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Florida State University is firing back at the ACC following its motion to dismiss media rights case

Florida State University students leave Landis Hall on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday April 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser)
Mark Wallheiser/AP
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FR171224 AP
Florida State University students leave Landis Hall on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday April 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser)

The two have been at each other’s throats for months over FSU’s desire to leave the conference.

Lawyers representing Florida State University's Board of Trustees raised a series of arguments Tuesday afternoon against the ACC’s motion to dismiss a case FSU filed against them.

A Florida State attorney wrote that the request should be denied because the conference allegedly did not go through the appropriate channels when it decided to sue the university for breaking its media rights contract in December.

The attorney proceeded to accuse the conference of pressuring FSU’s trustees into signing what FSU says were bad media deals with ESPN. As a result, the school has been stuck with hefty exit fees.

According to the lawsuit, Florida State would face hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties if the school were to leave the ACC before 2036.

A judge is scheduled to hear the ACC’s call for dismissal and ultimately decide whether FSU must to stay in the conference for the next 12 years. That hearing is set for April 9th in Leon County.

Adrian Andrews is a multimedia journalist with WFSU Public Media. He is a Gadsden County native and a first-generation college graduate from Florida A&M University. Adrian is also a military veteran, ending his career as a Florida Army National Guard Non-Comissioned Officer.

Adrian has experience in print writing, digital content creation, documentary, and film production. He has spent the last four years on the staff of several award-winning publications such as The Famuan, Gadsden County News Corp, and Cumulus Media before joining the WFSU news team.