Why were Stanford and Cal left behind in past expansion? Questions raised for ACC decision-makers

It has been reported that SMU, Stanford and Cal are going to be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. While it has not officially been announced, there have been a myriad of opinions about the potential major shift in the conference.

Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News has been one of the naysayers about the addition of these three teams to the conference. The level of their football and basketball programs seems to be a main cause of concern.

"No matter how you slice that cash, though, unless it's winner-take all for whichever team wins the ACC Championship in football, an average of slightly more than $2 million per full member is not going to counterbalance the mostly mediocre (or worse) football and basketball teams that would be sullying what has long been a proud league."

The closing two sentences perfectly summarize DeCourcy's, and many others, feelings about adding Stanford and Cal to the ACC.

"It might be worth going all the way to Tokyo if the ACC could find a couple of schools there with the tradition and support that would enhance the league's membership. There's no reason, though, to stop that recruiting trip in the Bay Area."

With the lack of improvement in the major revenue-driving sports, the $2 million per school added does not seem to be the best investment going forward. SMU, Stanford and Cal all likely will be joining the ACC but until it is officially announced, these comments could persuade them to possibly go the other way.

Does Stanford and Cal leaving effectively kill the Pac-12?

To say Stanford and Cal leaving to join the ACC was the death blow would be a bit of an overstatement. The Pac-12 Conference has been dealing with issue after issue for a few years now.

Commissioner George Kliavkoff was unable to secure a sufficient, or any, media rights deal to keep the members happy. They hired consultant Oliver Luck way too late in the process to keep the conference alive as well.

Now the best hope for Oregon State and Washington State, the two Pac-12 programs remaining, is a merger with a Group of Five conference. With 10 of the 12 teams in the conference for the 2023 season finding new conferences in 2024, the Pac-12 is over. While the move by the Cardinal and Golden Bears does not help the matter, to blame them would be ego and tomfoolery.