“Time to Run Wild,” a banner proclaimed on the SMU athletics website Monday morning above a 30-second video of a herd of mustangs storming onto “The Atlantic Coast.”
The ACC’s expansion west officially started Monday as the league welcomed SMU, California and Stanford. SMU officially became a member Monday, and Cal and Stanford join Aug. 2 to expand the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Pacific Coast.
SMU left the American Athletic Conference, and Cal and Stanford departed the Pac-12. All three begin ACC competition in the fall.
The ACC makeover comes as programs leave their conferences for more stability — and money — in college athletics. Before summer’s end, Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, while Oklahoma and Texas bolt the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference and Utah, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado join the Big 12.
Closer to home, the ACC now has 18 members (17 play football because Notre Dame plays as an independent).
“This summer marks a momentous occasion for the ACC with the addition of three prestigious institutions — Cal, SMU and Stanford,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a release officially welcoming them on Monday. “Since our announcement last September, the conference has been diligently preparing to become an 18-member league that spans from coast to coast. We look forward to the future of this incredible league and extend a warm welcome to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, campus communities, alumni, and supporters of Cal, SMU, and Stanford into the ACC.”
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How often has the ACC expanded?
The newcomers this summer mark the ACC’s seventh expansion since the league was established in 1953 with seven charter members. Virginia joined later in 1953 to make it eight. Georgia Tech joined in 1979 and Florida State followed in 1992. Virginia Tech and Miami joined in 2004 and Boston College in 2005. Syracuse and Pitt were welcomed in 2013, along with Notre Dame in all conference-sponsored sports except football. Louisville became a full member in 2014.
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How will scheduling work?
Most sports will be organized to ease travel — teams headed west will likely make stops at Cal and Stanford on the same trip when possible, Phillips said last month during a Q&A in Charlotte at the Associated Press Sports Editors annual conference. For football, East Coast teams are expected to travel to the West Coast to face Cal and Stanford every other year, and Cal and Stanford will travel east three to four times per season.
A recent breakdown of expected ACC travel by bookies.com shows Cal logging a league-high 20,660 miles for football in 2024, followed by Stanford at 14,017 miles. Stanford plays ACC road games this season at Syracuse, Clemson and N.C. State and also visits Notre Dame in a non-conference game. Cal visits Florida State, Pitt and Wake Forest in football this season.
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Newcomers vs. UVA, Virginia Tech
Virginia and Virginia Tech play only one football game each against the ACC’s new members. UVA is at home Nov. 23 against SMU, and Virginia Tech plays at Stanford on Oct. 5.
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#TheMustangsHaveArrived 🐎 pic.twitter.com/BIZCvNHGqa
— SMU (@SMU) July 1, 2024
About SMU
Southern Methodist University, a 12,000-student school located in Dallas, is coming off its most successful year in the AAC (eight conference championships). The Mustangs have won 10 national championships overall. Notable athletic alums: Pro Football Hall of Famers Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Forrest Gregg, Lamar Hunt and Doak Walker.
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About Cal
The University of California, Berkeley, has an enrollment of more than 42,000 and is located along the San Francisco Bay near Oakland. The school’s athletic program has produced 104 national championship teams and 223 Olympic medalists, including 121 gold medalists. Notable Golden Bears athletic alums: Aaron Rodgers, Jason Kidd, Natalie Coughlin, Marshawn Lynch and Jaylen Brown.
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About Stanford
The school just south of San Francisco has 7,800 undergraduates and 9,600 graduate students. No college has won more than Stanford’s 136 team national championships, and the Cardinal have won at least one NCAA team championship during each of the last 48 seasons dating back to the 1976-77 campaign. Notable athletic alums: Tiger Woods, John Elway, Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey, Michelle Wie and Katie Ledecky.
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What about the ACC’s legal fight?
The league and two longtime members are embroiled in a legal battle that is unrelated to the arrival of SMU, Cal and Stanford. Florida State and Clemson are both suing the ACC to escape the league’s Grant of Rights agreement that keeps member schools in a TV contract through 2036. The ACC has countersued both schools.
“We’re going to fight it with every effort that we can,” Phillips said in Charlotte during a Q&A at the Associated Press Sports Editors annual conference. “With what has been agreed upon, twice, the Grant of Rights deserves to be executed. And so we have taken that position.
“So we’re going to fight,” Phillips added. “I’m going to fight. And the courts will ultimately decide. And we believe that everybody knows what was in that contract back then. And it was celebrated. And people were excited.”
