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Steve Spurrier talks potential SEC expansion, says Florida State ‘definitely belongs’
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Steve Spurrier believes Florida State and Clemson would be good fits for the SEC, should the league decide to expand further.
Both FSU and Clemson are currently suing the ACC as they look for a path out of the league’s grant-of-rights agreement, which runs through 2036. If either program is successful in finding a way out — or reaches an exit settlement with the ACC — then they would immediately become potential expansion targets for the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12.
In an interview with Ali Peek, Spurrier said he believes Florida State “definitely belongs” in the SEC. He also gave a slightly-less-enthusiastic answer regarding Clemson’s potential fit in the SEC.
“I think FSU definitely belongs in the SEC,” Spurrier said. “Clemson sort of belongs there also. But I don’t know if the SEC wants to go to 18 teams. I don’t know, maybe the Big Ten would like to have them, who knows?”
Peek also asked Spurrier for his opinion on how Florida State would perform in the SEC, should that move come to fruition at some point in the future.
“Oh, they’d do very well the way they played last year,” Spurrier said, referring to FSU’s 13-0 start to the 2023 campaign. “And I think Clemson would do pretty well. They would do better in the ACC as far as winning conference championships, but they want to play in the big time.”
Any movement from Florida State and Clemson is not expected to be imminent as their lawsuits against the ACC play out in the courts. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips was critical of both programs earlier this week, saying their lawsuits are “incredibly harmful to the league.”
Speculation about Florida State and Clemson talking to the Big 12 has ramped up in recent weeks, especially as Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said the league is still considering expansion options in the future. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said at SEC Media Days last week that the league is happy at 16 teams.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
