I’ve went from being very-anti expansion to more lukewarm on it. Stanford I think is a fine take. They’re not Texas or USC, and quite frankly I believe they’re not in the Big12 likely because of snobbery, which I can respect even if it’s a dangerous move. They’ve shown over time though they can solidly recruit and compete at high levels here and there.
Cal is a harder sell given the state of the program. But it’s a flagship state institution in the most populated state in the country. The ACC would be buying low, but the potential is there if this can be a wake-up call to them to start putting more emphasis on athletics.
So two programs with a lot of upside with the right investment, which is not a bad way to go about expansion for longer term. I like the fit better than Louisville, who we bought at what might have been their ceiling.
SMU is the wildcard. Texas is a heavily populated state with a football culture, but nothing about SMU lately is showing signs of life of improving on this front. But maybe P5 status would help them compete via the NIL with the big boys and turn things around. Being the lone Texas program in the ACC could drum up local interest and maybe help build out their program longterm with the right investments and luck. Theyre so different from a program like Cal, but I feel like they might have some potential.
Who knows what happens 10-15 years down the road, but it could help establish the ACC in that part of the country for a future raid on the better programs in the Big12 long term, opening the doors when GORs start running down. The ACC definitely wants to position itself as the #3 conference longterm, aligning with academic schools will help solidify that I think, and could pull the better Big12 programs if desired down the road.
