ACC leader defends league as UNC, other schools push back on conference-change rules

The Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner defended his organization at a news conference meant to highlight basketball, but questions about the league’s future dominated it in many ways.

Four ACC schools, including UNC Chapel Hill, have sent a letter to Congress raising concerns about limits on changing conferences that are outlined in the Protect College Sports Act. The bill has passed the Senate and now moves to the House.

The bill caps power conferences at 20 members. Any university moving from one power conference to another would have to be independent for three years before joining the new league. That’s significant in light of the fact that the Southeastern Conference (16 members) and Big Ten (18) have vastly larger media rights deals than the ACC. Clemson University and Florida State University had a long legal fight with the ACC over television dollars that was settled in 2025 with a new revenue distribution model.

Clemson, Florida State and the University of Miami joined UNC in raising concerns about the bill. The letter, first reported by FSU fan site Tomahawk Nation, said: “The three-year independence requirement would impose a significant additional consequence on an institution seeking to change conferences, particularly when conferences and their members have already negotiated the financial terms surrounding an exit.”

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, at the Oct. 6 news conference, was asked about the Protect College Sports Act multiple times.

“We have 14 schools that feel really good about it and want to sign it, and we have four that have some concerns about it,” Phillips said.

Read more on Phillips comments on CBJ’s website.