ACC Considering SMU as Expansion Candidate; Notre Dame ‘Pushing Hard’ for Stanford, Cal

by Riley Overend 16

August 10th, 2023 AAC, ACC, College, News, Pac-12

After news broke of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) discussing the possible addition of Stanford and Cal on Monday, a third candidate for expansion entered the fray on Tuesday: SMU.

ACC school presidents reportedly met Tuesday to weigh their options between adding just Stanford and Cal versus including SMU in the package as well. Stealing SMU from the American Athletic Conference (AAC) would give the ACC real estate in Texas and a footprint in the major Dallas media market.

SMU is supposedly so eager to gain Power Four status that the university would forgo its share of ACC revenue distribution for at least their first five years in the conference. There are also talks of Stanford and Cal potentially agreeing to a 60-70% share to balance out increased travel costs. No current ACC member would see a decrease in revenue as a result of this expansion, of course, but it’s unclear exactly how much of a boost those three schools would offer at this point.

Stanford and Cal are in need of a lifeline after the collapse of the Pac-12 last week. Oregon and Washington bolted for the Big Ten, then Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah followed Colorado to the Big 12. With USC and UCLA already committing to the Big Ten last year, that left the Pac-12 with just four remaining schools for the 2024-25 season: Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State.

Another conference realignment update came on Wednesday, when it was revealed that Notre Dame is “pushing hard” for the ACC to go after Stanford and Cal. Although Notre Dame is not a member of the ACC in football, where it’s independent, the university is still a full voting member.

SMU men’s swimming has already has the offseason of the century, bringing in a bunch of talented transfers along with 30-year-old world champion Nic Fink, who announced his move to the Mustangs’ pro group last month. But they were just one of two men’s swimming and diving programs in the AAC last year along with Cincinnati, and were slated to be one of two next year along with Florida Atlantic following Cincinnati’s jump to the Big 12 last month. Earning a Power Four badge would be the icing on the cake for SMU.

The potential addition of Stanford, Cal, and SMU would give the ACC 17 full members (not including Notre Dame), making them one of four conferences with at least 16 members starting next season. Both the SEC and Big 12 will have 16 members while the Big Ten is ballooning to 18 members.

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CavaDore
1 year ago

I think it’s odd that Connecticut has never been considered for entry into the ACC, or maybe they have been, I don’t know. Not a top swimming school, but they are actually on the Atlantic Coast, they have an occasionally good football team which is at the level of most ACC schools already, they have always exceptional men’s and women’s basketball teams that would further enrich the ACC’s basketball prowess, occasionally good baseball team, and a lot of other sports teams that already fit well into the ACC’s sports makeup. Not to mention their local fan base could easily travel to games against other ACC schools like Syracuse and BC.

CLowe
Reply to  CavaDore
1 year ago

I’d politely differ on the occasionally good football team. They had 2-3 good years; otherwise, they’ve been terrible. Solid men’s/women’s hoops but I’m not sure they bring anything else to the ACC. Just my $.02.

pete kennedy
1 year ago

Under the present system of $$$$ dictates, and especially academically, this would be a vote for academics.
And definitely include SMU because of academics and the Texas TV market.

VASWAMMER
1 year ago

Is Villanova part of the discussions or was this just a rumor?

IM FAN
1 year ago

I get the travel cost thing, but even so are Cal and Stanford really in a position to make such demands? I get that the ACC is not as secure as it looks on paper, but Cal and Stanford are the ones on the outside looking in, makes senses there’s some hard nos.

DPR
1 year ago

One big down fall for SMU is the football stadium only seats 32k. Unless they workout a deal to play conference games at AT&T or Cotton Bowl.

Admin
Reply to  DPR
1 year ago

32,000 is bigger than two ACC schools averaged in attendance last year (Duke and Wake Forest) and not far behind a couple of others. Closing in the horseshoe makes it 45,000, which is adequate for the ACC – and then maybe they can use the Cotton Bowl or AT&T, like you said, for the really big games (Clemson, for example).

The good news for SMU is that their strength isn’t really built on massive numbers of customers, it’s built on the relatively-high value of each individual alumnus – and maybe more importantly, the willingness of those alumni to donate back to the school.

With the way SMU is moving, and the way their alumni are spending right now, it… Read more »

frug
1 year ago

Sorry for the double comment, but I figured this at least worth linking to

https://twitter.com/ADavidHaleJoint/status/1689368433308110849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

A. No vote is currently on the docket, but it could take place as early tonight.

B. Some members favor expansion simply out of “safety in numbers” theory

C. There multiple hard no’s on expansion.

Last edited 1 year ago by frug
frug
1 year ago

I linked to the Yahoo article last night, but I will expand on what I said since it appears to have been updated with new details.

A. Credit to SMU for having wealthy enough donors and a crappy enough TV deal from the American that it can afford to go 5+ years without any conference distributions.

B. The fact the ACC’s contract with ESPN contains a pro rata does make this more viable than I initially thought. That said, if ESPN is not willing to kick any new cash how long are Stanford and Cal willing/able to get by with “60-70%”. The ACC’s current TV deal is in effect for another 13 years. Keep in mind, Washington said it expects… Read more »

Woods
1 year ago

SMU is more of an SEC school

Justanopinion
Reply to  Woods
1 year ago

Minus the 70,000 people in their football stadium every weekend. That’s more like a yearly attendance total for them.

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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