The ACC will be divided up by the Big 10 and SEC with a couple of schools left out in the cold.

From an academic perspective, I don't see Cal or Stanford liking to be affiliated with the likes of SDSU, Boise St., Fresno St. either.

They have to pray they get a B1G invite or I think they'll go independent.

I will agree with you that WSU and OSU are out of luck.

I do not agree with your assessment of that Big 10 wants Cal and Stanford. If they really did want them when they got USC/UCLA at the time, they would have done so at the time.

Cal and Stanford bring little to zero value on athletics and viewership. Not to mention, I just cannot see them getting an invite simply because I don’t see how they can increase the per school number or even keep it where it is, the B1G pie.

Edited to add: The B1G would most likely prefer Oregon and/or Washington as they have better value/offer if they had to choose between the 4 of Cal, Stanford, Washington, and Oregon.

You think the SEC would welcome GT back?

Stanford won the Directors Cup this year. They have a really good athletic department, though it seems like they're break-even or slightly in the red currently. They aren't great in MBB and football currently (were recently with Harbaugh and Shaw up until a few seasons ago).

Cal is a mess but they have the academic prestige and are part of the UC system, which UCLA is subsidizing up to $10 million a year for Cal's athletics for the foreseeable future.

Adding Stanford and Cal brings in the SF TV market as well as their academics. Personally, if I were the B1G I'd go after Stanford to entice ND to join.
Money talks.

Stanford is a great carrot to attract Notre Dame.

Of course, if the Big 10 wasn't a cesspool of anti-Catholicism in the 1920s, the Irish would have joined. Notre Dame was begging for an invitation and the commissioner wanted them. But the schools and coaches didn't.

Gotta love CFB history!

The bolded part, I can see that, but the odds of that is very low for Stanford. We will just have to disagree on that Cal and Stanford, and just have to wait and see what happens at this point.

There's still more dominoes to fall as the Big 12 wouldn't just take Colorado without considering another to make it back to 14 when OU and Texas leaves in 2024. I still believe it will be Arizona, U-Conn, and Colorado as I mentioned, I just don't know the 4th one.

I don't think Stanford can absorb the potential rise in operating expenses, if they do go independent, long-term unless they limit themselves to only playing exclusively west.

Joining the B1G allows them to still play UCLA and USC while having more league revenue and being affiliated with universities held in higher academic regard.

Also allows the B1G to have another market for later games.

I agree with regard to the B12 that they probably aren't done yet and even with those 4, I'm not sure they're done for the next few years. Could see them adding USF to get further into FL (they're also building an on-campus football stadium and are natural rivals with UCF) as well as Memphis. Aside from that, it's slim pickings from the American unless you want to add someone like Tulane, SMU, or Temple.

If the Big 12 can't lure any more Pac 12 teams, I would go with Memphis.

SMU isn't happening (TCU and Houston and Texas Tech would block it). Temple is a dead end. Tulane is intriguing (man, they regret leaving the SEC) but beware of one year wonders. USF is all potential which rarely pans out.

I agree with regard to Memphis. Tulane and SMU don't offer really any upside. Temple brings you to Philly, but that's it.

UCF has the potential to be a juggernaut given where its recruiting base is, its investment in facilities, its large alumni base, and its move to Power 5 which is coming after its success in football.

USF has the same benefits and possibilities as UCF except it is years behind in facilities and success.

In 15 to 20 years, we will all be here talking about the breakup of the super conferences.

Miami is AAU now and would prefer the Big 10.

Colorado isn’t the only school jumping. But if they do end up with an odd number from the PAC, UCONN is the backup option to even the numbers.

Yeah, Stanford's biggest appeal is that it's a good throw in with Notre Dame

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: The Big 12’s presidents and chancellors voted unanimously Wednesday night on a conference call to accept Colorado as a new member. Colorado still has not formally applied for Big 12 membership, which is expected to happen tomorrow.</p>&mdash; Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1684398441907064832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>