It’s been just under three weeks since Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten while Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah all decided to move to the Big 12 following the 2023-2024 academic and athletic calendar.
The departures left California, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State in the Pac-12 and in the difficult situation of finding their own new conferences in time for the 2024-2025 school year.
Quickly after the series of departures, California and Stanford engaged in discussions with the Atlantic Coast Conference about potentially joining the East Coast-based conference. In addition to Cal and Stanford, the ACC was also looking at potentially adding SMU, which is currently a member of the American Athletic Conference.
Ultimately, those discussions would come to a halt after Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, and NC State all objected to potential expansion.
However, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, discussions regarding expansion have started again.
On Wednesday, Thamel reported on X that “the potential additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU to the ACC are again under serious consideration.” He also reports that a group of ACC presidents met on Wednesday to discuss the trio of schools and potential financial models that could come with their additions.
Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger followed up that report with one of his own, noting that the ACC would make $72 million in additional revenue from ESPN if the conference were to add all three universities.
Believed to be a long shot just days ago, expansion remains a legitimate possibility as new financial models have been socialized with league administrators. The models show a financial boon of roughly $72 million in annual additional revenue for the conference, sources tell Yahoo Sports.
Dellenger also reports that Stanford and Cal have proposed to the ACC that they would be willing to take “significantly reduced revenue distribution,” while SMU would be willing to take zero distribution revenue from the conference for up to seven years.
Over the next several days, the ACC’s presidents are expected to meet and discuss the potential revenue distribution formats. “We will be ironing that out over the next 72 hours,” an ACC league administrator told Dellenger. The results of those discussions will likely determine the fate of Cal, Stanford, and SMU.
There is no timeline for a potential decision from the ACC. For the conference to expand, at least one of the opposing votes from Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, or NC State will have to become in favor of expansion.
While Cal and Stanford may be on the verge of finding their next respective homes, the futures of Oregon State and Washington State remain in limbo. The AAC or the Mountain West Conference remain the likely destinations for the two Pacific Northwest universities.
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