Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney, filling in for Dan Gartland. College football’s realignment machine never stops.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏈 ACC ponders adding Stanford, Cal and SMU
⚾ Shohei Ohtani sidelined from pitching due to torn UCL
🎥 The Bishop Sycamore documentary is a hit
The latest on ACC expansion
The ACC is once again strongly considering adding Stanford, Cal and SMU to its conference. The move, which once appeared one vote short after an initial push following the Pac-12’s collapse, now seems to have new life and conversations are “gaining momentum,” sources told Sports Illustrated on Wednesday evening.
The crux of these discussions (like most things in college sports these days) is money. With the ACC falling behind in the financial race with the SEC and Big Ten—and big brands such as Florida State and Clemson unhappy with the current arrangement—the pressure is on ACC commissioner Jim Phillips.
Stan Szeto/USA Today Sports
SMU would be willing to join the ACC without being paid a TV revenue distribution for multiple years, while Stanford and Cal would come at a reduced rate (potentially as little as 25% of the league’s standard distribution). That would leave a large portion of the new TV revenue created by the three added schools to be dished out in other forms, and the league is reportedly currently reviewing different financial models.
When will this be resolved? Things could move fairly quickly, with Yahoo Sports reporting a decision could be made as early as next week. Assuming the original 11 votes in favor of expansion remain a yes, the league would need just one of Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and NC State to flip its vote.
