Grace O'Donnell
The main two targets for the Pac-12 would likely be Stanford and California, as they are former conference members with success across several sports as the teams combined for 29 total Pac-12 championships.
With the continuous realignment of conferences across college sports, the current situation of rebuilding the Pac-12 could cause significant changes to the ACC. The Pac-12 was most affected by conference realignment over the past few years, losing 10 of its 12 members. This left the remaining Oregon State and Washington State members scrambling to find opponents for its 2024-2025 sports seasons.
Despite all of the adversity that the Pac-12 has faced in recent years, the conference has been making waves in recent months, adding several new teams. The conference recently announced the acquisitions of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State and Utah State. This creates an eight-team conference for sports except for football, as Gonzaga does not have a football team.
Rumors have been circulating that the Pac-12 is interested in many high-profile Group of Five teams, including Memphis, Tulane and Northern Illinois. Some FCS teams, such as North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Idaho, could potentially join the conference as well. Although many teams no longer look as likely to be joining the conference, there could be several ACC teams that the Pac-12 may be interested in acquiring.
The main two targets for the Pac-12 would likely be Stanford and California, as they are former conference members with success across several sports. The two teams combined for 29 total Pac-12 championships in their time in the conference.
Stanford and California are prime locations for Pac-12 teams, and returning to the conference might not be far-fetched. With the conference known as the Pacific-12 Conference, these two Pacific Coast schools could want to return to a schedule that would create fewer travel issues than the current one. The teams travel across the country for most ACC competitions and would have to do this for each sport, which might not be financially feasible for sports that make less money.
Although there is no direct indication that these ACC teams would join the Pac-12, there is always speculation in college sports. Whether it is for location or money, fans should not be surprised if the Pac-12 comes calling to ACC teams that might want a change of pace.