The Alliance

ACC
Subtractions: none

Additions: none

Future look: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

The Alliance with the Pac-12 and Big Ten has, thus far, done its job by calming the realignment waters for the ACC. The biggest near-term goal for commissioner Jim Phillips, who replaced John Swofford last spring, was simply to buy some time to get a better lay of the land nationally and continue to build trust with the league members. Stability is the buzzword, and between the Alliance and the league's onerous grant of rights, Phillips has it for the time being.

The question then becomes how the ACC can remain competitive with its regional rival in the SEC when that league might ultimately double the ACC's TV contract while enjoying the immense recruiting advantage of being seen as, essentially, a mini-NFL. Worse, if realignment turns into a land war between the SEC and Big Ten, it would be almost impossible for the ACC to avoid being caught in the middle. We're a long way away from that, but Phillips needs to consider the future for the ACC not just in a year or two but a decade or more down the line.

Before the most recent conference shake-ups, the ACC was already thinking about ways to get out of an increasingly bad TV deal that runs through 2036, with expansion the best option. Several league administrators said they thought Texas and Oklahoma could be a good play down the road, but the SEC struck first. Now the list of programs that could genuinely change the economic landscape for the league is probably down to one: Notre Dame.

Any hopes of wooing the Fighting Irish remain distant, at best. With playoff expansion on hold, there's no immediate on-field incentive for Notre Dame to jump, and the league's toxic TV deal means there's no financial reason either. That the ACC's fortunes in 2021 have fallen even further -- marquee teams Clemson, Miami and Florida State are all struggling -- and that the league has yet to broker a deal to get its TV network on Comcast only add to the reasons Notre Dame is in the catbird's seat in any possible talks.

So while the long-term goal might still be to expand, there remains the ever-present concern that the ACC could just as likely lose teams down the road, once the financial calculus begins to even out a bit. Phillips is the calming force for now. He has preached patience with league members, and until another major domino falls, that message appears to be resonating. -- David Hale

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