Cavaliers Now

ACC Officially Welcomes Cal, SMU, Stanford | What It Means For Virginia

Matt Newton

The Atlantic Coast Conference officially welcomed Cal, SMU, and Stanford to the league.
The Atlantic Coast Conference officially welcomed Cal, SMU, and Stanford to the league. / Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

The Atlantic Coast Conference officially welcomed Cal, SMU, and Stanford on Monday, as the opening of the 2024-2025 college athletics season marked the expansion of the league to 18 teams in all sports and 17 teams in football. SMU's first official day in the ACC is July 1st, 2024 and Cal and Stanford officially become ACC members on August 2nd, 2024, but all three schools will compete in the ACC in the 2024-2025 season.

The news was first reported back in September and it marked the ACC's first foray into this modern era of conference realignment. With the Pac-12 serving as a buffet for the Big Ten (Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington) and the Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah), the ACC picked up two of the stragglers in Cal and Stanford. SMU, meanwhile, is in the midst of a massive resurgence in athletics funding and the move to join a "Power Four" conference comes as the latest and most significant moment in a long journey since receiving the death penalty from the NCAA back in 1987.

All three schools join the ACC at a discounted price, as Cal and Stanford will receive just 30% of a normal member's share of the ACC's broadcast media revenue for the next seven years. The two schools will then receive 70% in the eighth year, 75% in the ninth, and then a full financial share 10 years from now. SMU, meanwhile, will receive no broadcast media revenue for the first nine years the Mustangs are in the conference.

That withheld money is projected to create an annual excess revenue of between $50 and $60 million which will be divided proportionally among the existing members of the ACC, with some of that pot set aside in a pool allocated for success initiatives. While the gap between the ACC and the likes of the SEC and Big Ten is still large in terms of revenue and football supremacy, this move represents a marginal step in the right direction.

In the short term, the most immediate impact is that Virginia's various teams will have more frequent trips across the country to take on these new league members. For UVA football, though, those changes won't be quite so apparent this upcoming season, as the Cavaliers will not even leave the Eastern time zone in 2024. Virginia men's basketball, on the other hand, will face each of the three new schools on the road next season.

Here's a summary of what we know so far about when and where Virginia sports teams will be playing Cal, SMU and Stanford this season:

Football: Virginia hosts SMU on Saturday, November 23rd at Scott Stadium this season.
UVA will host Stanford and visit Cal in 2025 and host Cal and visit SMU in 2026.

Men's Basketball: In the first year of the 18-team ACC, Virginia will travel to take on each of the new member schools on the road, as UVA will visit both Cal and Stanford and will play SMU twice, once at home and once on the road.

Women's Basketball: The 2024-2025 season will see Virginia host Cal and Stanford and visit SMU. UVA will then host SMU and play at Cal and Stanford in 2025-2026.

Men's Soccer: Virginia plays at Cal on Saturday, September 21st at 7pm and hosts Stanford on Friday, September 27th at 7pm at Klockner Stadium. UVA will not face SMU this season.

Women's Soccer: UVA is hosting SMU on Sunday, October 13th at 1pm at Klockner Stadium. The Cavaliers do not have Cal or Stanford on their regular season schedule this fall, but could see them in the ACC or NCAA Tournaments.

Field Hockey: Virginia's 2024 field hockey schedule is not confirmed yet, but UVA is hosting Stanford on Sunday, September 22nd at 1pm according to Stanford's schedule. It's yet to be determined if Virginia is facing Cal this season and SMU doesn't have field hockey.

Volleyball: Virginia is hosting SMU on Sunday, November 3rd at 1pm at Mem Gym and will play matches at Stanford on Thursday, November 14th at 10pm and at Cal on Friday, November 15th at 10pm.

Published
Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Managing Editor and Publisher, CavaliersNow Email: mattnewton@virginia.eduTwitter: @mattynewtssWebsite | LinkedInΒ | Instagram Matt Newton is the managing editor and publisher at CavaliersNow. He has been covering UVA athletics since 2019 andΒ has been the managing editor at CavaliersNow since launching the site in August 2021. Matt covers all things UVA sports, including Virginia basketball and football news and recruiting, former Wahoos in the pros, and coverage of all 23 of the NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Matt grew up a huge Philadelphia sports fan, but has also been a UVA sports fanatic his entire life thanks to his parents, who are alums of the University of Virginia. Matt followed in his parents' footsteps and attended UVA from 2017-2021, graduating with a degree in Media Studies and a minor in Economics in May of 2021.Β