ACC votes to extend invitations to Cal, Stanford, and SMU to join conference ahead of 2024 season
After reports of the ACC looking to expand, the move is close to being official. Three new members look like they will be joining ahead of the 2024 season, with Cal, Stanford, and SMU making the jump. This will place the ACC with 17 total football members plus the league’s partnership with Notre Dame for Olympic sports.
“Sources: ACC Presidents and Chancellors have voted this morning to extend invitations to Stanford, California and SMU to push the league to 18 teams,” tweeted Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Talks about expansion heated up again for the ACC this past Wednesday. Twelve votes were required to admit the three new members, with four schools being the holdup. All of Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, and NC State were originally voting ‘No.’ However, one changed their mind and the move was able to go through.
Additionally, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports provided some more context into how this move is going to work.
“Under the ACC’s most recent proposal, Stanford & Cal would take a reduced TV share (~30%) & SMU was expected to take 0 TV share for ~9 years,” tweeted Dellenger. “The schools would see an escalation in their shares thru the GoR & they’d receive non-TV ACC shares from NCAAT, CFP & incentive pool.”
With Cal and Stanford looking like they’ll be departing the Pac-12, just two remain from the conference. Two of the best schools from an academic perspective are now ACC members. Both will be geographical outliers for the conference, even with SMU joining the mix.
Dallas, TX, is not what you would consider ACC country but anything is possible with conference realignment. SMU has been trying to join a power conference for years, with the Pac-12 discussing the Mustangs over the past year.
Ultimately, the ACC looks to be the destination for all three schools. There will be some restricted financial situations for the trio, mainly SMU. Multiple reports have stated the program would be willing to go without broadcast media distribution for several years.
No matter how the finances shake out, there will be 17 football members for the 2024 season. Only the Big Ten will have more, having 18 members after their recent additions.
ACC latest conference to expand heading into 2024 season
When a football is kicked off to begin the 2024 season, college football is going to look completely different. Even before ACC expansion, a new era was going to be underway thanks to movement between three — now four — Power Five conferences.
Here is the movement that will occur in college athletics this fall.
- ACC to add – Cal, Stanford, and SMU
- Big 12 – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah
- Big Ten – Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington
- SEC – Oklahoma, Texas
The College Football Playoff will have a new look as well. After getting the party started with four teams, we are expanding to 12. For now, there will be automatic qualifiers in place for the five highest-rated conference championships.
Things can always change, especially with how powerful the Big Ten and SEC are growing to be.
On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this article.