Top NC Senate Republican on college conference realignment: 'No rash decisions'

Less than two years ago, North Carolina lawmakers approved millions to keep the Atlantic Coast Conference headquarters in the state.

It was but a small nod to the vast importance of the league to the state, which is home to four founding members, the league's birthplace and most of its conference championships.

Now the ACC's status as a top-tier college athletic conference is threatened by the explosive growth of revenue by other conferences and lawsuits from Florida State and Clemson, the league's best football program, seeking an easier and less expensive path out.

The Southeastern Conference and the Midwest-based Big Ten Conference are generating ever-increasing revenue and, as a result, gaining power in shaping the future of college athletics. The ACC, now a distant No. 3, faces a future where its most attractive members leave and the gulf between it and the other two leagues is too large.

The fate of the ACC is not an insignificant question among state lawmakers, given the investment in UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University as well as private schools Duke and Wake Forest.

It has attracted the interest of, arguably, the state's most powerful politician.

"I would like to see the ACC continue as a major conference for all college athletics," Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham County, said.

"Whether there are larger issues out there that would imperil that or create problems for that, I hope not. If the net result of that is keeping NC State and UNC in the same conference, fine. If it means keeping the Big Four together, fine."

Lawsuits in North Carolina, Florida and South Carolina may well decide the future of the league and, as a result, dictate what options are available to UNC, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest. Other legal battles could also dictate the future of college athletics, particularly lawsuits arguing that athletes should be deemed employees or are owed millions in back pay or other compensation.

UNC and NC State have not indicated publicly that they want to leave the ACC, though the chairman of UNC's Board of Trustees criticized the league and commissioner Jim Phillips for "a gross abdication of responsibility." ACC members are currently tied to the league through 2036 through a grant of multimedia rights, though that is under attack by Florida State and Clemson.

The UNC System Board of Governors recently gave itself more power over universities that wish to change athletic conferences. The board is appointed by the House and Senate and its current members have all been appointed by Republican majorities.

"I do think that there are some larger challenges out there that seem all to be driven by major college football more than anything else," Berger said. "My thought is that if you give it a couple of years a lot of that will settle out because a lot of has to do with how much money has been offered to campuses and conferences to put their teams on television.

"The ACC at one time had the best contract as far as that's concerned. And how quickly that changes. I think those things can change again pretty quickly. So I would hope nothing rash, no rash decisions take place."