The latest ACC expansion plan makes no sense
ACC expansion could be back on and here’s why the additions of Stanford, Cal, and SMU don’t make much sense in my book.
Just when you thought college football expansion might be taking a break for just a minute, ACC expansion is back on the table according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Thamel reported on Wednesday that Cal, Stanford, and SMU are still being considered by the ACC as possible additions.
"“Sources: The potential additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC are again under serious consideration by the ACC. A small group of ACC presidents met Wednesday morning to discuss financial models that would come with the additions.”"
All three programs would be taking less money to join the league. SMU, according to Thamel, would forfeit TV money for the first seven years of the deal. The new deal would also require “significant concessions” from Cal and Stanford.
However, with the Cardinal and Golden Bears — long-time rivals out of options, outside of possibly some merger with the Mountain West, just about any Power-5 conference that will take them is a win.
ACC expansion has felt inevitable. That or the league is going to go the way of the Pac-12. That being said, Stanford and Cal were denied recently by the ACC but there are four schools that voted against the addition and only one needs to change their mind.
Just one vote out of Clemson, North Carolina State, Clemson, and Florida State will be required in order to make the additions happen.
More meetings are expected this week. Just one vote is needed among the block of UNC, N.C. State, Clemson and FSU to get the three new schools in, assuming all the yes votes are in agreement with the financial arrangements. A realistic timeline for a decision is about one week.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 23, 2023
Adding two teams from California doesn’t make much sense for the Big Ten, but even less so for the ACC, especially because neither is a football power. SMU makes sense and this would be a great move for the Mustangs.
It also wouldn’t be bad for Cal and Stanford, even with the reductions they’ll have to take in terms of financial deals. But in terms of ACC expansion, this is about as bad as it gets.
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There are no big-name additions here and outside of a long-term bet on SMU, it’s hard to see the upside in taking these schools, outside of some extra money in the short term.