SI: AM | ACC Expansion Is Back on the Table

Plus, the impact of Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury.

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.

If the move comes to pass, it would provide a life raft for two of the most prestigious academic schools in the Power 5 in Stanford and Cal. Several high-ranking college sports administrators, including outgoing Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick, have decried the potential for the two programs to be left behind in realignment. It also could be critical for the U.S. Olympic teams, given that Stanford and Cal are among the largest producers of Olympians across all sports.

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.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Stephanie Apstein breaks down the latest with Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury, which could require Tommy John surgery—and has major ramifications for his looming free agency.
• What would a perfect fantasy football team look like? Michael Fabiano mapped out the best possible picks in every round.
• Yankees GM Brian Cashman seemed as befuddled as anyone by his team’s poor play of late in a conversation with reporters.
• The new documentary on Bishop Sycamore’s fraudulent football team is a must-watch. “Swamp Kings”? Not so much.
• Gilberto Manzano fills us in on what he learned traveling the country going to NFL training camps, including the story of D.K. Metcalf’s diamond-studded teeth.
• Tom Verducci goes inside the mind of pitchers through the best lens possible: what pitch they throw most in 3–2 counts.
• Jalen Carter may only be a rookie, but he’s already tearing up Eagles camp.
• Notes on potential breakout fantasy football players on every team as the final week of preseason play begins.