Experts are discussing the potential departure of North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, and Miami from the ACC to another conference.
Both the Big 12 and the ACC aren’t waiting for college sports to change—they are changing college sports. The Big 12 and ACC VC deal isn’t about plugging leaks or treading water. It’s about grabbing the steering wheel and punching the gas.
Both leagues want fresh capital now, before the next media cycle redraws the map. They want to expand, upgrade production, and cement themselves as the most adaptable brands in the game. This isn’t a reaction. This is provocation.
A venture-capital partnership is the Big 12’s way of saying: we’re not here to survive, we’re here to set the pace. The cash injection gives the conference license to stay on offense, to blend old-school linear reach with new-school digital muscle.
The Big 12 wants to be the league that can pivot—fast. This deal? It’s the next move in a playbook built for volatility. The league wants to expand, and USF is among the short-listed candidates. That’s no coincidence: the Big 12’s VC deal is being backed by Weatherford Capital, which has deep ties to the Bulls and would love to see them join a conference with Central Florida and renew the old War on I-4 rivalry.
The ACC’s Challenge: Play the Long Game
I’ve reported for over a year that the ACC is interested in USF and that the conference is preparing to lose some schools in the next round of realignment. The ACC knows what’s coming. By 2031, some schools will be gone. But unlike the Big 12, which didn’t see it coming when Oklahoma and Texas left for the SEC—or the Pac-12 when USC and UCLA bolted for the Big Ten—the conference is well aware of which members want out.
The revenue gap is a canyon, and the Big Ten and SEC are pulling with real gravity. But the ACC isn’t panicking about the next two years. The strategy is about the next two decades so the VC investment they want now will pay off in the post 2036
What the ACC is pitching to VC firms is a vision of what the conference could become in the next era: a coast‑to‑coast, academically aligned, modern league built around schools willing to stay together. Boston College, Stanford, Cal, Duke, Georgia Tech, SMU, Pitt, Syracuse, Wake Forest, NC State, maybe Louisville, and either Virginia Tech or Virginia could be enticed by a cash infusion now to stick it out until 2036, when a major payday awaits.
The ACC is also eyeing additions like USF, UConn, Memphis, Tulane, San Diego State, Boise State, UNLV, and Army and Navy for football. These aren’t Clemson, Florida State, Miami, or North Carolina, but each brings something the conference can use to stay in the Power 4 conversation.
This is still a league with a national footprint, real institutional heft, and strong academic brands. It finally reflects where college athletics is heading, not where it used to be.
The Irish Stays with the ACC
Notre Dame says in Olympic sports and would be given the choice of which five ACC schools to schedule in football. That would be Pitt, Stanford, Army, Navy, Georgia Tech, Duke, Boston College, and USF, which would make up the likely rotation, since the Irish have a long history of playing each of them.
Streamers Are Lurking, Rights Are Shifting
Amazon, Apple, YouTube—they want more than games. They want national windows, diverse time zones, and educated, spendy audiences. The ACC checks every box. Now DAZN’s at the table, eyeing a shot at American college football. The ACC is the on-ramp: national schedule, academic profile, advertiser appeal.
That’s a streaming-friendly slate, with enough market diversity to keep Scripps, CW, WBD Sports, and Fox happy and interested. It’s a league that fits both the future and the present—a rare thing in this business.
The Post-2036 Bet
The ACC’s VC push isn’t a desperation move. It’s a positioning play. The goal is to be the first major conference built for a streaming world, the last big rights prize before 2040. Invest now, stabilize now, go digital in 2037, and the ACC believes it can come out of the post-ESPN era stronger than anyone expects. This isn’t about hanging on. It’s about being first through the next open door.
