The Mountain West Is Waiting for the ACC To Make Expansion Decisions

In the current round of realignment, the Mountain West is dealing from a position of strength.

On Wednesday, the conference confirmed that it’s considering expansion, and that commissioner Gloria Nevarez and New Mexico president Garnett Stokes will lead the conversation. 

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The conference has done due diligence on a plethora of options, but it isn’t making any snap decisions — it will wait for the ACC to move first.

“I do think — and I don’t know the details — but the ACC is in deliberation right now,” Nevarez told Front Office Sports on Wednesday. “And I think that needs to happen first before anything would get serious with us.”

The current realignment conversations are all part of the aftermath of last week’s seismic shift in realignment that all but killed the Pac-12.

Reports have suggested the ACC is seriously considering whether to add Cal and Stanford, as well as SMU. Washington State and Oregon State will also be looking for a home, but it’s unclear about the level of interest — if any — that ACC schools may have in those programs.

The ACC may not make a decision by the end of the week, according to ESPN. 

Last Friday morning, the conference was unable to finalize a media rights contract with Apple. By the end of the day, the Big 12 announced it would take Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona one week after securing the return of Colorado. The Big Ten has added Washington and Oregon. That left just Oregon State, Washington State, Cal, and Stanford on the table. 

“The [Pac-12] implosion absolutely rocked my world,” Nevarez, a previous Pac-12 employee and graduate of Cal law school, said. 

But now, she’s looking forward. “Nothing is off the table.”