There is no formal start date for the increasingly bitter feud that led Florida State and the ACC to stew over one another, then sue one another, and now slump awkwardly into the 2024 college football season stuck with one another.

But May 11, 2012 – one day after then-Florida State athletic director Rnady Spetman said the school was committed to the ACC in the wake of Big 12 defection rumors — isn’t a bad place to begin.

“With the SEC making the kind of money it does, it’s time to act,” Andy Haggard, then the chair of the Florida State Board of Trustees told Rivals at the time. “You can’t sit back and be content in the ACC.”

It took another decade for action, but Florida State officially wants out of the ACC. The pending drama will loom large during the Seminoles' 2024 season, which began with a 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland during Week 0.  What’s happening off the field, with five lawsuits filed in three different states since last season ended — pitting Florida State against the ACC and Clemson against the ACC in hopes of eventually leaving the league — is likely to determine the next phase of conference realignment.

Here’s what you need to know to catch up on the status of Florida State’s lawsuit against the ACC:

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Why FSU filed a lawsuit against the ACC

Money, of course.

Florida State wants more than the ACC can offer right now to compete with the Big Ten and SEC in today’s college football landscape. So it's attempting to leave the ACC, its home since 1991, and its lawsuit filed in December 2023 — less than three weeks after FSU’s College Football Playoff snub — is meant to convince a judge that the conference’s grant of rights and exit fees are unenforceable and illegal.

The ACC’s grant of rights, originally signed in 2013 and then extended by 20 years with a 2016 addendum, was the result of ESPN needing reassurances to start the ACC Network – reassurances neither ESPN nor FOX required of the SEC and Big Ten, respectively, when their networks were launched in 2007 and 2014.

The grant of rights document has ostensibly kept the ACC intact because any school that leaves would have to forfeit any money from media rights until the the end of the ACC’s current contract with ESPN, which might not expire until 2036.

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What’s happened since FSU filed its lawsuit against ACC

Technically, the ACC sued Florida State first – a preemptive move the day before Florida State formally filed its litigation as part of an ongoing battle to figure out the appropriate venue for the case. The ACC wants the case to be decided in Mecklenberg County in North Carolina, where the league is based in Charlotte. Florida State filed in Leon County, Florida, where its campus is located in Tallahassee. Over the past eight months, hearings to adjudicate that issue have ensued.

Earlier this month, the Florida Attorney General’s office also released a redacted version of the ACC’s ESPN agreement. That happened in the aftermath of a lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody against the ACC seeking to make the contract public record.

The document confirmed Florida State’s contention in preliminary court proceedings that the ACC’s ESPN agreement technically ends in 2027 – not 2036, as previously reported – but ESPN has the option to extend the deal until 2036. It must notify the league of its intentions to do so by February 2025.

Last Thursday, Florida State and the ACC acknowledged in court documents that they met for mediation on Aug. 13 as part of FSU’s lawsuit in Florida but failed to come to a resolution.

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Can FSU join the SEC, Big Ten or Big 12?

For now, only if Florida State gives up tons of money and those other leagues are interested in expanding. And not until the 2026 season, at the earliest.

Florida State did not give the ACC a notice of withdrawal by Aug. 15, which would have been required to leave the league on June 30 of the following year.

Florida State’s lawyers have said it would cost the school between $570 million and $700 million to exit the conference based on the league’s grant of rights agreement. That would be more than FSU has received from the ACC throughout its 33-year membership, according to the Raleigh News and Observer.

The Action Network reported in July that the Big Ten and SEC aren’t interested in adding Florida State if the ACC survives this legal challenge.

What the ACC is saying about its lawsuit vs. FSU

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips held a firm line when speaking with reporters at the ACC Kickoff last month, stating the league will combat lawsuits filed by Florida State and Clemson “for as long as it takes.”

“I can state that we will fight to protect the ACC and our members for as long as it takes," Phillips said. "We are confident in this league and that it will remain a premier conference in college athletics for the long-term future. These disputes continue to be extremely damaging, disruptive and incredibly harmful to the league."

What FSU’s lawsuit could mean for ACC, conference realignment

The very survival of the ACC, founded in 1953, is at stake with the lawsuits filed by Florida State and Clemson. If either were able to break the conference’s grant of rights earlier than expected, more ACC schools would likely follow them looking for a new league home. It would, potentially, mirror the exodus the Pac-12 went through once USC and UCLA initially left for the Big Ten.

Even if the ACC were to withstand a wave of prominent defections, it would be hardly recognizable from the league Florida State joined more than 30 years ago.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FSU-ACC lawsuit explained, what it means for conference realignment