Conference Realignment: ACC still does not have votes to add Cal and Stanford

Will the ACC expand and add the two west coast teams?

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Updated:
Aug 22, 2023 8:50 PM EDT
Original:
Aug 22, 2023

In this story:

It felt like there could be some momentum towards the ACC adding Cal and Stanford, but that has not happened and according to 247Sports reporter Brandon Marcello, the ACC still does not have the votes to add the schools and there was a regular meeting of the presidents scheduled for Tuesday, but it was canceled.

In an earlier report that came out a couple of weeks ago, it was Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, and NC State that were voting against adding both schools and one vote would need to flip if Cal and Stanford wanted to join the conference (expanding requires 12 out of 15 votes). From what Marcello is reporting, it does not sound like any of those schools have flipped their votes.

That meant that some schools were in favor of adding both Cal and Stanford a couple of weeks ago, including Georgia Tech, and that was also confirmed in Andrea Adelson's report on ESPN:

"What was certain was there were votes in favor of expansion (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Louisville, Miami, Georgia Tech) and votes opposed (Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina) and swing votes in between. Another administrator thought enough of the 15 voting presidents would swing to yes and get the required 12 to approve expansion."

A recent report from Ralph Russo at the Associated Press suggested that Stanford is trying hard to receive an invite from the ACC and might be willing to do so at a reduced revenue-sharing cost:

"Leaders from Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State spoke Thursday, and Stanford told its colleagues it had informed the ACC that it would be open to joining the conference at greatly reduced or even no media rights payout for several years, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press."

"Whether getting Stanford — and Northern California rival Cal — at a cut rate will be enough to convince the necessary 12 of 15 ACC schools to vote to expand remains unknown."

Will the ACC expand and add Cal and Stanford?
Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports

It will also be interesting to see how things could shift with SMU, who has been rumored to be a target of the ACC.

According to a report that came out last week from Ross Dellenger at Yahoo Sports, former President of the United States George W. Bush, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are "on a campaign to encourage ACC leaders to rethink their position on acquiring both Stanford and SMU, as well as Cal". Dellenger also reports that both Rice and Bush have communicated with ACC officials in pursuit of a membership invitation for the schools in which they are vested.

If SMU is also included with Cal and Stanford, a fourth school could be needed to make things even. Who could that fourth team be if it comes to that? That is a point of speculation (it is not likely to be Notre Dame), but those schools must first get in before anything can get serious about that.

This is just the latest report in the round of conference realignment and it could change significantly if any of those four schools decide to let Cal and Stanford into the conference. Stay up to date right here for the latest realignment news.

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