One of the basic lessons of college sports realignment: It pays to have a travel buddy with a lot of dollars and clout. Just ask UCLA. Go to Berkeley and ask California.
UCLA would not be in the Big Ten if USC didn’t exist and have a world-class football program. UCLA was the tag-along travel partner which got invited onto the Big Ten plane because USC had the box-office appeal Fox Sports wanted. All that extra television money offered by Fox was due to USC’s presence in college football. As good as UCLA basketball is, the Bruins don’t drive the bus. They rode USC’s coattails and got on board the Big Ten charter flight.
It’s very much the same with Cal and Stanford in the ACC. Stanford did the heavy lifting. Stanford has the massive endowment and a financial house which is fundamentally in order, unlike Cal. Stanford lobbied hard for this ACC move. Cal, its leadership and administration in disarray, was quiet and relatively impotent in this larger series of events. Stanford carried Cal to the ACC, and that’s not something anyone would reasonably dispute.
UCLA and Cal can thank USC and Stanford for giving them a new conference home in the wake of the Pac-12 splintering and dying.
Let’s look at more elements and plot points attached to the reality that Cal is going to the ACC: