North Carolina State flipped voting allegiances to allow Cal, Stanford and SMU to join the ACC.
NC State might be 1-0 on the football field, but the Wolfpack may have made a GOB Bluth huge mistake in letting Cal, Stanford and SMU join the ACC, as Clemson, Florida State and UNC are furious.
News of the ACC expanding to 17 football teams broke on Friday morning with Cal, Stanford and SMU all receiving and accepting their bids into their new league. Initially, this was not going to happen, as four universities held out on voting them in. Fate would have it, North Carolina State broke rank. It was like Alan Garner on the Caesar's roof in The Hangover. The One Man Wolfpack fudged up, you guys...
I'm not saying the ACC's Zach Galifianakis went all Peter Pettigrew on them, but this will so be a thing.
North Carolina State going New World Order pretty much means Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina will all eventually look to join either the Big Ten or the SEC in the next wave of realignment. The craziest part in all this is not only are Cal and Stanford agreeing to play pretty much all of their games on the other side of the country, but SMU will forgo ACC TV revenue for nine years.
This is never going to end, isn't it? I don't even know what to say any more other than play the games!
NC State turns heel, allows Cal, Stanford and SMU to join the new ACC
Look. For as much as we loved the ACC's Magnificent Seven, conference realignment is a dog eat dog world. It kind of gave off the same sort of vibes as the ill-fated alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 before the absolutely delightful Kevin Warren treated college athletics like a game of Risk, proceeded to ruin the entire board and then peaced out to live a new life full of Chicago Bears misery.
Don't be lying to yourself. We had a feeling at least one of the seven ACC schools in question would break rank. I hate to say it, but NC State was always going to get left behind in UNC ever wanted to leave. We saw Oklahoma leave little brother Oklahoma State behind in the Big 12 to join the SEC, as well as Oregon and Washington bolt for the Big Ten to leave their little brother schools behind, too.
This was bound to happen, as NC State quickly realized they would be forgotten if Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina got better opportunities. While the new league should be just fine, it will not carry anywhere close to the same amount of gravitas if the Seminoles, Tar Heels and Tigers decide the grass is greener on the other side. Honestly, it is. NC State couldn't even fertilize the turf properly.
Here is to the new ACC surviving long enough for the Ponies to get at least one TV revenue payday.
