The ACC is officially expanding by adding SMU, Stanford, and Cal after a long month of discussions. The move to go west and bring in the pair of prestigious Pac-12 schools is certainly a head-scratcher to some, although it has been in the works for quite some time.
With the love finally being made official, we can now expect to see a Cal-Florida State game, assuming the Seminoles don't leave the conference. So, games such as those have drawn quite the reactions from fans everywhere with cross-country travel becoming the norm once the ACC expands. St. John's basketball coach Rick Pitino took to social media with a hilarious response of his own after the news was announced:
‘It's great that the ACC has added Stanford and Cal. I hear the Big East is looking to add teams from Panathinaikos & Olympiacos – it's only a nine hour flight ‘
Pitino added some shrug and laughing face emojis at the end, and it's certainly a valid response. The ACC going all the way west has coined the trending term All Coasts Conference, and that's exactly what it is after adding he two Pac-12 programs.
Clearly, Pitino is joking, but reactions such as this have become quite common since the news was made official early Friday morning. Teams going from Florida State and North Carolina to Palo Alto and Berkeley are in for a long flight, and vice versa, although the ACC has some plans to use Dallas as a halfway point to ease some of these situations, per Chris Vannini of The Athletic.
‘Cal chancellor Carol Crist says the ACC plans to use Dallas as a place to hold some sporting events to ease cross-country travel for everyone.'
Still, it's a puzzling move as far as logistics are concerned, and Rick Pitino coming out with a response such as this one is pure gold.
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