Although it hasn’t been formally announced, the 6-foot-2 guard from Altamonte Springs appears to be the newest member of Florida State’s women’s basketball team.

On Thursday afternoon, the former McDonald’s High School All-American tweeted this picture of her in an FSU uniform, and stated that she was “officially a Florida State Seminole.”

The former two-sport (volleyball and basketball) star at Lake Mary High started her collegiate career at Northwestern. Last season was one of the best in recent history for the Wildcats, who began the year 9-1. The start was their best since the 1995-96 season. It included wins over the likes of No. 20 LSU and North Carolina State and Missouri.

Jones averaged 14.1 points per game; the second-highest mark on the team. She also averaged 6.0 rebounds, and had 28 starts. Named an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection, she also made the Big Ten All-Freshman roster.

In high school, Jones was rated the ninth-best player in the nation, according to Hoopgurlz.com. Her older sister, Tailor, is a junior at Northwestern.

Back in April, Northwestern formally announced that Morgan had decided to transfer to a school unknown. She had informed Wildcats coach Joe McKeown that she would finish the spring quarter of her freshman year there.

“Although I am disappointed Morgan is leaving our program, I wish her nothing but the best,” McKeown said in the news release. “She is a first-class individual. Our Northwestern basketball family wishes her only success as she continues her education and basketball career.”

Jones becomes the second transfer added to FSU’s roster this offseason. A day before Northwestern announced Jones’ departure, the Seminoles added speedy 5-foot-2 guard Yashira “Cheetah” Delgado from Hillsborough Community College. Delgado is originally from Kissimmee.

In February, FSU announced it also was officially able to add former Auburn guard Morgan Toles to the roster.

***

Full disclosure (before someone calls me out on the blog), Northwestern is the school this reporter proudly calls his alma mater. Understanding — with great first-hand experience — how disappointing NU’s overall athletic success has been in recent years, Jones’ departure will be seen as a definite blow to those who consider themselves Wildcats fans. (In a cursory and rather detached sense, I admit, I’m one of them).

I only add that addendum to say that FSU fans should be very happy with this news. One of the country’s best young players is now about to call Tallahassee home.

Athlon Sports believes Florida State running back Mario Pender (No. 7) could be a breakout player for the Seminoles this season. The freshman enrolled early in January and participated in spring practices. (USPresswire)

Wednesday is Athlon Sports Day here on the Chopping Block (or at least it’s Athlon Sports Day here in this particular blog post). As part of its preseason top 25 countdown this spring, the publication has been devoting certain days to various teams in its top 25.

Wednesday is Florida State Day on the Athlon Sports website.

Coming in at No. 9 on the publication’s list, the Seminoles are projected to have a strong 2012 season. The hype that has followed them each and every offseason for seemingly the last decade, will finally begin to take some true shape, Athlon contends.

In a series of stories and capsules posted Wednesday morning, Athlon makes its case for FSU. Take a look below at the various predictions the Athlon Sports staff has boldly made about the Seminoles entering this season:

~FSU 2012 team predictions

~Is FSU back as an annual national title contender?

~FSU 2012 team preview

~Gallery: FSU’s Top 10 players of 2012

There are a few other links tagged into the stories with respect to the greatest FSU plays of all time and the top moments in Seminoles history. Fun stuff to read, debate.

What do you think? Do some of these predictions make sense? Is the Clemson game (Sept. 22 in Tallahassee) the biggest game of the year for FSU? Could the Sept. 29 game at South Florida be a trap? Let’s see what you’re thinking about Athlon’s predictions.

Florida State outfielder James Ramsey is ready to lead the Seminoles through a "fun" week in Greensboro, N.C. at the ACC Tournament. When the Seminoles last played in the tournament in Greensboro, they won it. (Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)

Florida State is now less than three hours away from the start of this year’s ACC Tournament. The Seminoles and seven other teams from the conference are back in Greensboro, N.C. for the first time since FSU last claimed the conference tournament crown in 2010.

This time around, they’ll be attempting the difficult task of claiming a tournament title to go along with their regular season conference championship. After beating North Carolina State last Friday, they earned the unofficial title as regular season champions, and earned the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament.

To get you set for the tournament, which begins with FSU’s (43-12, 24-6 ACC) 11 a.m. game against No. 8 seed Georgia Tech (32-24, 12-18), check out this quick preview here. FSU first baseman Jayce Boyd wants to recapture some of the magic the Seminoles had when he was a freshman two years ago.

Also to get set for this weekend’s action, check out this short Q&A with Boyd and fellow teammate James Ramsey. The two were named first-team All-ACC selections Monday. Ramsey also was named the ACC’s Player of the Year. He enters the tournament ranking in the top 10 of the conference in nine offensive categories. With a .380 batting average, he comes in just behind Boyd’s conference-leading .399.

James Ramsey

Q: What does the Player of the Year award mean to you?

A: It’s a good recognition, but in the grand scheme of things, we’re trying to win a tournament championship this weekend and get going into the postseason.

Q: With the award and the regular season now in your rearview mirror, how would evaluate your progression to this point in the season? Did it seem like the year would go this well for you individually?

A: Going back to the beginning of the season, knowing that I had a lot to prove and that I had a lot of expectations to live up to, and knowing my personality — I’m a pretty intrinsically motivated person. …  I don’t work hard based on how other people feel about me. I work hard because I want to be the best and I want to reach my potential. So going into this year, I know there may have been a lot of people who felt that I had a lot of pressure on myself, but I look at it as a blessing and an opportunity and a good platform to showcase my skills.

Q: Why did you not feel that pressure?

A: The last person that’s been surprised by my success this year has been me. I had pretty realistic expectations of my abilities. I’ve had pretty realistic expectations of my future in baseball. I know that I have goals to play in the big leagues and always felt like I was one of the elite players in the country. That’s not an overly confident thing to say, it’s more so just being realistic and knowing that if you don’t have the confidence in your ability, you’re not going to be able to exceed what you’re able to do just from your natural talent.

Q: There are a number of freshmen on this team who contribute to the team who have never been to the ACC Tournament. What do you, as a senior and veteran member of the team, say to them to help them get through this week?

A: This is a really fun week. Some of the best teams in the country are all here and we get to play three games against three very good teams. You have to enjoy it, but at the same time, you have to begin to condition yourself with a sense of urgency that this is the part of the season when you have to play your best baseball.

Q: When you’re in a tournament like this, how much does having a No. 1 seed help?

A: It never hurts.

When you’re the No. 1 seed, you have a bull’s eye on your back and everyone is probably going to try to throw their best guy against you. They don’t want to see you win the tournament championship. It’s really tough to go

Jayce Boyd

Q: What was your reaction when you found out about making first-team All-ACC?

A: I was pretty excited, but at the same time, you just try not to look too much into it. You still have a lot to look forward to as a team that means a lot more than making the All-ACC team, that’s for sure.

Q: Can being a No. 1 seed help a team in a tournament like this?

A: I would say, ‘Yes.’ It has to. That’s what you strive to do is put yourself in a good position to win ballgames. When you get up there, and you’re kind of the underdog, it makes it more fun to try to build yourself up to the top, but it’s a lot harder to do. When you come in as a No. 1 seed, you just do what you’ve been doing all season long and that’s win games.

Q: You said the ACC Tournament championship your freshman year was one of your biggest FSU memories. Why was that moment so special?

A: You expect that out of Florida State. You expect to get to the ACC Tournament and put yourself in a position to win it, and also, once you get into the postseason, into the Regionals and Super Regionals, it’s the same way. That’s pretty special to me.

Is Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher the ACC's version of Lex Luthor? Is he the biggest villain in the conference? One major website says yes. (Getty Images)

Before you read too far and start taking things out on me, I want to first say that I’m only re-asking a question that was posed on ESPN.com earlier in the day Tuesday.

As part of its weekly “coaches we love to hate” series, the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader’s website has been featuring short blogs on the coaches that we as fans and reporters love to consider villains. It’s an interesting offseason series that has played out on all of the site’s conference blogs all week. I encourage you to check them out. In particular, I encourage you to check out the ACC blog, run by my wonderful colleague, Heather Dinich.

On the ACC blog, Heather proposes that among the 12 teams in this (potentially in flux) league, Florida State has the one football coach everyone else around Atlantic Coast country loves to hate.

Yep, per the blog, Jimbo Fisher is the Joker to John Swofford’s Batman. He’s the Lex Luthor to the Supermen in Greensboro, N.C. He’s the Magneto to the Professor Xs trying to keep the ACC intact.

As you might imagine (and hopefully I foreshadowed a bit for you), the reason Dinich picks Fisher as the least liked ACC coach has to do with his comments to the Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi about two weeks ago. Speaking to Bianchi before a spring booster tour event in Orlando, Fisher said:

“If that [jumping to the Big 12] is what’s best for Florida State, then that’s what we need to do.”

The comments sent shockwaves throughout the ACC, as they aligned with statements uttered earlier in the day by FSU trustee board chair Andy Haggard. Like Fisher, he believed it was time for the Seminoles to open the door to talks about leaving the ACC in favor of perhaps greener pastures, like the Big 12.

And just like that, the FSU-to-Big-12 chatter exploded.

We’re still in the same position we were about a week ago — with FSU still in the ACC. We likely will be that way for at least another month, when the Big 12’s new commissioner, Bob Bowlsby, officially takes over his duties. Next week, the conference will hold its annual spring meetings, and likely will take up the expansion debate. FSU should most certainly be part of that conversation.

In the meantime, for opening his mouth — even though he has since backing off the original statement — Fisher was dubbed the ACC’s king villain by the ESPN.com blog. As the rest of the conference professes that it is trying to stay together, he said it might not be a bad idea to explore better options for his university; if they exist.

While I can understand the choice, it is definitely a debatable one.

So, debate away. What do you think? Do you agree with the blog? Disagree? Wish the blog had looked at football exploits only? Or does Fisher’s comments make him a prime target for getting called out?

In the meantime, like Heather wrote, it must be noted, that there are so many genuinely nice guys in the ACC that her decision probably wasn’t an easy one. It wasn’t meant as a reflection on Coach Fisher’s character, rather as an attempt to have some kind of light, fun — non-realignment — conversation during the doldrums of the spring and summer.

Exactly 100 days to go until football season begins again.

Are you ready?

Florida State receiver Rashad Greene had several key second-half receptions in FSU's Champs Sports Bowl win over Notre Dame. This touchdown grab proved to be the game-winning score. Because of his efforts, Greene was named the game's MVP. On Tuesday, he and his teammates claimed even more hardware. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Quarterback EJ Manuel’s pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes, and kicker Dustin Hopkins’ third-quarter field goal helped Florida State rally in Orlando in late December to earn another Champs Sports Bowl victory. The 18-14 win over Notre Dame gave the Seminoles two bowl wins in two seasons under head coach Jimbo Fisher, and it sent them into the offseason with enormously high expectations and hopes that the 2012 season will end in the 2013 calendar year.

… in a BCS bowl.

In addition to the hype that has accompanied it, the postseason victory gave the Seminoles one other thing.

Rings.

Big, bright, shiny, gold rings.

Take a look down below to check out the Seminoles’ bowl bling, which arrived Tuesday, according to the school’s football Twitter account.

Florida State Football on WhoSay

Florida State defensive ends Bjoern Werner (background) and Brandon Jenkins (No. 49) were two of the 20 Seminoles listed on Phil Steele's annual preseason All-ACC teams announced Tuesday. Five FSU players were listed as preseason first-team all-conference picks by the publication. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

This spring, Phil Steele, publisher of the widely-respected college football magazine that bears his name, has been unveiling his preseason all-conference teams. Tuesday morning, he announced his 2012 All-ACC and All-Big 12 preseason teams.

No, for the record, no Florida State Seminoles ended up on the All-Big 12 list.

But plenty did make Steele’s four All-ACC teams. In total, 18 Seminoles were named to them, including five he dubbed first-team All-ACC preseason players. One FSU player, Greg Reid, was named to the various teams at three separate positions: cornerback, punt returner and kick returner.

To view the list in its entirety, go to this online component to Phil Steele’s magazine.

FSU led all ACC schools with the 20 selections. Clemson was next with 13. The Tigers also had the most first-team All-ACC preseason picks with six. FSU had five.

The Seminoles’ first-teamers included: defensive end Brandon Jenkins, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, punt returner Greg Reid, safety Lamarcus Joyner and place kicker Dustin Hopkins.

As you read the entire list, what do you think? Do you like it? Hate it? Think some players could have been moved around? Certainly a case can be made that two Seminoles defensive linemen are classified a little lower than those in Tallahassee would have expected …

Debate on.

First-team Seminoles

DE Brandon Jenkins

CB Xavier Rhodes

S Lamarcus Joyner

PK Dustin Hopkins

PR Greg Reid

Second-team Seminoles

WR Rashad Greene

WR Rodney Smith

OL Jake Fahrenkrug

DT Everett Dawkins

DE Bjoern Werner

OLB Christian Jones

Third-team Seminoles

QB EJ Manuel

RB Devonta Freeman

OT Bobby Hart

DT Timmy Jernigan

MLB Vince Williams

CB Greg Reid

KR Greg Reid

Fourth-team Seminoles

TE Nick O’Leary

DT Anthony McCloud

Florida State outfielder James Ramsey (left) and first baseman Jayce Boyd were two Seminoles named to the ACC's all-conference teams Monday. Ramsey became the first FSU player since 2008 to take home the Player of the Year honors. (Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)

For their efforts during a banner ACC regular season campaign, six members of the Florida State baseball program were honored by the conference Monday. Five made the all-conference team, one of them was named its player of the year. The sixth, their coach, took home the conference’s highest managing honor.

Just two days before the Seminoles’ season continues with their opening-round ACC Tournament game against Georgia Tech, outfielder James Ramsey earned ACC Player of the Year status, while coach Mike Martin, Sr. was named the ACC’ s 2012 Coach of the Year. The pair played integral roles in No. 1 FSU’s 43-12 overall mark, and 24-6 record in ACC games this year.

Ramsey enters this week’s tournament a semifinalist for college baseball’s highest honor, the Dick Howswer Trophy. The trophy is named for the former FSU coach.

Sporting a .380 batting average, Ramsey ranks in the ACC’s top 10 of nine offensive categories entering the tournament. He leads the conference in runs scored (67), on-base percentage (.467) and slugging percentage (.538). He also has 10 doubles, six triples and 11 home runs. As FSU’s starting outfielder, Ramsey brings a perfect fielding percentage (on 129 chances) into the postseason.

Ramsey was the first Seminole to earn ACC Player of the Year honors since 2008, when current San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey claimed them. Ramsey also joined former Seminoles J.D. Drew (1997) and John Ford-Griffin (2001) as the only FSU outfielders to be the conference’s best player in a given year.

Martin’s Coach of the Year award was his seventh. During the regular season, he claimed his 1,700th career victory. In 33 seasons in Tallahassee, he has never had a losing record. Each year, he has led the Seminoles to 40 wins or more.

Joining Ramsey as a first-team selection was first baseman Jayce Boyd, who has a league-leading .399 average, second baseman Devon Travis and closer Robert Benincasa. Freshman starting pitcher Mike Compton was named to the All-ACC second-team.

Here are the rest of the All-ACC honorees:

Former Florida State linebacker and former board of trustees member Derrick Brooks in a radio interview Wednesday said the Seminoles were approached by the Big 12; not the other way around. (Getty Images)

If you thought that the Florida State-to-Big-12 rumors were beginning to die down, think again.

This thing just got a whole new life.

***

**UPDATE, 12:01 p.m. If you follow me on Twitter (if not, you should @os_coleyharvey), you just saw where we found out FSU athletics director Randy Spetman’s thoughts on Derrick Brooks’ comments (that you’ll read down below). Here’s what Spetman said to the reporters at the Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton just as he was leaving the ACC meetings:

“I don’t know where Derrick got that.”

Full disclosure, I had to leave the meetings late last night to attend to some other things. That quote comes from my Orlando Sentinel colleague Matt Murschel, who is there for the final day of the meetings.

***

During an appearance on the Tim Brando Radio Show on Wednesday morning, former FSU linebacker and former board of trustees member Derrick Brooks chimed in with his insight on the potential conference switch. Apparently, contrary to common belief, it appears that the Big 12 reached to FSU. Not the other way around, Brooks said.

“From our understanding, it is the Big 12 wanting to talk to us,” Brooks said. “Again, that is from my understanding that that appears to be the case.”

Brooks ended his time as a trustee last summer. Currently, the former longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneer serves as the president of the Tampa Bay Storm, an arena football league team.

Reiterating the point that talks have apparently been going on for a while, Brooks added “this is nothing new.”

All this week, FSU officials have spoken about a public desire to stay in the ACC and to continue to call the conference their home. In the very same breath, however, they have been quick to say that it is at least worth exploring their options and seeing if anything else exists on the horizon beyond the ACC.

For now, that means searching out the Big 12.

“It’s no doubt that we’re going to listen,” Brooks said. “It’s no harm in listening to what the pitch is. From our president’s standpoint, he was just attempting to put things out there from his perspective. ‘These are the pros as I see it, and these are the cons as I see it.’

“Hopefully by the Big 12 courting us, it gives the ACC that much more credibility.”

Here’s FSU president Eric Barron’s email that he sent to fans and boosters Monday, affirming his commitment to the ACC and to being desirous of making a well-thought out and balanced decision.

Here also are Brooks’ comments on the radio show, in their entirety.

Near the end of his interview, Brooks added that he didn’t want to make it seem as if FSU’s potential switch from the ACC to the Big 12 was about one sport (football).

“That’s unfair,” Brooks said.

The decision the board of trustees, FSU president Eric Barron and athletics director Randy Spetman face is a multi-pronged one, Brooks said.

Brooks’ comments came one day after new Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the USA Today that he believed the conversation of conference realignment would be placed on his conference’s upcoming agendas. He said that the such conversations should be on every conference’s agenda now.

“Conference realignment will continue to be an issue and one we all have to be vigilant about,” Bowlsby said, without mentioning anything about FSU.

Bowlsby officially takes over in his new post June 15.

Below is a video embed of the Brooks interview on the Tim Brando Show from earlier. This comes from the CBS Sports Network:

The only problem, some of you have already pointed out, is that the statement doesn’t contain the detailed numbers that may make the explanation even easier. Numbers like, oh, what the specific schools will actually be making year-by-year over the course of the next 15 years?

The thing is, we shouldn’t be surprised that those numbers weren’t there. Neither the ACC nor ESPN will put out figures like that when they involve private institutions (like Miami). And since the deal was struck as a conference-wide deal, wouldn’t hold my breath on a school-by-school breakdown being provided, either.

What the statement does do, though, is help better paint the picture about the backloaded or, as Mangus calls it, “escalating” rights payment schedule. It also tried to better define the third-tier rights portion of the television deal debate that still has many confused. The third-tier portions the ACC and ESPN agreed upon do cover both football and men’s basketball, unlike what has, at times, been said by some during this realignment ordeal.

For the past week-and-a-half, Florida State has been a hot topic of conversation with respect to conference realignment. The Big 12 has been rumored to be a destination spot where the current ACC program has been trying to land.

To check out Mangus’ full statement, go here.

Florida State fans are still waiting to see where they'll be doing the Warchant in the coming seasons. Austin, Texas? Norman, Okla.? Or still in Blacksburg, Va.? The next few weeks could be very telling as this conference realignment plot continues to thicken.

AMELIA ISLAND — As the sun rises over this quiet North Florida beach town, another day in the Florida State/Big 12/ACC saga is beginning.

The last four days in this, the latest of the yearly drama that is conference realignment and expansion, have been anything but silent and devoid of intrigue. As the ACC meetings enter their second day, might the same be said Tuesday? Or will the FSU-to-Big-12 train come to a screeching halt?

Only the next few hours know the answers to those questions.

As we have done earlier on the Chopping Block, let’s take a moment or two now to catch you back up on everything you may have missed across the last couple of days. Specifically, let’s get caught up on the events of Monday.

~Hours after his rather unique email to fans, alumni and boosters made ripples Monday afternoon in the conference expansion chatter, FSU’s president clarified his thoughts on the chatter in a nighttime conversation with a Tallahassee Democrat writer.

~Earlier in the day, a popular Big 12 athletics director also made it known that the Big 12 wasn’t talking to FSU. But, as we have seen, he has been known to say the same thing about circumstances that ultimately do come to fruition.

~Also during the day, the Seminoles’ football coach slightly modified comments he made to the Orlando Sentinel over the weekend and better defined his stance with respect to where things currently stand for his school.

Yes, the plot truly continues to thicken as the ACC meetings enter their home stretch. Here’s more on what has been reported to this point:

By now, you’ve hopefully gotten acquainted with the statements made Friday and Saturday by differing parts of the FSU athletics department. If not, here you go. Athletics director Randy Spetman and president Eric Barron said the school was “committed to the ACC” and that it wasn’t entertaining thoughts of exploring options to leave.

As we’ll see below, at least for one of them, the stance on the exploration concept may be beginning to change.

The idea was first brought up Saturday by trustees board chairman Andy Haggard and Fisher, who said in separate interviews that they believed if an option that was better for FSU than the current ACC setup was out there, perhaps it was in the university’s best interest to check it out.

By early afternoon Monday, Fisher had softened his position slightly by emphasizing that he was “happy” with the ACC. He said he felt like it was a “good football conference.”

Many have been arguing lately that the conference’s abysmal record in BCS bowl games runs counter to that last statement. In order to begin making it more valid, the ACC needs a few teams to rise up and tap back into some level of national prominence, others have been saying. Those same observers believe FSU not only should be one of those programs; it HAS to be.

Whether that’s the case or not, for now it at least appears as if FSU’s administrators are finally rising up and doing something they probably should have done all along. They’re beginning to speak with one singular, unified voice. They are saying: The ACC is great, but let’s keep an open mind.

Florida State president Eric Barron issued an email to fans, boosters and alumni Monday emphasizing the points his school has to consider with respect to the leave-for-Big 12 debate. (Associated Press)

The earlier mixed messages had been making it rather apparent outside of Tallahassee that there may have been some kind of internal division going on behind the scenes. On Twitter and in the blogosphere, the apparent strife was the subject of comedic fodder. To many, the circus that had begun playing out of an AD and president saying one thing, while the football coach and trustee board chair said another, was another suggestion that perhaps the Seminoles and their power players weren’t fully equipped to make any proposed conference moves happen … at this time.

***

After Fisher spoke with reporters at the meetings on Amelia Island on Monday and reaffirmed his commitment to the ACC and deferred decision-making to others at FSU, the conference realignment story appeared to be easing into a comfortable turn. Maybe the speculation was going to start dying down, even.

And then, out came the email.

Around 3 p.m., FSU’s sports information office emailed reporters an automated email that Barron and his office began sending to fans, alumni and boosters who had emailed him their concerns with the proposed Big 12 switch. The email was sent after the memo began circulating on the message boards at Warchant.com, a message board-based website that covers FSU athletics and recruiting.

In the email, Barron called the Big 12 “academically weaker” while expressing concerns that members of his faculty had with respect to the entire conversation about leaving the ACC.

It should be noted, that while serving academic institutions and handing out academic awards and the like, the ACC is a league based on athletics. It is a vehicle through which multiple universities can pool their athletic programs together. The conference has little bearing on the way academics are run at their member institutions. FSU is part of the ACC, like other member schools, purely because of its sports. It just so happens that certain member schools like Duke, Maryland, Boston College and Georgia Tech, for example, also boast strong research facilities and majors. School presidents, like Barron, are attracted to the notion that their universities share something (even if, at the root, it’s athletics) in common with such esteemed centers of learning.

Similarly, while it may be lauded for the academic success of its member institutions, the Ivy League is strictly the name of the athletic conference that contains some of the nation’s premier academic universities. If it wanted to, Harvard could certainly play in the Big East if it wanted to. If it did, however, it would no longer be an Ivy League school in the true, athletic sense.

As we move through this conference realignment debate, keep the academic argument very much in mind. It has been a matter of some rather significant consequence (particularly to school presidents) while the various options of proposed conference realignments are debated.

***

In addition to the headline-making comment about the Big 12’s supposedly weaker academics, Barron outlined six other points about why he felt convicted that staying in the ACC was a worthy option at this point in the expansion discussion. It was his goal to refute some of the more common claims some fans may have for wanting the school to automatically jump to the Big 12. It also was his goal to tell them that the decision facing him isn’t as cut and dry as some may like to think.

***

That brings us to the some of the latest news of the day Monday.

Jim Lamar, one of the Tallahassee Democrat’s longtime writers, tracked down Barron on Monday night — during a softball game he was covering no less — and spoke to him about his motivations for sending the email, and where he stands on the conference expansion conversation.

For the first time, Barron, without speaking through news releases and prearranged statements, indicated his true feelings. He isn’t against the expansion talk at all.

“There is no way that the university wouldn’t at least do its homework,” Barron told the Democrat. “That wouldn’t make sense otherwise. But that happened last year and I didn’t believe there was any truth to the rumors then. And I don’t believe there is any truth to these rumors now.”

Late last summer, rumors circulated that FSU was interested in making a move to the SEC. It didn’t happen, and likely won’t ever happen because of an apparent gentleman’s agreement that schools like Florida, Auburn, South Carolina and Georgia have reached in preventing a school from joining that is geographically located in a state shared by one of its current members. Some believe the SEC’s exposure and television dollars in those markets could be altered in adverse ways if a school like an FSU, Clemson or Georgia Tech was added to the mix.

Texas athletics director DeLoss Dodds told the Austin American-Statesman that there is "no traction" with any talks with FSU and the Big 12. (Getty Images)

For now, while Barron appears to believe this spring’s Big 12 rumors are nonexistent, he still believes it is in his school’s best interest to not close down the lines of communication.

“It would have been strange for us not to think about it,” he said to the Democrat. “To do a study and issue a report? No. But of course you think about it.”

Here’s that full story.

***

Finally, in another bit of news, Texas athletics director DeLoss Dodds came out and spoke Monday as the lone Big 12 official so far willing to go on record about the FSU drama. Remember, it was Dodds who came out last summer and (in the articles linked at the top of this post) denied hearing that Texas A&M was supposedly leaving for the SEC. He was concerned with maintaining the integrity of a fracturing Big 12.

As we now know, he was unsuccessful.

That point is only raised because, well, he said something similar to the Austin American-Statesman on Monday afternoon that caught some attention.

“They’re a long ways away,” Dodds told American-Statesman columnist Kirk Bohls in this blog.

After that statement, Bohls then wrote the following:

In distance or prospects of joining the Big 12, I asked.

“Both,” he said.

“There’s no traction” on this story, Dodds said. “There’ve been no conversations between Florida State and the Big 12.”

***

Again, remember, at one point Texas A&M and Missouri were said to have not had conversations with the SEC. So anything still can happen.

And based on everything we learned Monday, it’s completely possible that some kind of move toward the Big 12 could come this summer. … Or, it could come sometime in the future. Next year, perhaps? At the very least, we know it won’t come in the next 29 days or so. Remember, the Big 12 just hired a new commissioner in Bob Bowlsby, who officially takes over his post June 15. The expansion issue is one the conference is expected to discuss pretty quickly after he comes on board.

When a Big 12 switch happens isn’t the most important factor at play here. What’s most important is that such a move COULD happen. Based on all of the statements given by the major power players involved in FSU’s decision-making process, it is now clear that the conversations are taking place on that level. The exploration has truly ensued.

Now the only question is where will this exploration take the Seminoles? Will their mission ultimately take them back on a trip down Tobacco Road? Or will it lead to the land of Longhorns and Jayhawks, Sooners and Red Raiders, Bears and Wildcats and Cyclones and Cowboys?

Keep your seat belts on. We still have a long journey left ahead of us.