ACC Considering Adding SMU, Per Report

The latest conference realignment buzz could mean a Texas school heading to the ACC.

Monday's news regarding conference realignment was that the ACC was having exploratory discussions about potentially adding Cal and Stanford from the Pac-12. On Tuesday, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reported that SMU is also under consideration as a potential addition. 

More from the report:

At a meeting of league presidents on Tuesday, executives explored the possibility of adding all three universities or inviting only the Pac-12’s two members. Administrators are expected to continue examining the expansion options and will review financial models for both scenarios — adding three or adding just two.

For more than a year now, SMU has held various degrees of dialogue with several leagues in its pursuit to join a power league, including the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC. A small private school, SMU resides in one of America’s most populous metro areas, Dallas, and in the heart of a talent-rich football state.

Dellenger further noted that SMU would come to the ACC at a reduced rate, even being open to foregoing conference revenue distribution for the first several years in order to advance to a power conference. 

The decisions regarding SMU, Cal and Stanford will ultimately come down to financials as everything now does, according to the report. 

The financials are the most significant piece to potential ACC expansion. ACC schools are handcuffed for another 13 years as part of a binding agreement tied to an ESPN contract that pays league members only a portion of Big Ten and SEC TV cash. The ACC announced a distribution of $39 million last year, most of which came from the TV contract.

In expanding, the league must avoid reducing the annual distribution paid to each team to supplement new schools. That is a “non-starter,” several administrators tell Yahoo Sports.

A perk of the ESPN contract: The network is required to increase its base distribution to the conference in a way that pays each new member the same annual rate as others — what’s termed as a “pro-rata.”

However, financial complications go much deeper. To offset the additional travel costs of acquiring Stanford, Cal and/or SMU, current ACC members will need additional revenue from the network, or Stanford and Cal would have to agree to enter the league for a partial share — conversations of which are ongoing.

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