Conference realignment has struck college sports yet again, this time involving a local program.
SMU is joining the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after receiving an official invite along with former PAC-12 members Cal and Stanford on Friday morning. The Mustangs have been looking to join a Power Five conference, while the other two schools were looking for a home after eight of the 12 PAC-12 teams announced their departures to the Big Ten and the Big 12 over recent months.
“Joining the Atlantic Coast Conference is an historic milestone in our institution’s history, and the start of a new chapter in SMU Athletics,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner said in an official announcement on the school athletics website.
“From early on in my tenure here on the Hilltop, we had a vision to reestablish SMU Athletics as a nationally recognized and relevant program, one to complement our outstanding academic reputation.”
SMU has been the subject of several realignment rumors over the last year, including whispers of a move to the PAC-12 before many of its schools left.
The Mustangs were initially a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) before it dissolved in 1996. Since then, SMU has bounced around Group of Five and “mid-major” conferences like the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and Conference USA. It has been a member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) since its inception in 2013.
SMU’s move will become official on July 1, 2024, while Cal and Stanford will join next August. Washington State and Oregon State are now the only PAC-12 teams without a conference next season.