FSU’s President Eric Barron issues a statement on conference alignment. Specifically on the whole issue of the ACC or Big 12 for Florida State.

“I want to assure you that any decision made about FSU athletics will be reasoned and thoughtful and based on athletics, finances and academics. Allow me to provide you with some of the issues we are facing:

In support of a move are four basic factors argued by many alumni:

1. The ACC is more basketball than it is football, and many of our alumni view us as more football oriented than the ACC

2. The ACC is too North Carolina centric and the contract advantages basketball and hence advantages the North Carolina schools

3. The Big 12 has some big football schools that match up with FSU

4. The Big 12 contract (which actually isn’t signed yet) is rumored to be $2.9M more per year than the ACC contract. We need this money to be competitive.

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Did you know that the late signing period for basketball ends this Wednesday? Does it really matter? Only insofar as the Letter of Intent is concerned. The reality is a kid could still commit after the signing period ends. He just wouldn’t be signing a LOI. Only scholarship papers.

The practical side is that it means the kid wouldn’t be on most campuses for the summer session, and paperwork could be a bit more rushed. Leading to questions later if the NCAA gets information late.

Savon Goodman, increasingly has appeared to be heading to prep school for a year. Specifically to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. That’s probably good for Pitt, since there really isn’t room this year.

That didn’t stop Goodman from finally taking an official visit to Pitt this past weekend.

Uncommitted 2012 wing Savon Goodman took an official visit to Pittsburgh this past weekend, his high school coach, Rob Moore,confirmed to SNY.tv.

Goodman was not immediately available for comment but Moore said the visit went well.

Take that for whatever you want it to mean.

In actual committed players, here’s an interview with Chris Jones. Steven Adams is just trying to enjoy being a student a little longer.

I’m now of the opinion that conference realignment in college sports is much the same as summer TV programming. It’s generally not as good as the regular season, but at least it’s something to watch.

Apparently I made the mistake of listening to my wife and taking Sunday as a computer/twitter/internet-free day. Not checking for updates. Not looking to see if anything new happened. So I missed the Chairman of the Florida State Board of Trustees (Sorry, I have to do this) going off the reservation. Ranting about the ACC’s new deal, going with the conspiracy theory of North Carolina/basketball favoritism, expressing how interested Florida State is (or should be) in the Big 12. And generally, acting like he came from the message boards rather than as a steward for the entire school.

The biggest problem was that he was horribly clueless about so much of the reality.

[Andy] Haggard played up the long held idea that the league office is in the back pocket of the basketball programs of Duke and North Carolina, while floating the concept that there is some pile of cash possible if the Seminoles could only package some of their lower-profile football games, maybe even like Texas does with the Longhorn Network.

“It’s mind-boggling and shocking,” Haggard told Warchant.com. “How can the ACC give up third-tier rights for football but keep them for basketball? … It continues the perception that the ACC favors the North Carolina schools.”

The truth is the money delivered by selling off the first- and second-tier rights was shocking enough. Also true: neither of his assertions may be accurate. The ACC later said Haggard was incorrect and third-tier basketball rights are not maintained by schools. And no one has any idea what FSU could get from some of its weaker football games.

Sources say the ACC has not distributed the contract with ESPN to member schools. It rarely, if ever, does. Many in the league are wondering how much Haggard himself came up with the third-tier conspiracy, what he thinks is in the deal or why he believes it even matters so much.

It seems like a ploy to drum up fan support for a bold switch. Nothing rallies boosters like the idea of Coach K bullying someone into action, even if it isn’t true.

What’s also sad, is that this piece by Wetzel has its own whopper of an inaccuracy.

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