Report: Oregon State, WSU Expected to Join MWC If Cal, Stanford Go from Pac-12 to ACC

The fate of the remaining four members of the Pac-12 could depend on if Cal and Stanford are accepted by the ACC.

If Cal and Stanford join the ACC, there is “widespread expectation” that Oregon State and Washington will move to the Mountain West Conference, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura reported.

If that does not work out, the American Athletic Conference would additionally be “willing to consider adding all four” as members, Bonagura wrote.

Bonagura’s report comes after the day the Mountain West announced its board of directors had met Monday night to discuss “all opportunities to strengthen the league, including through the addition of new member schools.”

ACC presidents also met to discuss Cal and Stanford’s potential membership Wednesday night. The presidents decided not to vote after the discussion “hit significant roadblocks,” according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Andrea Adelson.

Of the 15 member schools, 12 presidents must approve the addition of the schools for them to gain membership.

The ACC presidents are anticipated to meet “in the near future” for further discussions, Thamel and Adelson reported. Those talks will likely revolve around how the additions of Cal and Stanford could impact the conference’s finances, given the increasing revenue gap between the ACC and the Big Ten and SEC.

Cal and Stanford might not be the answer to closing that gap, but they will hope the ACC decides to accept their membership nonetheless. The two schools are looking for a new conference home and media deal after the Pac-12’s abrupt collapse last Friday, when Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah announced their departures following the reported collapse of the conference’s proposed streaming deal with Apple TV.