Amid uncertainties around ACC expansion, CFB insider says the Atlantic's pursuit of two Pac-12 teams is gaining momentum
ACC expansion has been one of the biggest news stories of the college sports world in the past few weeks. Ever since reports came out that Stanford and California were prepared to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, the rumor mill has been in overdrive. Since then, there have been more reports of the Big Ten and Big 12 becoming interested in the two Pac-12 schools.
On Monday, ESPN's college football insider Pete Thamel wrote that the Atlantic Coast Conference is still interested in adding the two programs as well as SMU from the American Athletic Conference.
Thamel added that the ACC officials are working on bringing members on a call in the next few days:
"Sources: After a weekend of conversations, there's continued momentum toward the ACC adding Stanford, Cal and SMU. ACC officials are working on gathering the presidents/chancellors on a call, which is expected to take place at some point early this week."
This "continued momentum" toward the moves could also have been brought about by the universities reportedly agreeing to no conference money for an unknown amount of years.
However, Thamel did add that the ACC expansion is still "in pencil," and nothing had been finalized yet. Either way, the insider believes there will be a decision this week.
It will be interesting to see how the ACC expansion unfolds since there are some hurdles the conference will have to overcome in the process of adding those programs.
Will this ACC expansion save the conference?
The ACC expansion has been gaining speed, but some members of the league have voiced their displeasure. In order for expansion to happen, there needs to be 75 percent of the universities agreeing to the move. It has been revealed that the four teams that originally vetoed this expansion were Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and NC State.
College basketball insider Mike DeCourcy has been a vocal naysayer of this expansion for the Atlantic Coast Conference. He does not believe that the quality of the SMU, Stanford and Cal college football and basketball programs is up to the ACC's caliber.
Florida State and Clemson already have had issues with money, and while this expansion gets the ACC an estimated $55 million in profits, it is not enough. These two programs will likely bolt to the Southeastern Conference, and the media rights deal not expiring until 2036 is also a significant factor.
If the two biggest programs on the gridiron leave, the ACC expansion will seem worthless, as the conference will be left in a similar predicament to the Pac-12.