Pete Thamel explains why the ACC would add Cal, Stanford

Just four Pac-12 schools remain and according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the ACC is interested in two of those. Despite being on the West Coast, there are conversations between Cal, Stanford, and ACC about coming together. In a conference where the most western school at the moment is Louisville, adding the two California-based programs could cause some head-scratching.

Thamel explained why the ACC is interested, citing the academic side for both schools. It’s no secret how seriously both Cal and Stanford take their academics quite seriously.

And then while football might not be its strong suit, Stanford has one of the strongest athletic departments in the country. The Cardinal have won 26 out of 29 possible Directors Cups. Only Texas and North Carolina have had the honor of winning the award.

“Nothing gets college presidents more excited than an affiliation with two of the most elite academic institutions in the country,” Thamel said on Monday during an appearance on SportsCenter. “Cal one of the more premier public institutions, Stanford one of the elite private institutions. Stanford, top to bottom, is the best athletic department in the country.”

As of right now, neither Cal nor Stanford has anywhere to go. You can even add Oregon State and Washington State in there as well. Having a conference of four members is not sustainable but outside options are limited.

The ACC is a potential lifeline, even if talks are in the early stages. From the ACC’s standpoint, Thamel argues there is no harm in at least exploring the opportunity.

“They are assets with nowhere to go right now,” Thamel said. “I think picking up the phone and doing exploratory talks — and sources have cautioned me these are early talks. They are formal talks because people are getting on the phone but they are early. — They don’t see the drawback to having at least the chat and running up the ground ball to see where they are.”

With the Pac-12 essentially gone, just four of the previous Power Five conferences remain. Three of them are adding ahead of the 2024 season, with the Big Ten and SEC making the most headlines. Thus far, the ACC has not been able to lure anybody in the latest round of conference realignment.

If anybody were to join, Cal and Stanford are likely the two favorites at the moment. However, as Thamel laid out, there is nothing more than due diligence being done at the moment.