If you ask ACC fans about the idea of adding Stanford and Cal, some of them might accept the reality that more television money is necessary. If you ask those ACC fans from schools other than Florida State or Clemson, they will probably concede the point that the ACC needs to add Stanford and Cal as insurance against FSU and Clemson eventually leaving the conference. Most ACC observers think Florida State and Clemson will leave. It’s a matter of when, not if.
The practical dimensions of the ACC adding Stanford and Cal — which has picked up considerable momentum over the past 36 hours — are conceded by people who live and work in the ACC footprint and its media markets. However, no one in the ACC is doing cartwheels over this. It’s not exciting. It isn’t a huge boost to the conference’s football and basketball brands. It is seen mostly as an act of survival — necessary, perhaps, but ridiculous.
Florida State fans led the chorus in noting the absurdity of Stanford and Cal potentially joining the ACC. One fan called the two Pac-4 refugees “frozen leftovers.” Let’s see how others reacted to this latest realignment plot twist: