What a Merger of the Pac-12 and ACC Might Look Like

Several format options exist for a bicoastal conference that might save Cal and the remaining Pac-12 teams

Imagine Clemson coming to Cal’s Memorial Stadium for a football game, or the Golden Bears playing a basketball game at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.

With a possible Pac-12/Big 12 merger and a potential Pac-12/Big 12/ACC merger already addressed, we now look at a final possibility in this trilogy of speculative conference mergers involving the Pac-12 -- a Pac-12/ACC merger. 

After reports this week that the Pac-12 and ACC are discussing a “loose partnership” that could lead to a championship game between the two conferences'champs, the notion of a bicoastal Pac-12/ACC merger that would require tons of travel miles does not seem so outlandish. SI.com reports the Pac-12 and ACC are working on a broadcasting partnership with ESPN.

CBS Sports has confirmed the ACC and Pac-12 have discussed a ‘loose partnership' that could include 'championship game' in Las Vegas as a way to get ESPN to pay more — https://t.co/Do0GY2YbwU https://t.co/Xvy6VyQdxM

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 6, 2022

The inclusion of Notre Dame in ACC basketball but not ACC football would not doom the idea.

Here are five possible formats for how a Pac-12/ACC merger might look for football:

Format Option No. 1 – Two eight-team divisions

This would match the SEC and Big Ten in the number of teams in their conferences in 2024, but it would eliminate eight of the 24 Pac-12/ACC schools from the conference.

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Oregon

Washington

Utah

Arizona

Arizona State

Louisville

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East Division

Clemson

Duke

North Carolina

Florida State

Miami

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Syracuse

This would not be a true merger, but rather the piecing together of a new power football conference that might hold its own against the Big Ten and SEC.

It's also possible the ACC might just add two teams to its 14-member conference, perhaps Oregon and Washington.

This option puts Louisville in an odd situation, being placed in the West Division, but regional proximity is a non-factor in many conference alignments these days. The flying distance from Louisville to Tucson (1,482 miles) is not much more than the distance from Seattle to Tucson (1,218 miles). UCLA and USC will be 2,800 miles from Big Ten member Rutgers.

The bigger issue is the elimination of eight schools from this format. We can knock Washington State, Oregon State and Wake Forest out of the equation without much hesitation, but it’s difficult to leave Colorado, Georgia Tech (Atlanta TV market), Boston College (the Boston TV market) and Pittsburgh out of the mix.

In this format each football team would play the seven other division foes, two opponents from the other division and three non-conference opponents. Division winners would face each other in the conference title game.

Notre Dame would simply be the 17th team in basketball, which has no divisions.

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Format Option No. 2 – Two nine-team divisions

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Oregon

Washington

Arizona

Arizona State

Utah

Louisville

Syracuse

.

East Division

Clemson

Duke

North Carolina

Florida State

Miami

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech

Boston College

Two more schools would be included but only one game against teams from the other division could be accommodated.

Again the ACC might just keep its 14 members and add four Pac-12 teams -- perhaps Washington, Oregon, Cal and Stanford -- to create an 18-team ACC.

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Format Option No. 3 – Three seven-team divisions

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Oregon

Washington

Arizona

Arizona State

Utah

.

Mideast Division

Colorado

Louisville

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Virginia

Virginia Tech

.

Southeast Division

Clemson

Duke

Georgia Tech

North Carolina

North Carolina State

Miami

Florida State

All but three schools (Washington State, Oregon State, Wake Forest) would be accommodated. Football teams would play all six division foes, three opponents from other divisions and three nonconference games. Two division winners with the best record would face off in the conference title game. Or three division champs and the top second-place team would play semifinal games, with the winners facing off in the title game (assuming an extra game could be approved).

.

Format Option No. 4 – Three eight-team divisions

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Oregon

Washington

Arizona

Arizona State

Washington State

Oregon State

.

Mideast Division

Utah

Colorado

Louisville

Syracuse

Pittsburgh

Boston College

Virginia

Virginia Tech

.

Southeast Division

Clemson

Duke

Georgia Tech

North Carolina

North Carolina State

Wake Forest

Miami

Florida State

This format includes all 24 teams, so no school is left out and a true merger is achieved. But it becomes cumbersome and limits teams to one or two games against a foe from a different division.

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Format Option No. 5 – Four six-team divisions

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Oregon

Oregon State

Washington

Washington State

.

Mountain Division

Utah

Colorado

Arizona

Arizona State

Louisville

Pittsburgh

.

Northeast Division

Syracuse

Boston College

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Clemson

Georgia Tech

.

Southeast Division

Duke

North Carolina

North Carolina State

Wake Forest

Florida State

Miami

This format also includes all 24 football schools. It creates some regional division-name problems, but it keeps the North Carolina schools together and the Florida schools together. Teams would play five division foes, three non-division games (one game against a team from each of the three other divisions) and four nonconference games, which might include another game against a conference foe. The division winners would have a four-team playoff for the conference crown.

Issues

Having a true merger of all 24 schools as suggested in Format Options No. 4 and 5 might force some sports, such as basketball, baseball and softball, to adopt division play.

Basketball

Option No. 1: All 25 teams (including Notre Dame) would be aligned in one, no-division conference. But teams would only play each other once, which would not satisfy rivals such as Duke and North Carolina.

Option No. 2: Schools would be grouped in two divisions, allowing traditional rivals to play each other twice but not accommodating interdivision play unless they are scheduled as nonconference games. The top eight teams in each division would advance to a 16-team conference tournament, with the NCAA tournament being the ultimate goal.

Baseball, Softball

With 23 baseball schools and 21 softball schools involved in a full Pac-12/ACC merger, two divisions could be established to accommodate the three-game, weekend-series format inherent in those sports. Each team would play a series against every division foe and the top six or eight finishers from each division would compete in a 12-team or 16-team double-elimination conference tournament, with the NCAA tournament being the ultimate goal.

Any merger would require creative thinking and extensive planning, so don't expect anything to happen soon.

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Cover photo of Dabo Swinney by Ken Ruinard, staff, USA TODAY NETWORK

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