The potential options for the Pac-12’s four remaining teams, aptly nicknamed the “Pac-4,” continue to form.
On Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on one of those potential options. In his report, Thamel said on X, (formerly known as Twitter, ) “In the next 24 hours, there are two calls for the ACC to vet and have early exploratory discussions on the potential addition of Cal and Stanford. One is for ACC athletic directors and the other for the league’s presidents and chancellors.” He also noted that it is a “fluid landscape for the four leftover Pac-12 schools” and that many options are being discussed.
247Sports’ Brandon Marcello had a similar report on X on Monday evening but added an important note that the ACC is primarily looking at Cal and Stanford.
If Cal and Stanford were to join the ACC, there would have to be quite a few issues to work out for both universities, similar to those that the Big Ten had to consider when first adding USC and UCLA last year, such as travel expenses, especially for non-revenue sports. Cal and Stanford would also likely need to be willing to take a reduced share of the ACC’s revenue sharing, according to Pete Thamel’s full report on ESPN.
As Thamel also noted, while the additions of Cal and Stanford would not offer any significant financial gain for the ACC, it would supply the conference with two more highly prestigious academic institutions. Both schools would fit well with institutions like Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.
If Cal and Stanford did join the ACC, it would leave just Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12. There were no further reports regarding the future of either university and its conference affiliation. The Mountain West, however, appears to be the most likely option for both universities following a report from The Athletic’s Max Olson on Sunday, which stated the Big 12 was “not discussing adding Oregon State or San Diego State at this time.”