Notre Dame AD on Cal and Stanford: "There is still consideration from the ACC as a home for those schools

The ACC is still considering expanding and adding Cal and Stanford

Jackson Caudell | Aug 23, 2023

Notre Dame AD on Cal and Stanford: "There is still consideration from the ACC as a home for those schools /

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According to recent reports, the ongoing discussions between the ACC, Cal, and Stanford have not gone anywhere new, but the door has not entirely shut on their joining.

It has been known that Notre Dame has been at the forefront of trying to get the ACC to let both of those schools in, despite the Fighting Irish not being a member of the conference in football. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick was on the Dan Patrick Show today and once again voiced similar frustrations as he previously had about the possibility of Cal and Stanford not having a place to go in the current conference realignment landscape:

"You can't have two of the great academic institutions in the world not have a place to play. We're working on (a solution). There is still consideration of the ACC as a home for those schools."

Swarbrick also made broader comments on the state of college athletics and what is happening right now:

"A complete disaster” what’s happened in college athletics. “Everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here I'm not excluding myself from that. I think the decision-making lost its way in terms on the focus of the student athlete & what's primarily best for them.”

On the possible death of the Pac-12, Swarbrick said "It's looking that way more and more every day."

Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick tells @dpshow it’s “a complete disaster” what’s happened in college athletics. “Everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here I'm not excluding myself from that. I think the decision making lost its way in terms on the focus of the student…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 23, 2023

Earlier this month when Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State left the Pac-12, leaving Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State without homes, Swarbrick made similar comments:

“The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D1 sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realignment is an indictment of college athletics.”

Notre Dame has reportedly been "pushing hard" for the ACC to add both schools.

Am told Notre Dame, as a full voting member of the ACC, is pushing hard for the additions of Stanford and Cal. That "full voting member" part is ... something. Writing on this shortly.
— Larry Williams (@LarryWilliamsTI) August 9, 2023

Last night, 247Sports reporter Brandon Marcello reported that the ACC still does not have enough votes to expand and add Cal and Stanford. Cal and Stanford will need 12 of the 15 votes in the ACC and it has been reported that Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, and NC State are still opposed to adding the schools.

The ACC still does not have the votes to add Cal and Stanford, sources told @247Sports Tuesday afternoon. There was a regular meeting of the presidents scheduled for Tuesday, but it was canceled.
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) August 23, 2023

This does mean that some schools are in favor of adding both Cal and Stanford a couple of weeks ago, including Georgia Tech, and that was also confirmed in Andrea Adelson's report on ESPN:

"What was certain was there were votes in favor of expansion (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Louisville, Miami, Georgia Tech) and votes opposed (Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina) and swing votes in between. Another administrator thought enough of the 15 voting presidents would swing to yes and get the required 12 to approve expansion."

A recent report from Ralph Russo at the Associated Press suggested that Stanford is trying hard to receive an invite from the ACC and might be willing to do so at a reduced revenue-sharing cost:

"Leaders from Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State spoke Thursday, and Stanford told its colleagues it had informed the ACC that it would be open to joining the conference at greatly reduced or even no media rights payout for several years, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press."

"Whether getting Stanford — and Northern California rival Cal — at a cut rate will be enough to convince the necessary 12 of 15 ACC schools to vote to expand remains unknown."

Will Notre Dame get its way here and get both schools into the conference? Unless one of those schools flips, it is not going to happen and there has yet to be any indication that that is going to happen. Nothing should be surprising when it comes to conference realignment news, but things seem to be at a stalemate when it comes to the ACC letting in Cal and Stanford.

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