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Rumor: Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Stanford, Cal, and SMU wouldn't be in 32 team super conference

By Andrew Hughes

A 32-team super conference wouldn't include Syrause, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Stanford, Cal, and SMU
A 32-team super conference wouldn't include Syrause, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Stanford, Cal, and SMU / Grant Halverson/GettyImages
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Seven current ACC teams wouldn't make a supposed 32-team super conference -- a spinoff of the 80-team super league that was rumored in April -- according to longtime college sports radio host Greg Swaim. The unfortunate list includes Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Stanford, Cal, and SMU.

Georgia Tech and Pitt were not locks for the super conference "by any stretch."

"Over the next several days we'll let you know which current P4 teams will NOT be in the 32 team Power Conference, as financed in private equity from the group we broke the story on nearly two weeks ago," Swaim wrote.

"It's crucial to remember that this is only football. Schools from the ACC who definitely will not make the 32 member cut are Syracuse, Duke, Wake Forest, Boston College, Stanford, Cal Bears and SMU, although GT and Pitt are not locks by any stretch."

Super conference only happens if TV networks cede control of Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12

For a 32-team super conference to even be on the table means the sport as we know it is still not done rapidly transforming. It's been year after year of massive changes to the sport since 2020, with 2021 being the rise of NIL plus Texas and Oklahoma's SEC defection and UCF, BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston's Big 12 jump, 2022 having UCLA and USC announcing their Big Ten intentions, and 2023 seeing Oregon and Washington join them and the Big 12 grab Colorado, Utah, ASU, and Arizona.

But giving up on the conference model altogether and making a pro football-sized league would be transformative in a way that'd warp what the term "college football" even means at the Power Conference level.

Truthfully, there's too much parity in the sport as is to truly settle on a rightful 32 teams to be in this league. The TV networks (CBS, FOX, ESPN) aren't likely to let this happen.

But if they did? Auburn, if nothing else than being the primary rival of Alabama and arguably Georgia too, is a lock to be in such a league.

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