Cal Sports Report

ACC May Consider Inviting Cal, Stanford

ACC representatives are talking over that possibility, and Cal and  Stanford apparently are interested. A Tuesday morning update
Jake Curtis|
ACC May Consider Inviting Cal, Stanford
ACC May Consider Inviting Cal, Stanford

Could you imagine Cal playing a conference basketball game at Duke's Cameron Arena, or a conference football game at Clemson's Memorial Stadium.

It's far from becoming reality, but a Monday report by ESPN's Pete Thamel suggests it's more than just idle talk. According a Monday tweet by Thamel the Atlantic Coast Conference athletic directors and college presidents are expected to be engaged in calls in which the possible additions of Stanford and Cal to the conference will be discussed.

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A Tuesday morning update:

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And Cal and Stanford have shown interest in joining the ACC, according to multiple reports.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported similar news Monday, including that Cal and Stanford have shown interest in joining the ACC:

Thamel's story on the ACC's possible interest included this excerpt:

There will be headwinds to a move for Cal and Stanford to the ACC, as sources on Monday cautioned about the complexities involved.

"It's complicated," an ACC source said. "There's a significant travel expense. I think it's going to be all over the board with both the ADs and the presidents in what they may want to do. [Cal and Stanford] would likely have to take a reduced share. Eventually, though, they're going to want to become a full share."

Finances will be pivotal in the discussions. The ACC is locked into a television deal with ESPN through 2036 that multiple members have publicly griped about being constrictive financially for long-term success. The deal projects to put schools like FSU and Clemson nearly $30 million annually behind schools in the SEC and Big Ten.

There is undoubtedly discussions between Cal officials and any number of conference officials about a possible conference landing spots for the Golden Bears now that Cal is one of just four schools (along with Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State) remaining in the Pac-12.

The Big 12 does not look like a landing spot for any of the four remaining Pac-12 schools, based on a Brett McMurphy tweet Monday:

The University of California Board of Regents is scheduled to have a meeting Tuesday, and the topic will be finding a conference home for Cal, whether that be in the Big 12, the Mountain West, the Big Ten, the ACC or a reconfigured Pac-12.

There have been unsubstantiated reports that Cal and Stanford are not interested in having the remaining four Pac-12 teams merge with the Mountain West.  However, schools have had a recent habit of changing their minds as the situation changes by the day.

A few questions remain when considering the ACC's interest in Cal and Stanford:

Are Cal and Stanford acting in unison so that one school would make the move only if the other school also makes the move? Or are Stanford and Cal working independently, willing to make a move even if it does not suit the other?

We would assume the ACC would invite both or neither.

And what about the cross-country travel that has been the criticism of the decision of the four West Coast schools (USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon) joining the Big Ten.?

It's a more significant issue for Cal and Stanford since they have so many other non-revenue sports that also would have to make cross-country trips occasionally,

Keeping all those non-revenue sports will be a priority for both Cal and Stanford, although it's difficult to envision a scenario in which at least some of them don't have to be cut.

Cover photo by Scott Taetsch, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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