As college football continues to deal with conference re-alignment across the country, it sounds like one school is turning to former president George W. Bush in an attempt to make sure they are best suited for the future of college football.
According to a report from Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated, former United States President George W. Bush is lobbying on behalf of the SMU Mustangs in an attempt to convince the ACC to get the school invited to the conference. Meanwhile, Bush’s former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing the same thing for her alma mater of Stanford.
“Those schools and a third aspiring member, SMU, have been enlisting “big guns” to lobby on their behalf. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been making calls on behalf of Stanford, as has internet innovator Jerry Yang. SMU, meanwhile, has enlisted former President George W. Bush, one source says,” Forde wrote for Sports Illustrated on Wednesday.
It’s certainly a wild story, and the college football world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
Intriguing, but I would be very wary since George W and Condoleeza have not always done so well when it comes to thinking in advance about threats to the Atlantic Coast https://t.co/hl0JxuV1UJ
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) August 16, 2023
Again, this is why we don’t have to make up fake things in College Football. The real stuff is plenty Sickos enough. https://t.co/1yJnKNx8nD
— 🇸🇲 Sickos Committee 🇸🇲 (@SickosCommittee) August 16, 2023
Do they think the ACC is sitting on massive oil reserves? https://t.co/vmfe5thfzi
— Not A Basketball Fan (@drewhamm5) August 16, 2023
this is illegal https://t.co/PIQZBBwZv2
— Lucy Rohden (@lucy_rohden) August 17, 2023
Regardless of public opinion and any real evidence supporting the decision, it seems SMU and Stanford will be invading the ACC. https://t.co/ONYZi5cqBc
— Barnt (@barntwn) August 16, 2023
New coalition of the willing just dropped https://t.co/JMbA1OHABR
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 16, 2023
imagine having an elected official be the only reason your school from central texas makes it into a P5 conference 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/KY9zmmhNC3
— Dales Dad Twelve (@DalesDad12) August 16, 2023
Bush has no immediate personal connection with SMU, having attended both Harvard and Yale for his education, but he has become a fan of the athletic program after moving to Dallas following his presidency.
