Amid Stanford and Cal to ACC rumors, AAC commissioner Aresco takes dig at Pac-12 teams for not joining conference

The Pac-12 is in the midst of a major collapse as conference realignment has placed them on the verge of falling apart altogether.

Eight of the 12 programs have announced their plans to leave ahead of the 2024 season. The future of the four remaining programs - including Cal and Stanford - remains unclear, but the AAC has attempted to provide them a lifeline.

The programs did not accept that opportunity, though, which led to criticism from commissioner Mike Aresco, according to Nicole Auerbach who tweeted:

"AAC commissioner Aresco today reiterated his opposition to the terms “Power 5” and “Group of 5.” He believes they directly led to the latest round of realignment and to Cal & Stanford's pursuit of the ACC alongside SMU"

Aresco spoke with reporters following the College Football Playoff meeting:

"I’ve talked about how destructive this whole P5 thing can be. It’s all about branding. It’s all about the P5 conferences. We heard, ‘Well, Stanford and Cal have no place to go.’ They had a place to go. It may not be the place they wanted to go ideally, but they weren’t orphans. They had a chance to go somewhere."

"There’s this desperation now because of the P5 branding. That’s really what’s going on. … I understand the issue of money, and it’s based on TV deals. But guys are willing to go for virtually nothing because they feel like they have to have that — they feel that they need that branding.” [h/t The Athletic]

The California Bears and Stanford Cardinal are both reportedly willing to only bring in 30% of their revenue share to join the ACC.

Furthermore, the SMU Mustangs will reportedly forgo their entire revenue share. ACC presidents are set to meet on Friday to discuss the addition and possibily hold a vote on the matter. They previously fell one vote short of adding the Bears and Cardinal to the conference.

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Where could the remaining Pac-12 schools land up at?

The Pac-12 could be entering their final season in 2023. The Oregon Ducks, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and Washington Huskies will be members of the Big Ten in 2024. Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes and Utah Utes will join the Big 12.

While the California Bears, Oregon State Beavers, Stanford Cardinal and Washington State Cougars remain in the Pac-12, that could change at any moment.

The Bears and Cardinal are both being targeted by the ACC, while the Beavers and Cougars have been targeted by the MWC.