Pac-12 ACC merger or MWC coalition? Analyzing the best possible move to help George Kliavkoff mitigate the ongoing fallout

Will the Pac-12 ACC merger happen or will there be a coalition with the Pac-12 and the Mountain West Conference? There are many different avenues that Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff has to cipher through in order to figure out the next step for the conference.

College football insider John Canzano tweeted a link to his story about some options that the Pac-12 could consider.

Each scenario comes with its own set of positives and negatives attached. The Atlantic Coast Conference is a Power Five but the Mountain West has the location. Pac-12 ACC merger or a coalition with the Mountain West, what should the Conference of Champions do?

Does a Pac-12 ACC merger even make any sense?

The Pac-12 ACC merger seems to be in the cards as they are the two weakest Power Five conferences and could band together to battle with the rest of the conferences. However, the logistics for a merger of this kind do not feel like it has a great chance of being the end result.

Let's discuss the Pac-12 for a minute as they are down to just four teams: Oregon State, Washington State, California and Stanford. What value do those four teams bring to the ACC? The Pac-12 could not figure out a media deal and had two-thirds of its members decide to look for new homes beginning in 2024.

The Atlantic Coast Conference consists of teams located in the southeastern portion of the United States as they are battling with the Southeastern Conference for eyeballs. What would four teams located across the country with very little influence bring to the table for the ACC? The answer is not much. This is why if anything, a merger with the Mountain West feels more sustainable.

The Pac-12 has not put itself in a good position as it completely overstated its value during the early negotiating window for a media rights deal. While the media rights deal with the two conferences merged still would not be significant in terms of Power Five money, there are still reasons for this to be the best situation.

One reason is the proximity to one another as they are both located in the western portion of the United States. A merger would give the Mountain West teams exposure and the Pac-12 teams a chance to remain together. This also keeps the Pac-12 intellectual property alive, which is massive for the history of college athletics as a whole.