What Would a Pac-12/Big 12/ACC Super-Merger Look Like?

Would Cal even be included in a huge conference made up of three Power Five conferences?

Previously we hypothesized what a Pac-12/Big 12 merger might look like, and there are reports that might happen. But some reports indicate the Pac-12 might be thinking even bigger, which may be a requirement when competing with the Big Ten and SEC for television money.

Could the Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC merge their most attractive schools into a super conference that could compete with the Big Ten and SEC for TV rights? You would have to believe it has crossed the minds of officials in those three conferences.

There is also the possibility of the Pac-12 merging with the ACC and leaving the Big 12 out of the picture, but we will explore that option on another day. For now we're looking at the Pac-12/Big 12/ACC trifecta merger.

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic makes a suggestion:

Wild thought: Why would remaining Pac-12-ers choose between raiding Big 12 or ACC? Why not try to merge top from each conference for a super-conf?

Clemson, Fla St, NC, Duke, Oregon, Wash, Stanford, Cal, AZ schools, OK State, Kansas...

And do anything to get Notre Dame. https://t.co/xEbX0faLyK

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) July 5, 2022

And Pete Thamel of ESPN offers a wide-ranging report on the situation facing the Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC, and what each could do.

Here is an excerpt from that story regarding the Pac-12.

Clearly, this league [the Pac-12] is the most vulnerable going forward. There isn't a strong appetite among the remaining 10 members to add a few Mountain West schools like San Diego State or Boise State or the WCC's Gonzaga in basketball and soldier on.

They want to think bigger, but the loss of USC and UCLA has meant a loss of leverage. Perhaps the most nerve-wracking thing for Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff is that any school can leave without penalty after 2023. Just like USC and UCLA did. So it's hard to poach when the contract leaves you vulnerable to being poached.

And later comes this projection . . .

For Kliavkoff to save the league, he needs to be aggressive and creative in some type of merger, as his league is wounded, and the timing of the television contract leaves them exposed.

Always remember that Fox and ESPN will play a major role in determining whether any conference merger can be finalized, and the Pac-12 has already begun those media negotiations.

OK, so let’s project how a super-merger of the Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC might look, given the fact that all 36 schools might not be included. 

Format Option No. 1 – Two eight-team divisions.

This would mirror the Big Ten and SEC membership totals as of 2024, but would eliminate more than half the schools from the Pac-12, Big 12 and ACC. Cal could be one of the schools eliminated in this scenario. Washington and Oregon would definitely be included, and Washington State and Oregon State would likely be dismissed. That would leave the other Pac-12 schools -- Cal, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah and Colorado – in the limbo zone. 

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News has a pessimistic view of Cal's football future, so the Golden Bears need to look for solutions like this.

Although football would be the driving force, basketball would get some consideration. For our purposes, we will assume Cal and Stanford would make the cut, but that is not a certainty.

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Washington

Oregon

Arizona

Arizona State

BYU

TCU

.

East Division

Clemson

Florida State

Miami

Duke

North Carolina

Kansas

Cincinnati

Oklahoma State

In football, each team would play its seven division opponents, two rotating opponents from the other division and three nonconference games. The two division winners would play for the conference title.

This format did not include Utah, Colorado, Louisville, Boston College, Houston, Baylor, Texas Tech, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia, among others, and any of them might be included instead of Cal and Stanford.  That's why the following formats may be more appealing.

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Format Option No. 2 – Three seven-team divisions

This would add five teams.

West Division

Cal

Stanford

Washington

Oregon

Arizona

Arizona State

TCU

.

Midwest Division

Utah

BYU

Kansas

Oklahoma State

Texas Tech

Houston

Louisville

.

East Division

Clemson

Cincinnati

Florida State

Miami

Duke

North Carolina

Virginia

Teams would play six football games within the division, three against teams in the other division and three nonconference games.  The two division winners with the best records would play in the title game, or the three divisions winners and the top second-place team would play semifinal games, with winners facing off in the title game (assuming an extra game could be approved).

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Format Option No. 3 – Four six-team divisions

Pacific Division

Cal

Stanford

Washington

Oregon

Arizona

Arizona State

.

Mountain Division

Utah

BYU

Baylor

TCU

Texas Tech

Houston

.

Midwest Division

Kansas

Louisville

Iowa State

Oklahoma State

Cincinnati

Virginia

.

East Division

Clemson

Duke

North Carolina

Florida State

Miami

Syracuse

Teams would play each of their five division opponents, four rotating opponents from other divisions and three nonconference games. The two division winners with the highest CFP ranking (or whatever the ranking system is at the time) would play for the conference title, or the four division winners would play semifinal games, with those winners facing off in the conference title game.

This model would have seven teams from the Pac-12, nine from the Big 12 and eight from the ACC, but some prime sports schools would still be left out.

Twenty-four teams would be a logistical challenge that might be untenable, but it might take something creative like that to get a lucrative TV deal.

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Cover photo by Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

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