Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman debate how Pac-12 revival could impact ACC, future conference realignment

Major news hit the college sports landscape on Thursday morning when the Pac-12 Conference formally announced that they’d be adding Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Colorado State from the Mountain West. Joining Washington State and Oregon State in the league following the official departure of 10 member schools from the Pac-12 this year.

Texas and Oklahoma announcing their departure from the Big 12 to join the SEC in the summer of 2021 served as the first domino of several to fall ahead of the most recent nationwide conference realignment. And with that in mind, On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman recently opened up about how the ACC could be the next league to watch following the Pac-12’s recent announcement.

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“So is something gonna happen in the ACC?” Staples asked. “Because Cal and Stanford are in the ACC now, and you would think they’re not leaving the ACC unless something happens. But this says maybe something happens, because we talked about Florida State and Clemson. The lawsuits are the lawsuits.”

California and Stanford both joined the ACC and this year, all the while Clemson and Florida State currently remain in litigation with the ACC regarding their Grant of Rights agreement with the conference. A major signifier that both programs potentially want to leave the conference in a move that could once again alter the college athletic landscape in a major way.

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“Clemson is suing the ACC in South Carolina, the ACC is suing Clemson in North Carolina, Florida State is suing the ACC in Florida, the ACC is suing Florida State in North Carolina. Like that has not been resolved and will not be resolved for a little bit,” Staples explained. “But let’s say it gets resolved in a way where Clemson and Florida State can buy their way out. You’re Cal and Stanford, you’d be like, ‘Hey look, there’s this other place where we still have the patches for the jerseys and we don’t have to fly to Boston and Pittsburgh.'”

A return to the Pac-12 would definitely make sense for Cal and Stanford geographically. But it’s no secret that all conference realignment changes are more so financially motivated. With a potential exit of Florida State and Clemson from the conference definitely serving as a potential fiscal reset for the ACC that could include other moves between programs and conferences.

“It is interesting, because the thing about realignment is that you’re always taking the latest round or news and trying to extrapolate what that means for the next round, because it never ends,” Wasserman said. “It is interesting because you can kind of look into the future Andy and see, well, what is the ACC going to look like in five years, if it even exists, right?”

“Because there’s, like you said, legal battles and all that stuff,” Wasserman added. “But it does make sense, and it would be kind of great, if the Pac-12 was able to reinstall some geographical relevance to this whole thing. So I do think that they would make sense culturally in that conference, obviously, and it would be cool to bring some West Coast football back.”

The Pac-12’s four new additions still put the conference two teams short of the eight-team limit required to maintain its status as an FBS conference. A deadline they have to reach by July 2026 which sets the stage for a fascinating next round of realignment that could potentially involve the ACC and others.