage if the ACC’s lawsuit in North Carolina is dismissed. If Florida State’s lawsuit in Florida is dismissed, the conference would have the advantage in a North Carolina courtroom.

If neither lawsuit is dismissed or paused, it might be 2036 before we have any clarity on either of them. That is sarcasm, of course, but the point is that these proceedings could go on for years without any real resolution.