Recapping all the latest news in college conference realignment

ESPN Report: Florida state reportedly targeting to sign a star who is more better than Jordan Travis.

Round and round we go once more.

The realignment wheel is spinning with a fury again, continuing a now three-year trend of major programs leaving their conferences to find greener pastures.

In 2021, the SEC courted the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns out of the Big 12, with the two programs set to join their new conference starting in 2024.

In 2022, the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins made shockwaves when the two rivals announced a move to the Big Ten (also starting in 2024), while the Big 12 added the UCF Knights, Houston Cougars, Cincinnati Bearcats and BYU Cougars, with the first three starting play in the conference this season.

This year, the Big 12 set off the latest round by adding the Colorado Buffaloes, igniting a ripple effect that included Florida State taking its first major public stand in voicing its financial frustrations with the ACC and the Pac-12 suddenly on the verge of counting its days as a conference.

Let’s run through the latest.

August 11
FSU, Clemson, North Carolina and North Carolina State holdouts in voting in Cal and Stanford, per Sports Illustrated
After news emerged that discussions about adding the California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal had hit a roadblock, meaning that the 12-of-15-team approval threshold was falling short of being met.

It was easy to guess a pair of those four holdouts — Florida State and Clemson, the two programs most attractive to other conferences — but according to reports, the Seminoles and Tigers were joined by the North Carolina Tar Heels and NC State Wolfpack.

From Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson and Pat Forde:

The two members of the disintegrating Pac-12 need 12 of the 15 members of the ACC to support their move. Four schools stood opposed when the issue was discussed Wednesday night, sources say: Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and North Carolina State. Lacking the requisite numbers, sources say it is unlikely that the potential expansion of the league will be put to a formal vote.

Sources described ACC members Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Louisville as among the most vocal in advocating for the Cardinal and Golden Bears to join the league. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips has been leading the discussion, presenting financial and scheduling scenarios to the league members.

August 9
Expansion progress hits “roadblocks” according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel
While ACC officials continue to meet and discuss possible expansion moves (specifically involving the Cal Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinal and SMU Mustangs), those talks have encountered “roadblocks,” according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel:

Sources confirmed one school that has been pushing for the addition of Cal and Stanford is Notre Dame, which is a member in the ACC in all sports except football. Notre Dame does get a vote on expansion, and it has a long history with Stanford. The fit from an Olympics sports perspective is attractive, too. But multiple athletics directors have questioned why anyone in the league would listen to Notre Dame because the Irish remain so steadfast in remaining independent.

One source indicated expansion could help bolster the security of the league long-term. “It’s a numbers game,” the source said. “Number of league members.” Given the way some ACC schools have studied the media grant of rights, it could be reasoned that adding members could help bolster the league if there were any defections — even though their additions would not be a huge financial win.

By Wednesday evening, however, it became clear there were not enough presidents willing to say yes to even take a vote.

The potential of programs leaving has the more entrenched schools within the league pondering what the next iteration of the ACC could look like, making unanimity nearly impossible to reach within the room.

ACC presidents to meet Wednesday, no vote expected but Notre Dame “pushing” for Cal and Stanford, per Larry Williams
Yesterday, sources were leaking that the overall feeling around the league was that adding Cal, Stanford and SMU was a relative non-starter.

Today, tunes haven’t completely changed — but there have been some pitch adjustments.

According to Larry Williams of Tigers Illustrated, Notre Dame is at the forefront of pushing for the additions of Cal and Stanford. The Fighting Irish and Cardinal are pretty familiar with each other — the two have played each other 32 of the last 35 years, with 1989 kicking off the presentation of the Legends Trophy to the winner of the matchup.

Notre Dame, while not a full member of the ACC, does have full voting power within the conference.