As of Thursday morning, it seems that the ACC’s discussions about adding Stanford and Cal are going nowhere. The ACC does not appear to have the necessary number of votes among its members to approve an invitation to the Cardinal and the Golden Bears. Yet, that’s not the full story.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Notre Dame has a vote among ACC member schools on the Stanford-and-Cal agenda item. Notre Dame is not a full member of the ACC. It is not part of the ACC in football. It plays several ACC teams each season and plays within the ACC in non-football sports, but it is not a football member of the conference. Why Notre Dame would therefore get a vote on this and other urgent ACC matters is a point of considerable debate. As you could imagine, it’s a point of frustration among other ACC members, which is probably why a vote to approve Stanford and Cal to the conference will ultimately fail. There will be enough voices at the table to insist that Notre Dame must not get its way.
One obvious question: What “is” Notre Dame’s way? What is Notre Dame’s bigger play here? What’s the ultimate purpose of wanting Stanford and Cal in the ACC from the Irish’s point of view?
The biggest reason for ND’s stance on Stanford and Cal to the ACC is this: It’s all about the College Football Playoff.
Think about it: If Stanford and Cal are pulled out of the Pac-4, it becomes that much more possible that the Pac-12 dissolves and fully ceases to exist.
What is the consequence of that scenario if it happens? A Power Five conference dies, and with it die all those revenue distributions and allocations for the playoff and the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame, as an independent, would not have to deal with an automatic playoff spot for the Pac-12 in future seasons. Stanford and Cal staying in the Pac-4 and working out an arrangement with the Mountain West in which the Pac-12 keeps its playoff spot and playoff money distributions would represent one small but real obstacle toward Notre Dame making the playoff every year. Killing off the Pac-12 in an official (logistical, bureaucratic, structural) way would significantly increase the Irish’s playoff odds.
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Now that you’ve gained that answer, watch how fans and pundits reacted to the news that Notre Dame actually does get a vote in the ACC. It was, as you could imagine, a firestorm: