Which I think has to be the fear at this point. Still not likely but it has some advantages

Consider that

• Clemson, Florida St, Oregon, Washington are all bigger brands than anything in the Big 12
• Academically/culturally the ACC may be more on board with the PAC
• The Big 12 deal is set...the PAC is in negotiations.  Which is a bad thing if it's just the PAC, but provides opportunity if it suddenly gets a massive boost because they can renegotiate NOW, not in 2031
• Part of what's holding the PAC back is supporting the lower-end teams.. but there's currently no GOR or media deal so they could leave them behind

Because the PAC isn't locked in, they could choose only the best, most valuable teams and combine them with the best of the ACC.

Something along the lines of

West

1. Oregon
2. Washington
3. Stanford
4. SDSU
5. Arizona
6. Arizona St
7. Utah
8. Colorado

East

1. Clemson
2. Florida St
3. North Carolina
4. Miami
5. Virginia Tech
6. Georgia Tech
7. NC State
8. Louisville

That conference would likely top the Big 12s deal (which is why the ACC teams would choose it instead) and position themselves as the de facto third conference.

They could even steal from the Big 12 playbook (same as they did with the more expanded in game offerings) and add Gonzaga and UConn as basketball only members in each side.

That would make the strongest conference and leave them well prepared for the future. The B1G/SEC would likely eventually pick off teams, but as long as it wasn't immediate, this conference would then take from the Big 12 or the PAC/ACC teams that didn't make the cut.

Realistically, I don't think either happens though, simply because of Clemson and Florida St are free to move, they're going to the SEC/B1G, not the Big 12 or the PAC