When Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12, the PAC had the opportunity to poach from the Big 12. And if they'd taken Kansas St, Oklahoma St, Kansas, and Texas Tech (or similar) at that time, then the Big 12 wouldn't exist today and the PAC would. Instead, the PAC waited, lost their top teams, mismanaged their contract and had teams poached by the B1G, Big 12, and ACC.

Now everyone, including the ACC, knows the ACC will be losing Clemson, Florida St, North Carolina and potentially more. So they can wait, lose teams to the B1G and SEC and have most of the rest poached by the Big 12.... Or they can try to be proactive

It's a long shot, but of course they're going to try to see what Big 12 programs they can get. They already grabbed some PAC teams planning for the eventual loss of their top programs and would have grabbed more if the Big 12 didn't.

Right now, they can at least offer a few marquee brands (Clemson, Florida St, Notre Dame, UNC). It's not stable... But they can try to sell the upside (and the money. So if they are trying to sway Big 12 teams away, who are going to be the top targets?

Those with a stronger geographical connection to the ACC (West Virginia, Cincy, UCF) and those with less loyalty to the Big 12 (the 8 new schools, especially the 4 who haven't played a XII season yet and especially Utah who doesn't seem happy).

It'd be absurd to imagine the ACC hasn't reached out to various schools to gauge interest in what happens now (or after the Big 12 and ACC come to direct competition).

And Utah is absolutely mercenary (whether that's good or bad probably depends on your fanhood). They loudly and repeatedly proclaimed their loyalty to the PAC....but they did so knowing they had an invite to the Big 12 if needed. And when the PAC finally fell apart, it was a quick move to go where they'd already figured things out.

I'd guess Utah is doing the same thing now. They have no loyalty to the Big 12. If the ACC ends up taking from the Big 12 (unlikely but possible), Utah wants to make sure they're in that group. So they're talking in back channels. But as things currently stand, there's no reason for Utah to go or to lead the exodus