Syracuse Orange: Expanding Pac-12 could pursue new ACC members California, Stanford

The Syracuse Orange and its Atlantic Coast Conference peers welcomed three new members this season with the additions of former Pac-12 Conference schools California and Stanford, as well as SMU out of the American Athletic Conference.

Amid the chaos of conference realignment, the Pac-12 crumbled as the majority of its members fled for the ACC, the Big 12 Conference and the Big Ten Conference. The Pac-12 was left with just Oregon State and Washington State, but now this storied league is attempting a comeback.

On Thursday, the Pac-12 announced that its board of directors had unanimously voted to admit Mountain West Conference schools Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State, with those programs aiming to begin competition in the Pac-12 starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

According to media reports, with the Pac-12 now up to six members, it has to add at least two more schools to reach the NCAA's minimum of eight members to qualify as an FBS conference. That is critical if the Pac-12 wants a seat at the table for the lucrative College Football Playoff.

In the wake of the Pac-12 announcing its expansion, many reports have surfaced regarding other schools that this league may target. Let's delve into that a bit further.

The Syracuse Orange and its ACC peers grew to 18 members for the 2024-25 season.

Reports speculated that the Pac-12 could look at American Athletic Conference schools such as Memphis, Tulane and UTSA. Potential Mountain West members to monitor include UNLV, Air Force, Wyoming and New Mexico.

This brings us to new ACC schools Cal and Stanford. Like other members of this conference, they are locked into the ACC’s grant of rights deal with ESPN that expires in 2036, which means that it would prove difficult for Cal and Stanford to return to the Pac-12, assuming there is mutual interest, according to experts.

Understandably, Cal and Stanford might view a return to the Pac-12 as attractive from a geographical standpoint, given their proximity to other Pac-12 members and the immense travel that both programs are facing as ACC schools.

The central issue to keep an eye on here is the ongoing legal disputes between the ACC and current members Clemson and Florida State, regarding the grant of rights deal and exit fees, as they mull whether to head to another league. What ultimately comes of these lawsuits could factor into any sort of movement by Clemson, Florida State or other ACC schools to bolt for other conferences.

Pete Nakos, a college sports business and transfer portal reporter with On3, wrote a couple of columns this week about the Pac-12's expansion. He did note, "Multiple sources have told On3 it's a logical move for Cal and Stanford to join the Pac-12 if a window opens to leave the ACC."

Several reports stated that if a resolution of the lawsuits between the ACC and Clemson/Florida State did pave the way for league members to depart, Cal and Stanford could emerge as candidates to return to the Pac-12.

Kyle Bonagura of ESPN wrote in part regarding further Pac-12 expansion, "Cal and Stanford are the dream acquisitions, but making that happen would be extremely complicated given they just went to the ACC, which is a party in four lawsuits relating to the potential departures of Clemson and Florida State. It's worth wondering, though, if Cal and Stanford might have any remorse about their decisions to join the ACC given they are receiving just a 30% share of the league's media rights distributions over the next seven years (in 2022-23, the ACC distributed an average of $44.8 million per school). While the ACC schools are closer academic peers than what the revamped Pac-12 will look like, how much that really matters in the big picture is up for debate."

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