ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said the conference remains healthy while addressing questions about four member schools that supported changes to realignment provisions in the proposed Protect College Sports Act. Phillips spoke Tuesday during preseason ACC basketball media days.

The U.S. Senate approved a version of the measure and sent it to the House. Phillips said schools “need direct access to state their case” as lawmakers consider legislation intended to reform college athletics.

“I've been very consistent about I have always tried to make sure that this was a conference that people wanted to be in, and I'm really proud of what we've done,” Phillips said. “We're as healthy as we've ever been.”

The presidents and chancellors of Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina sent a letter last week to House leaders. They asked lawmakers to raise the bill’s conference membership cap from 20 to 22 schools.

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The letter also requested the removal of a provision requiring a school to remain independent for three years before it could join another league. The requests would change two of the bill’s provisions involving movement between conferences.

Tomahawk Nation, a site that covers Florida State athletics, first obtained a copy of the letter. A North Carolina spokesman confirmed the letter’s authenticity after being contacted by The Associated Press.

Phillips said he plans to remain engaged with the schools as discussions surrounding the legislation continue. He described his role as helping facilitate communication while leaving decisions about the measure to the people responsible for writing and managing the bill.

“We'll continue to stay in contact with all the schools,” Phillips said. “My job is, again, to facilitate those conversations. And at the end of the day, the people that have written the bill and are in charge of the bill, they can do what they think they should based on the information that they're getting.”

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When asked whether the letter could indicate that multiple schools intend to leave the ACC, Phillips declined to address what he called “hypotheticals.” He instead pointed to the conference’s current position and said it was functioning and achieving at a high level.

“The conference is in a good place,” Phillips said. “Healthy, functioning, achieving at a high level. We'll see where all this takes us. So you have to be ready. You have to be ready for anything. But I feel good about where we're at, and we'll see what this bill ends up doing.”

Questions about the league’s membership follow legal disputes involving Florida State and Clemson. Florida State filed a lawsuit against the ACC in 2023, and Clemson filed one in 2024, challenging the conference’s ability to levy hundreds of millions in exit fees.

The ACC countersued before the parties ultimately settled the case in early 2025. The agreement revised long term exit costs and revamped the conference’s revenue distribution model, allowing schools that generate the highest television ratings to earn more money.

Those revisions were among a series of changes made by the ACC to improve its financial picture. The conference faces a growing gap behind the Big Ten and SEC, though it still finishes ahead of the Big 12 among the Power Four conferences.

The settlement also made 2030-31 a significant marker for the league. The ACC’s exit fee will decline each year before leveling off around $75 million per school that season, while media agreements for other leagues expire around that time, creating at least the potential for another broad wave of realignment.

For now, Phillips continues to emphasize the ACC’s health while acknowledging that the conference must be prepared for different possibilities. His stated focus remains on facilitating conversations with member schools and waiting to see what ultimately happens with the Protect College Sports Act.

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