With Stanford, Cal and SMU's arrival, ACC now finds itself in safe spot despite reports of Clemson and FSU leaving the FBS powerhouse
The ACC made a big move on Friday, officially allowing Stanford, Cal and SMU to join the conference in 2024.
The three schools have been trying to get into the Atlantic Coast Conference for weeks, but the conference didn't get enough support initially. However, NC State reportedly flipped its vote to allow all three schools to join.
By adding Stanford, California and Southern Methodist University, the ACC is now in a safe spot should Florida State and Clemson leave.
With the ACC having a lengthy media rights deal with ESPN, stretching up to 2036, the two schools had said they were frustrated with the conference. If they do leave now, the ACC would fall below 15 members, which means ESPN could automatically renegotiate the media rights deal, and the conference and remaining schools would make less money.
However, even if FSU and Clemson don't leave the conference, the ACC would remain above 15 teams, and ESPN wouldn't be able to renegotiate the media rights deal.
FSU voted no on expansion for the ACC
Although the three schools did get voted into the ACC, Florida State was one of the schools that did vote no on the expansion.
FSU released statements welcoming Stanford, Cal and SMU into the conference but did reveal it voted no:
"We appreciate the efforts of Commissioner Phillips and our conference partners. There are many complicated factors that led us to vote no. That said, we welcome these truly outstanding institutions and look forward to working with them as our new partners in the Atlantic Coast Conference," said FSU President Richard McCullough.
Meanwhile, McCullough recently came out and said FSU was not happy with pay and certain parts of the ACC.
During the talk of expansion, FSU Vice President and Athletic Director Michael Alford said commissioner Jim Phillips did hear them out on their concerns:
"We look forward to earning new revenue through the ACC's success incentives initiativeabased on our continued excellence. We're grateful to the league for continuing to listen to our concerns. This is a process that is ongoing, and we will continue working with Commissioner Phillips and our conference partners on the success initiatives and revenue-sharing plans."
As of right now, neither FSU nor Clemson have immediate plans to leave the ACC.