It appears that Stanford is willing to do whatever it takes to remain in a prominent conference.
Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press reported that the school had informed the remaining members of the Pac-12 Conference that they had told the ACC that the University was willing to make significant sacrifices in order to move to the conference.
"Leaders from Stanford, California, Oregon State and Washington State spoke Thursday, and Stanford told its colleagues it had informed the ACC that it would be open to joining the conference at greatly reduced or even no media rights payout for several years," Russo wrote.
This comes in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference that has already seen USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington depart for the Big 10 starting in 2024, with Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado moving to the Big-12 in 2024. Currently, Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State are the only remaining members of the conference for 2024.
Geographically, a move to the ACC makes little sense. The entirety of the conference is located in the Eastern Time Zone and the westernmost team in the conference is Notre Dame, which is still more than 2,200 miles away from Stanford. Also of note, Notre Dame is not a member of the conference for football. The westernmost football program in the ACC is Louisville, which is located more than 2,000 miles away from Stanford.
Despite this, a power conference on the West Coast appears to be off of the table, as does further Big 12 expansion. This leaves the Big Ten, SEC and ACC as remaining power conferences, and the Big Ten has already expanded to 18 teams.
The ACC may not be a great fit geographically, but academically, it is a slam dunk. The conference is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA in terms of academics and No. 1 among conferences that sponsor FBS football. Stanford, which is ranked as the No. 3 University according to U.S. News & World Report, would add to that prestige and be alongside peers with similar academic goals.
While the initial vote to admit Stanford and Cal to join was one vote short of passing earlier in August, it appears that Stanford is willing to make concessions in order to change that vote. Russo did not report that Cal is involved in this concession and it is not clear if Stanford's sacrifices would be enough to flip the vote.
Stanford was right? Really? Did lendale make his statement after the investigation? Yes.
So no, Stanford was not right.
What exactly did the ncaa find in their investigation? one phone call internationally and Todd McNair's phone call. THAT is the sum total of their findings.
Anything else is outside their investigation. May be valid but wasn't the reason for the punishment and yet the other members of the pac couldn't help but pile on instead of help. Stanford got what was deserved in response. UCLA fans should be grateful to USC that it brought the bruins along for the B1G ride.
They really don't need the money. Everything they do is fully paid for and endowed. They are just fighting for relevance.
Stanford at the dollar store now. They have tons of money, you wonder why they don't just go independent. But then , can they get a media deal? Or take a hit until the B1G lets them in.
How pathetic, if true. Talk about desperation time!
home of north carolina, a chief academic fraud. hmmm.
UVA, Duke. no problem. Wake? who? After that, the acc is like any other conference.
F You Furd. Shouldve backed USC when the NCAA railroaded us.
All these schools were happy to see the King weakened. As they say, you go for the King you better not miss.