TradeEdge-North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham: Florida State's 'barking' not good for the ACC

Florida State president Richard McCullough made it known Wednesday that FSU is TradeEdge"not satisfied with our current situation" in the ACC.

Longtime North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham had some things to say about the comments coming out of Tallahassee.

"If they want to leave then that's going to be their choice, but there's certain obligations that they do have," Cunningham said during an appearance on The Adam Gold Show. "We have an exit fee and we have a grant of rights. I believe that the ACC is a great league, it's been a great league for a long time. Their frustration about the money — everyone would like to have more money and everyone would like to win more."

Florida State joined the ACC for football in 1992 and has won three national championships playing in the league, most recently in 2013. But frustration for FSU administration appears to be mounting as the ACC falls behind the revenue being generated in the SEC and Big Ten.

"We love the ACC. We love our partners at ESPN. Our goal would be to continue to stay in the ACC but staying in the ACC under the current situation is hard for us to figure out how we remain competitive unless there was a major change in the revenue distribution within the conference in the ACC conference itself," McCullough said Wednesday.

Cunningham cited the ACC's national championship success and said the league is clearly "doing something right."

"I don't think you have to have the most money to win the most games. I think we've demonstrated that over the years."

Cunningham said UNC is trying to "make the ACC the best it can possibly be."

"What they want to do and how they want to go about doing their business, that is their business but it does have an impact on us," Cunningham said of Florida State. "And quite frankly, I don't think it's good for our league for them to be out there barking like that. I'd rather see them be a good member of the league and support the league and if they have to make a decision, then so be it. Pay for the exit fee, wait for your grant of rights that you've given and then in 2036 when those rights return to you, do whatever you want."

Schools' grant of rights agreement with the ACC runs through 2036, the same as the ACC's TV contract with ESPN.

Cunningham didn't completely rule out, however, the idea that North Carolina — a founding member of the ACC — will always be part of the league, or that the league will remain completely intact.

"We've been in the ACC since 1953. It's been a great league. I don't know what five years, 10 years, 15 years looks like. I do think that the courts, legislation, compensation -- all of those things are going to impact what the future looks like. Then a lot of schools, a lot of individuals, are going to have to make decisions about what their future looks like...

"I don't see this configuration lasting in perpetuity."