AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – Florida State athletic director Michael Alford spoke with media Tuesday at the ACC spring meetings.

The ACC is discussing weighted revenue distribution models that would help top schools such as FSU and Clemson get a larger cut of the conference’s payouts, and Alford believes these revenue distribution conversations have taken a positive step forward compared to where they were a few months ago.

“I’m very optimistic,” he said. “The discussions that  I want to praise (commissioner) Jim Phillips, (deputy commissioner) Ben Tario and the whole staff about providing some issues. They’ve really taken a proactive approach to this. They understand the issues, and they’ve brought some various models to us that are being very aggressive. And that’s something as a league we need to look at so that we can make sure we’re keeping pace with our peers out there, that we’re continuing to be able to fund our programs at a championship level. So, commend them. They’ve done an amazing job, and I’m optimistic about the future.”

Alford added that at this point, the ideal scenario is that FSU figures out a way to stay competitive and stay in the ACC.

“100 percent,” he said. “The ADs, the universities, are unified – it’s a great league with great leadership, and we thoroughly enjoy being in this league. Once again, we’re a top-20 public institution with like institutions. We compete, especially in football, at the top, and we’re thrilled about being in the league competing for championships. You look at what we do in Olympic sports. I think that’s big at Florida State. When you look at the ACC, and it’s championships. We win more championships than anyone in any conference. So, we’re very thrilled about being in this league and we want to stay in it.”

Alford was asked if he thinks there will be a vote on the weighted revenue distribution models before the ACC spring meetings conclude Wednesday.

“I don’t know the answer to that right now because I think there’s some other people that have to vet it out amongst the board of directors and some others when you’re talking about success initiatives,” he said. “So, it’s going to take a while, but I don’t think it’s going to take that long. We understand the urgency, our CEOs understand the urgency to take a look at this. I’m very thrilled the CEOs are engaged in this and really examining how we can move this forward.”

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports.