Stanford and Cal officially say goodbye to the Pac-12 and hello to the ACC
On July 1st, 2024, Stanford and Cal were officially welcomed into the ACC as the newest members of the conference along with SMU. While they won’t officially be members of the league until August 2nd, the conference decided to get a jump on officially welcoming them as football media days will be happening later this month.
READ: ACC officially welcomes Cal, SMU, and Stanford to the League
While we have known for several months that this day was coming, it’s still feels surreal. Especially now that if you search for Pac-12 Networks on Xfinity, you’ll get the following error:
This channel is no longer available. Effective June 20, 2024, the Pac-12 Networks have ceased operations.
-Xfinity
As one who has fond memories going to Pac-12 Networks headquarters for basketball media days, it is sad to see the conference fall apart like it did. The incompetent leadership of Larry Scott and his goofy successor George Kliavkoff dug the Pac-12 its grave. It didn’t have to go this way and yet here we are.
Part of me wishes this were like The Muppets Take Manhattan in which everyone in the conference goes their separate ways only for a time and that in the future they will be “Together Again.” Sadly, I believe the song “Saying Goodbye” is permanent in the case of the Pac-12 and that the only Manhattan any former Pac-12 team will be going to will be in the state of Kansas.
Fortunately for Stanford and Cal, they will not be among the former Pac-12 teams making regular trips to Manhattan as their future now lies beyond the yellow brick road in the ACC. A conference with a lot more schools that line up with their academic pedigree. E.g. Duke, North Carolina, Boston College, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and Virginia.
While the travel is not going to be easy, having looked at the various schedules for football, soccer, and volleyball (more on those in separate articles), it does look like it will be manageable. Especially for football with the double bye weeks. Stanford and Cal will form new rivalries in the ACC all while maintaining their rivalry together. It’s not the way Stanford and Cal wanted this to go, but it sure beats slogging it out as an independent or members of the Mountain West.
Looking ahead to the future, it is nice to know that Stanford and Cal will continue playing for the Stanford Axe every year. Even if it is as members of the ACC. There’s so much tradition with Big Game and the two schools facing each other in a variety of sports. It’ll be fun to see what new chapters of the rivalry will be written as they embark on this new ACC adventure together.
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