Conference Realignment: ACC Close as Ever to Add Cal, Stanford and SMU

Conference realignment seemed almost over this offseason after the Pac-12 was picked apart. Cal, Stanford and SMU are as close as ever to getting voted into the ACC.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Wednesday that the ACC has ramped up talks to add the trio of schools. The talks have been going on for the past three weeks since Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington announced their intentions to leave the Pac-12.

The ACC has been looked upon as the next conference to get picked apart. Every school is locked into their grant of rights deal that ends in 2036 but seven of the schools are trying to find a loophole to get out of the deal. Clemson, Florida State and Miami are linked with the SEC for being the top programs but it’s the Seminoles that seem to be rushing out of the conference.

“It’s not a matter of if we leave [the ACC], but how and when we leave,” FSU trustee Drew Weatherford said in a public meeting earlier this month.

The Pac-12 currently has only Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State for the 2024-25 academic year. The remaining schools will have to find a resolution and have different avenues. ACC is the only power conference left that will take any of the remaining teams as Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says they’re finished expanding. The Pac-12 could merge with the American Athletic Conference or the Mountain West.

Conference Realignment Moves in 2024:

• Oklahoma and Texas from Big 12 to SEC

• USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington from Pac-12 to Big Ten

• Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah from Pac-12 to Big 12