Amid Big-12 expansion rumors, Stanford, Cal, and SMU to ACC confirmed as Presidents approve ACC expansion to 18 teams absorbing Pac-12 giants: Reports

After weeks of painstaking negotiations, the ACC has finally acquired enough votes to invite its expansion targets. Stanford, Cal, and SMU have been part of the conference's expansion plans for a while now. With the number of required votes secured, the conference membership is set to increase from 14 football members to 17. Notre Dame remains commited to Olympic sports.

YahooSports' Ross Dellenger confirmed the news via his X page. He wrote,

“It’s final: ACC presidents have approved expansion to add Stanford, Cal, and SMU, sources tell @YahooSports, ending a month-long saga into an issue that divided the league.”

Negotiations for the expansion were concluded earlier this week as the conference looked to complete the expansion before the 2023 season ended. The conference needed 12 votes from its Board of Presidents for the expansion to go through. Four out of 15 members voted against the expansion, leaving the conference in need of one vote to overturn the stalemate.

Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, and North Carolina State constituted the four negative votes against the expansion. However, one of the four was convinced to change its stance and that's how the required votes were obtained. Dellenger further reported that North Carolina State went into the meeting with the intent to throw its weight behind the expansion.

How will Stanford, Cal, and SMU shape out the ACC?

The new expansion plan detail will see Stanford and Cal take 30% less than their due TV revenue. SMU, on the other hand, will be content with no TV revenue for the first nine years in the conference, according to Ross Dellenger.

Stanford and Cal's eventual departure from the Pac-12 will leave just two schools remaining in the conference. They bring their uncommon academic pedigree to the ACC, although they're geographically outliers to the conference. SMU is also not located within the conference's catchment area. However, the newest wave of conference realignment has a lot of surprises.

SMU has been in search of a home in the Power 5 conferences for years. It was almost certainly heading to the Pac-12 before the conference capitulated. With its latest expansion, the ACC now has 17 football members, only one shy of the Big Ten's 18.

This makes it the second-largest conference in college football ahead of the SEC and the Big 12. Starting from 2024, these new members will compete in the conference.