With Cal and Stanford rumored to join the ACC, how does the entire conference map of the Atlantic Coast look ahead of the 2023 season?

Cal and Stanford have made strenuous efforts to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have apparently told the conference that if they are admitted, they are willing to accept little or no conference money for a certain number of years. This would be intriguing because adding Cal and Stanford would substantially alter the conference layout.

With a few exceptions, every team on the current ACC map is located in the Southeastern United States. Syracuse, Boston College, and Pittsburgh are the three institutions in the same time zone that are not in the same geographical location as the remainder of the conference. While adding Cal and Stanford would be wonderful in terms of expanding options to the Western United States, it would significantly alter the current situation.

The current ACC model may not be able to handle that and having just two teams on the west coast would make scheduling a nightmare. Each college football team plays four or five road games in a season and that would mean two or three cross-country trips for Cal and Stanford. While it is exciting to think about ACC expansion, it does not seem to be the best fit going forward.

If the ACC is not the answer, where should Cal and Stanford wind up?

The combination of Cal and Stanford does enhance Cal's position, but it may not be considered an attractive pairing. These two universities, along with Oregon State and Washington State, are the remaining members of the Pac-4.

Exploring a merger with the Mountain West Conference could be a more viable option. However, any such move is unlikely to occur until 2024, so early preparations and negotiations would be crucial for these four teams.

The Pac-12 merging with the Mountain West would alleviate travel as they are all located in the western portion of the United States. This also would allow executives like Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff and consultant Oliver Luck to continue their roles in a different setting.

Clemson and Florida State have been rumored to be looking elsewhere besides the Atlantic Coast Conference so they have their own issues. They also have been two of the four teams reportedly against adding the two schools specifically. The ACC has its own issues and expanding almost 3,000 miles away certainly is not the answer.

The Pac-4 should remain together at this point and the ACC should not have any involvement with them.