In the wake of Oregon and Washington leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 10, the future of the Pac-12 is dark. Utah, Arizona and Arizona State are all headed to the Big 12, leaving only Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford in the Pac-12. One option for the Pac-12 is merging with the ACC.

There are three possible outcomes following the expiration of the Pac-12's current media rights contract next summer. The Pac-12 could disintegrate entirely, it could try to poach a minimum of five schools from other conferences, or it could merge with another conference. While a merger with the Mountain West Conference is more realistic, it's worth breaking down the dynamics at play in the ACC.

Firstly, the remaining four Pac-12 schools would strongly prefer a move to the ACC over the Mountain West. The ACC's current media rights contract runs through 2036, and the league's member schools each receive significantly larger payouts than Mountain West schools receive from the MWC's contract that expires in 2026.

While it's much better than the Mountain West's, the ACC's contract is considered an unfavorable one. Its length prohibits flexibility in the ever-changing landscape of the college athletics, and by 2036, it probably will undervalue the ACC as a whole. The Big 10 and SEC member schools also receive far greater payouts:

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The major concern in the ACC is that the Big 10 and SEC are overshadowing it. They continue to add big-brand programs that are also highly competitive at the top level of college football. Next year, the SEC welcomes Oklahoma and Texas, two of the biggest football programs in the country. The Big 10, of course, is adding USC and UCLA in addition to Oregon and Washington.

Thus, the ACC could benefit from such a merger from a financial perspective, particularly if Stanford football undergoes a successful rebuild in the near future. Stanford and Cal are relatively big programs and brands, so the West Coast market would provide a nice boost to the revenue generated by the ACC.

Logistically speaking, the remaining Pac-12 schools playing an ACC schedule would be pretty brutal. These four football teams would be flying coast-to-coast every other weekend, and for other sports, the constant travel could be even worse. Geographical sense is long gone in college sports, however.

For the Pac-12, a merger with the ACC is by far the best case scenario. For the ACC, it's an interesting idea that could have some long-term benefits.