Clemson Football: Does ACC Expansion still have a chance?

Following the latest round of realignment, the Atlantic Coast Conference discussed the additions of Stanford, California and SMU. The initiative failed because enough members, including Clemson Football, had the votes to stop it.

The initiative was thought dead by most, however some out there have not let go of the idea so easily.

There are posts and articles suggesting that the candidate schools haven’t given up on ACC membership yet, and some might be bringing out influencers to help their cause.

There are rumors that well-known politicians are assisting. Condaleeza Rice has supposedly been stumping for Stanford. SMU has former president George W. Bush on their side.

The reason why some are continuing to lobby for expansion is simple. The ACC needs 12 of their 15 voting members to approve expansion. Currently, they have 11 schools voting in favor of adding at least two candidates, possibly all three.

The four schools against expansion are Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and North Carolina State. If one of those schools change their mind, then expansion will be approved.

It seems unlikely that Clemson or Florida State would change their mind. While UNC and NC State had opposed the addition of schools originally, we can’t rule out that circumstances might change.

There are posts that Stanford might be willing to take a greatly reduced payout, perhaps no media payout.

The caveat here has to do with perspective. How are the eleven members of the ACC in favor of expansion viewing the finances of adding teams? It seems clear right now that Stanford, California and SMU don’t increase the payout per school with the current structure of the ACC, which is why Clemson and Florida State oppose the additions.

The ACC might be assuming Clemson Football and Florida State will leave no matter what

It is very possible that the majority of the league is looking at this from the perspective that sooner, rather than later, Clemson and Florida State will be leaving the conference for either the SEC or the Big Ten. If they consider the exit of the Tigers and Seminoles to be inevitable, they might already be planning for the next stage of life in the ACC.

Stanford, Cal and/or SMU might not increase the payout per school right now, but their presence in an ACC that doesn’t include Clemson or Florida State might help the league maximize revenue.

If that is the case, then the entire situation pivots on the viewpoints of North Carolina and NC State. It is possible that both schools have ambitions to leave the ACC too, but what if they get cold shoulders from the SEC or Big Ten. Could their viewpoints suddenly change?

For all we know, those four schools – Clemson, FSU, UNC and State – are against diluting the ACC’s revenue payouts because they already have a wink-wink-nod-nod agreement that one day, they will have a home elsewhere.

If that isn’t the case and someone becomes less confident in their attractiveness to another conference, suddenly their vote could change.