ACC expansion to Stanford gains more validation despite the Pac-12 member becoming a geographic outlier for the FBS powerhouse: Reports

The Atlantic Coast Conference has been in the headlines for the last few months, and now the anticipated expansion could happen soon. There are a few hurdles with the Pac-12 dissolving as California and Stanford attempt to join the ACC. One of them would be the travel aspect.

College football insider C.W. Lambert tweeted that ACC expansion has changed throughout the last decade. The conference would expand from the southeast United States to the west coast.

A notable fact that Lambert mentioned is that a flight from Tallahassee, Florida, to San Francisco, California, would take more than six hours. Every sport would have to deal with this if they were to add a program on the opposite coast than the entire conference currently is on.

There are some positives to the ACC expansion, going from coast to coast, as there would be more exposure for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Either way, it will be interesting to see if Stanford will get the votes to join the ACC beginning in 2024.

What should ACC expansion look like?

The Atlantic Coast Conference is in one of the most challenging situations because they are in the same geographical location as the top college football conference: the Southeastern Conference. The ACC is going to be viewed as the "little brother" as a result, but there are some incredible programs that can help them to become a legitimate contender.

There are a few programs the ACC should be looking for toward expansion. One of them would be the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as they are in for every sport but football, in which they are technically independent. Getting a commitment from one of the most historical programs in the nation would be ideal. Another would be focusing on college basketball and attracting the UConn Huskies.

That would be ideal as the they dominates in college hoops, like Duke, Miami, UNC, and Syracuse being basketball powerhouses. The media rights deal would need to be revised because a 20-year contract at this price is not sustainable for top programs to stay, and ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips could arrange that.

ACC expansion does not mean they have to travel across the country to get more teams. Some incredible programs are interested to join a Power Five conference right now that are being overlooked.