And then there were 2: Stanford and California to leave Pac-12 for ACC
Fans of the Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars might be a bit frustrated waking up on Friday morning.
They are now officially the last two members of the Pac-12 standing.
It was reported by multiple outlets on Friday morning that the ACC officially voted to extend invitations to the Stanford Cardinal, California Golden Bears, and SMU Mustangs for the start of the 2024 season. This means that over the past month, eight of the 10 remaining Pac-12 teams have decided to jump ship and search for greener grass.
What comes next for the Beavers and Cougars is unclear, but a move to the Mountain West seems to be the best option, unfortunately.
On Friday morning, college football fans across the nation reacted to the news as they woke up for the day. Here are some of the best reactions that we saw:
Sources: ACC Presidents and Chancellors have voted this morning to extend invitations to Stanford, California and SMU to push the league to 18 teams.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 1, 2023
Stanford has by far the best non-football programs in college sports—they pump out Olympians and pro stars in golf, tennis, soccer, etc, lots of elite female athletes —and now most of those teams will take regular cross-country road trips bc it’s allegedly better for football
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 1, 2023
My source just told me something rather poignant that I believe we are all thinking. “Summer of 2023 was the season that college sports died”.
— MHver3 (@MHver3) September 1, 2023
Gotta respect that Stanford’s first game after joining the ACC is being played … [checks notes] … in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. pic.twitter.com/8A7y6KwM6C
— Thomas Neumann (@tnn95) September 1, 2023
Once people wake up out here, look forward to the indignation about Cal and Stanford leaving the Pac-2 behind
— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) September 1, 2023
— ☘️LegalizeQuack☘️ (@Legalize_Quack) September 1, 2023
The ACC joins the Big Ten as the only power conferences to include members on both the West and East Coasts. pic.twitter.com/JSjdLrplz7
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 1, 2023
the ACC only added SMU because they’re too cheap to pay for direct flights to California and have to connect at DFW
— actioncookbook (@actioncookbook) September 1, 2023
Nothing says ‘Atlantic Coast Conference’ like Stanford & Cal 🤦🏾♂️
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) September 1, 2023
In May, ACC official when @ActionNetworkHQ asked about expansion: “We already have too many mouths to feed. That’s not the answer.”
Four months later: ACC adds Stanford, Cal & SMU— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 1, 2023
A narrative on parts of Twitter is that Stanford and Cal got left behind because they’re woke libs that no one wants to play with. Meet the leftist collective that secured them a landing spot. pic.twitter.com/SLvGhnO9wP
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 1, 2023
A lot of weird moments in college sports over the past few years but I think Stanford/Cal to the ACC has to be the #1 “what the hell are we even doing here???” moment.
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 1, 2023
It's definitely cool and makes sense that the University of Maryland is in an athletic conference with UCLA and USC and the University of Virginia is in an athletic conference with Cal and Stanford. Can't think of any other arrangement that would make more sense than that.
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) September 1, 2023
“Yeah so Stanford and Cal are going to the ACC even though they are on the opposite coast of the Atlantic. Conference alignment has gotten wild” pic.twitter.com/90RrumM9DJ
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) September 1, 2023
It won't happen now, but today's expansion announcement all but guarantees that in five, six, 10 years, the ACC's top brands (UNC, Clemson, FSU) will leave.
And when they do? The ACC will be left with NC State, Stanford, Cal, Virginia… Good luck with that next TV deal, y'all!
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) September 1, 2023
The Pac-12 couldn't get anyone to pay them $31 million per school so it imploded. But if the ACC takes Stanford and Cal, ESPN and/or Fox will be paying around that much for 8 of the 10 anyway.
This sport makes zero sense.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 23, 2023
Remember, to try and make the ACC deal work:
• SMU was willing to accept $0 ACC media rights money for 7yrs (rely on its mega boosters)
• Cal & Stanford were willing to be partial members and start with a substantially smaller share.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 1, 2023
