Report: ACC presidents meeting has been rescheduled for Friday morning

Will the ACC expand and add Cal, Stanford, and SMU?

Jackson Caudell | Aug 31, 2023

Report: ACC presidents meeting has been rescheduled for Friday morning /

In this story:

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Earlier this week, the ACC presidents had scheduled a call to discuss and possibly vote on adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU. However, due to the tragedy at the University of North Carolina, the call was postponed and did not have an immediate date for being rescheduled.

According to ESPN's Andrea Adelson however, the call has been rescheduled for Friday morning. She also reports that it is unclear if there are enough votes to add the three schools.

I've been told the ACC presidents call is back on for tomorrow AM. Unclear if there are enough votes yet.
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) August 31, 2023

Yesterday, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said that he was unsure of when the ACC president's call was going to be rescheduled, but expected it to happen at some point. Swarbrick also said that a decision is in the president's hands.

While they are not a member of the ACC in football, Swarbrick and Notre Dame have been at the forefront of trying to get the ACC to add the schools and expand.

Swarbrick was on the Dan Patrick Show last week and 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 earlier this month:

"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.”

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 schools.

Earlier in the week when the meeting was originally scheduled, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that there was "continued momentum" for the schools to be added to the conference, but he also said that nothing is final.

Sources caution that nothing is finalized and the details are “only in pencil” as of now. Expect a decision either way this week. Officials are still working specifically on how to divide the pool of money that would be spilt up among ACC members after the three schools join.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 28, 2023

When asked about the possibility of the conference expanding earlier this week, here is what Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key had to say:

"I am not going to say that I don't know anything about it because Mike does a good job of updating me because I have been solely focused on the prep for this team and the prep for the Louisville game on Friday.

Look, it is an exciting time for the conference if they are looking to do those things, I have faith in the commissioner, I have faith in the conference, I have been a part of this conference since 1996 and that is why I love this conference. It is such a great mix of academics and athletics and it is an exciting brand of football in the league and if they make the decision to move forward with that, then we would all be behind it and excited for the future."

Tomorrow's meeting could be the time that the ACC votes to expand and add three new schools with Cal, Stanford, and SMU. The three schools need 12 out of 15 votes and Florida State, Clemson, NC State, and North Carolina have been the opposition. Assuming none of the other schools change their votes, the three schools will need one of the others to flip.

More Georgia Tech Related Content: