One analyst believes the Pac-12 and ACC could solve each other's problems

The conference realignment and expansion saga that has been an ongoing event for the past year or so is looking like it won't have a happy ending for everyone involved.

Both the Pac-12 who have already lost three programs and the ACC who may be on track to lose a couple of their own find themselves in desperation. The Pac-12 is looking to put together a deal, which they presented on Tuesday to the remaining nine teams on Tuesday. It was heavily centered around Apple streaming and as many expected, the meeting ended without the remaining nine schools agreeing on a deal.

On the opposite side of the United States, the ACC is currently locked in a media rights deal through 2036 with ESPN and while they did recently announce a partnership with CW there are still unhappy campers. Something that The Athletic's Stewart Mandel discussed when asked why the two conferences don't just get ahead of the trend of college football, and forma super conference.

Although a conference that spans from the Pacific Northwest to South Florida makes no sense geographically, it may be the best option either side has going for it. Note that ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said at conference media days they’ve “spent considerable time on expansion to see if there is anything that fits.” Also note there are no obvious value-add expansion candidates available in the eastern half of the country. A Memphis or USF would not move the needle.

Mandel compared the situations of Oregon and Washington to that of Miami, Clemson, and Florida State who are all programs that want to legitimately compete for the title, but won't be bringing in the bucks like Big Ten or SEC programs. He continued saying that while adding the major remaining markets in the Pac-12 wont catch them up to the Big Ten or SEC it would net a nice profit.

Although ESPN is under no obligation to make the ACC richer if it adds more members, the West Coast schools could help boost one particular revenue stream: the ACC Network. Upgrading from nominal out-of-market subscriber fees to considerable in-market fees in major markets like the Bay Area (No. 10 in Nielsen market size), Seattle (No. 12) and Portland (No. 22) could generate significantly more revenue. Not enough to match the Big Ten/SEC, but enough to close the gap in a meaningful way.

While Mandel acknowledged it was unlikely that this 23-team super conference would actually come to fruition, we have learned to expect the unexpected in college football these days.