Stanford and California Leaving Pac-12 Conference to Join ACC in 2024

Conference realignment strikes again as the Pac-12 loses two more schools in Stanford and Cal.

First it was USC and UCLA. Then it was Colorado. Then came rivals Oregon and Washington. Then it was the remainder three remaining four corner schools in Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.

Now, conference realignment has made its way to the Pac-12 schools in the Bay Area.

On Friday morning, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the ACC had voted to extend invitations to Stanford, Cal and SMU. All three schools have since accepted invitations to join the conference in August 2024.

Our @ESPN story on the ACC voting this morning to invite Cal, Stanford and SMU, per ESPN sources. Commissioner Jim Phillips lands the plane on a move for the ACC that pushes it to 18 programs and drives hundreds of millions in revenue to the league. https://t.co/QYRHmtjGef

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 1, 2023

Adding the three schools was not a unanimous decision however, as only 12 of 15 schools voted in favor of expansion. UNC, Florida State and Clemson were all reportedly against expansion amid rumors that they could potentially be looking to leave the conference. 

Further reporting on Friday by Brett McMurphy of the Action Network revealed that SMU won't receive any media rights revenue for the first seven years the Mustangs are in the ACC, while the Cardinal and Golden Bears will receive reduced revenue shares.

With Stanford and Cal's decisions to head head east, the Pac-12 conference now stands at just two schools for 2024. 

The Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars are the last teams standing and their options to remain afloat in the future only continue to dwindle. It now looks like they'll either have to join the Mountain West, or hope for the Pac-12 to pull out all the stops and add schools from the Mountain West.