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Report: Notre Dame Pushing to Get Cal, Stanford Into ACC

ESPN later quotes a source saying the ACC talks `hit significant roadblocks.'
Jake Curtis|
Report: Notre Dame Pushing to Get Cal, Stanford Into ACC
Report: Notre Dame Pushing to Get Cal, Stanford Into ACC

Every bit of news regarding the future conference homes of Cal and Stanford adds a layer of intrigue to the grand scheme of conference realignment.

A Wednesday afternoon news item appeared to be a potential game-changer for Cal.

Larry Williams of Tiger Illustrated, which covers Clemson sports, reported Tuesday that Notre Dame, a member of the ACC in every sport except football, is pushing hard for Cal and Stanford to be added to the ACC.

But ESPN quoted a source on Wednesday evening that said the ACC's discussion "hit significant roadblocks." Whether that means Cal's long-shot hopes of securing a place in the ACC are dead is unclear.

Brett McMurphy of The Action Network tweeted Wednesday that the ACC meeting ended without a vote on expansion by league presidents "because there is not enough support."  McMurphy says SMU has offered to join the ACC without taking conference revenue for the first few years.

Apparently two or three ACC schools hold the swing votes with the others having already decided how they will vote. Twelve of the 15 ACC schools (at least 75%) must vote yes to approve the addition of a new member school. Approval is just a few votes short, and an official vote is unlikely to be taken until those two or three undecided schools make their choices known.

Earlier, Williams' report carried enough credibility that McMurphy of saw fit to report it.

If the report was accurate, it would give Cal a strong ally in its bid to become an ACC member in 2024. Now the bid seems a bit less likely

Notre Dame carries a good deal of power in any discussion regarding college sports, but there could be more.

You have to wonder whether the position the Irish are taking suggests they are interested in joining the ACC as a football member?   Probably not, but it's impossible not to at least consider that possibility if you are an official at Cal or Stanford.

Any conference would do nearly anything to bring in a Notre Dame football program, and if the Irish decided it would join the ACC as a football member if Cal and Stanford were added, the ACC presumably would invite the Bay Area schools immediately. Notre Dame has enough football leverage to say, we'll join the ACC for football if you add Cal and Stanford to the conference.

Of course, as we noted, there does not seem to be evidence that the Irish are looking to join any conference for football.  They seem perfectly happy as a football independent.

Notre Dame may merely want to add schools with the academic reputation of Cal and Stanford to boost the overall image of the ACC.

Nonetheless, if Notre Dame is indeed "pushing hard" to have Cal and Stanford added to the ACC, that will carry considerable weight in the minds of ACC members. 

The ACC is looking to expand, and Ross Dellenger suggests SMU could be third member under consideration besides Cal and Stanford.  He notes that Cal and Stanford would need to take a 60% to 70% share of ACC financials to start.

Cal and Stanford may not be in a position to decline an ACC invitation, because they don't have many options.

Cover photo by Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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