Florida State leaders confirm 'no' vote on expansion, comment on ACC adding 3 schools
After weeks of negotiations, the Atlantic Coast Conference finally secured enough votes Friday morning to move ahead with a new round of expansion, adding Stanford, Cal and SMU to the league.
But the ACC did so without the consent of Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina. According to multiple reports, N.C. State was the only school that flipped from its original “no” vote, which gave the conference the needed 12 of 15 votes in the affirmative.
Florida State President Richard McCullough issued a public statement late Friday morning confirming that FSU voted against the expansion but stating that the Seminoles will support the will of the conference.
“We appreciate the efforts of Commissioner [Jim] Phillips and our conference partners,” McCullough said. “There are many complicated factors that led us to vote no. That said, we welcome these truly outstanding institutions and look forward to working with them as our new partners in the Atlantic Coast Conference.”
Florida State athletics director Michael Alford echoed those sentiments and suggested that adding the three schools will lead to some additional money for each ACC school.
“We look forward to earning new revenue through the ACC’s success incentives initiative, based on our continued excellence,” Alford said. “We’re grateful to the league for continuing to listen to our concerns. This is a process that is ongoing, and we will continue working with Commissioner Phillips and our conference partners on the success initiatives and revenue-sharing plans.”
According to reports, Cal, Stanford and SMU were all willing to forgo portions, or all, of the league’s revenue distribution for years to entice the ACC to accept them.
*ALSO SEE: How weak is latest ACC expansion? Even Tobacco Road and national media are blasting it
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