Boo Corrigan explains why NC State changed vote on ACC expansion
The decision by the ACC to expand earlier this month came down to one vote. Florida State, Clemson, NC State and North Carolina were originally against expansion.
However, NC State ended up changing its mind and voting to add Cal, Stanford and SMU to the league on Sept 1.
Wolfpack Athletics Director Boo Corrigan explained Friday what led to NC State voting “yes” to expansion. According to Corrigan, the decision came down to changes in the proposal by the ACC.
“The troubling thing to me was the idea that there was any flipping,” Corrigan told NC State’s Council on Athletics on Friday, according to WRAL. “To me, a flipping of a vote means ‘here’s what it is,’ you take a lot of pressure and there’s a lot of pressure to change your mind.”
Corrigan said that is not what happened in this instance.
“It was one thing and then it became something completely different,” Corrigan reportedly said. “When it became something completely different, the chancellor and I had spent a lot of time talking about it, we voted for expansion.”
Boo Corrigan spoke with WRAL after the meeting about what exactly changed in the league’s proposal.
“The terms were different and what it meant from a travel standpoint,” Corrigan said. “There were a number of questions that were asked by the chancellors after the first time. And as we looked at the new questions and the new answers, we came to a different conclusion.”
Jim Phillips reveals how ACC will approach West Coast travel for football, basketball
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips recently offered some insight into how travel will work with the addition of Cal, SMU and Stanford.
The travel aspect of adding schools from a different part of the country was a major concern for several athletics departments in the league.
“California and the Bay Area, that’s a long way,” Phillips said. “In the end there were countless hours and discussions with all three schools, with our schools … about how can we and how should we schedule into the future.”
For football, East Coast teams will travel to the West Coast to face Cal and Stanford every other year, according to Phillips. Meanwhile, Cal and Stanford will travel East three to four times per season.
Phillips added that with Stanford not starting classes until late September, the Cardinal will play an ACC game early in the season.
As for men’s and women’s basketball, current ACC teams will take two trips West every four years and will play Cal and Stanford on those trips. Cal and Stanford will come to the East Coast three-to-four times per year, according to Phillips. Those teams will play two games each time they travel East.
Phillips added that for half of the ACC’s sports, there will be no impact to Stanford and Cal being added.
Baseball and softball will be slightly different. Teams will play one weekend series and head back, rather than trying to play two series per road trip.