There would be nothing reasonable or rational about California and Stanford joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. But these are not reasonable, rational times. These are desperate times, and this would be a desperate measure—and perhaps also a useful life raft for all involved parties.
For more than a year, the ACC has mulled various ways to escape its media-rights revenue quagmire, a deal with ESPN that has increasingly impatient member schools locked in at a discounted rate until 2036. Part of the ACC’s assessment of options throughout the past year has involved the Pac-12 as a potential scheduling partner—or, as that league grew more imperiled this summer, as a potential merger/acquisition candidate. The conferences seemed to be on the verge of something big late last week until it collapsed at the last minute, with Pac-12 schools scattering to the Big Ten and Big 12.
The effect is potentially catastrophic for athletics at leftovers Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State. The latter two are, sadly for them, not serious ACC expansion candidates. The former two are.
