ACC set to meet Friday to discuss Stanford, Cal SMU and possibly vote on expansion

The Friday meeting could end in a vote about the programs joining the conference

According to a report by The Athletic, ACC presidents will meet Friday to discuss and possibly vote on adding Cal, SMU and Stanford. 

The two Bay Area schools have been linked to the ACC for about a month now following the collapse of the Pac-12 that saw the four corner schools go to the Big 12, and four others go to the Big Ten. For the past couple weeks, reports have indicated that they have come up one vote short, but that momentum was building in their favor. 

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has been conjuring up multiple financial possibilities to present to the current members to possibly change their minds. Programs such as Florida State and Clemson are currently unhappy with their media rights compensation, which was signed through 2036. Adding the three programs, all of which would be at a discounted rate or in the case of SMU for free, will allow for the conference to have more money to reward programs on success. 

Stewart Mandel and Nicole Auerbach also reported that the three new schools would receive money stemming from the playoff and NCAA tournament.

Cal, Stanford and SMU would be required to sign the ACC’s grant of rights, which runs through 2036. Though they would receive either no or partial media rights revenue, the three members would still receive other league revenue tied to the CFP and the NCAA tournament.

This meeting and vote was originally scheduled to happen earlier in the week, but cancelled out of respect for North Carolina after the devastating on-campus shooting.

As for Stanford and Cal, this appears to be their last and only chance to join a Power conference this round. Otherwise, they will end up having to be a part of a rebuilt Pac-12 with Oregon State and Washington State. I broke down the top expansion candidates for the Pac-12 if it were to happen, which you can check out here (MWC/AAC).