Amid Big-12 expansion, ACC poaching rumors intensify as Pac-12 future hangs by a thread: Reports

The Pac-12 future may be in jeopardy as the ACC poaching could affect them. With reports that the Florida State Seminoles want to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips opened up on the conference's current mindset.

Speaking to ESPN on Thursday, Phillips talked about adding teams to the conference and monitoring the Pac-12's situation as potential additions to the ACC.

"The ACC has been and remains highly engaged in looking at anything that makes us a better and stronger conference.

"We've spent considerable time on expansion to see if there is anything that fits. We have a tremendous group of institutions but if there was something that made us better, we would absolutely be open to it." h/t The Spun

With the Pac-12 seemingly struggling to stay alive and fend off other conferences picking off their universities like vultures, things look bleak. It's not just the Big 12 as we now know that the ACC poaching of programs could be in effect.

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What does the ACC poaching mean for future of Pac-12?

The ACC poaching shows us one integral thing: they are not going to wind up like the Pac-12.

The ACC has some issues, as the Florida State Seminoles might be looking elsewhere. However, with some Pac-12 influx in the conference, that showcases that the ACC poaching is going from coast to coast.

The ACC consists of universities as their name states, located on the Atlantic coast. However, with the Southeastern and Big Ten Conferences expanding outside their geographical locations, it seems to be the future of college football and creating potential superconferences.

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What program would the ACC look for in terms of expansion?

According to ESPN's David Hale, there are a few programs from multiple conferences that the ACC could target. Hale mentioned Oregon, West Virginia, SMU and Washington as potential targets and whatever the conference decides to target tells us what their plans are.

Amidst the ongoing ACC poaching, they're trying to keep up but lag too far behind the SEC and Big Ten. The Big 12 continues to grow as well. and they want to stay competitive with those rival conferences.

ACC football has some incredible programs and adding some more, whether it be from the Atlantic coast or otherwise, could be great. However, with the direction of the sport, expect to see Oregon as a potential number-one target.

Expanding to both coasts would help in terms of national attention and make things incredible for the conference. Remember that they are the last non-SEC conference to win a national championship.