An early morning meeting of the power brokers in the Atlantic Coast Conference went SMU's way. Dallas' school is on its way to a power conference for the first time since their Southwest Conference days.
And with the landscape of college football changing faster than a chameleon at a disco party, SMU couldn't afford to be left out of realignment.
"It's like musical chairs, right? You don't want to be left without a chair," Mike Craven of Texas Football said. "You don't want to be left without a spot at the dance. And they're trying to position themselves to stay in that College Football Playoff race as much as possible."
Of course, you've got to give something to get something, and SMU is giving up money. A lot of it. Several reports indicated that SMU will forego media rights distribution for nine years to make the move. In doing so, established ACC schools will spread the extra funds among themselves.
"And that's just the advantage of having money within your system," Craven pointed out. "They seem to think that it's worth it to trade that in order to get into one of those power conferences and not get left behind."
And, oh, the irony.
"The thing that put them in the death penalty is going to be the thing that gets them out of purgatory. And that's money," Craven said.
The move will be made official on July 1, 2024. And SMU will compete in the ACC in all sports starting in 2024-25.
SMU is considered one of the favorites to win the American Athletic Conference football title this year. How will they measure up in the ACC?
"I think they're not going to walk in there and be championship level, but I think they're absolutely middle of the pack and able to punch upwards," Craven predicted.
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