ACC Expansion: Back On The Menu?

Things have been kind of quiet on the ACC expansion front, but apparently it’s not dead yet: AP reports that talks with Cal, Stanford and SMU are still active.

Commissioner Jim Phillips is apparently going over spread sheets and revenue models, trying to figure out ways to placate Florida State, Clemson and UNC.

Stanford has reportedly told what’s left of the PAC-12 that it’s willing to take drastically reduced, or even no revenue, for several seasons to join the conference. That’s mighty decent of the Cardinal, but somebody has to pay for the women’s soccer team to constantly travel to the East Coast.

Speaking of that, UNC legend Anson Dorrance had some harsh comments about expansion, arguing that the ACC should let Cal and Stanford “die on the vine,” comments that he is now somewhat walking back. Does that suggest that UNC’s position is shifting?

It might. This statement sounds coached, if you will: “I have the utmost respect for Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. They are outstanding institutions with dedicated leaders, committed students and world-class soccer programs and coaches. I don’t think conference expansion is in the best interest of Carolina and the ACC at this time, and I trust and respect the decisions that Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips are making on behalf of Carolina and the ACC.”

If this does end up coming to pass, for better or worse, we’d also like to suggest that the ACC works with Duke’s Fuqua contacts (read: Tim Cook and Eddie Cue) and Stanford’s proximity to Apple to find ways to get on Apple’s platforms. Obviously ESPN has the rights locked up but there should be room for the league to work with the world’s greatest tech company, if only to test sports on the upcoming Vision Pro. That’s going to revolutionize how people watch sports and the ACC should be way out front, because that will change everything.

By the way, we realize that if the ACC expands to Texas and California, it will still be called the Atlantic Coast Conference, but we should probably informally start calling it the All-Coast Conference.