As the Pac-12 Conference fell apart in summer 2023, a lifeline came for San Francisco Bay Area institutions Cal and Stanford from an unlikely destination: the Atlantic Coast Conference. On Tuesday, the Golden Bears and Cardinal football programs received formal introductions to their cross-country conference mates during ACC media days in Charlotte, N.C.
Cal coach Justin Wilcox was asked about his team's "wild" schedule, in which the Golden Bears will travel to Auburn in Week 2 before flying 2,200-plus miles to Tallahassee just two weeks later to take on Florida State in ACC play. "If you would have asked me two or three years ago, I probably wouldn't have thought that," said Wilcox, entering his eighth season at the helm. Wilcox's statement could be classified as the biggest understatement of college football's media-day season.
But it also underscores the dramatic changes to the sport in less than 12 months -- changes that may well be still ongoing. Court rooms and TV network board rooms have perhaps overshadowed action on the football field. Both Cal's Wilcox and Stanford head coach Troy Taylor turned their attention Tuesday away from the peculiarity of sharing a conference with counterparts three time zones to the East, instead touting the league's level of play.
"We're just excited and really grateful to be in this conference, to play against great teams," said Taylor, entering his second year leading the Cardinal. "..
. To be in the ACC, to be here with y'all, it's an im.