Just comes down to timing and money. Stanford and Cal will continue to do everything they can to join the Big 10 or ACC. Why would Memphis or SMU pay money to join them? What exactly are Memphis and SMU joining?
The Pac 12 really fudged up this whole thing. Once Colorado left, everyone started looking out for themselves - as they should. Just so happens the 4 leftovers don’t have the attributes the others did.
If the Pac 12 added Houston and SMU or any other 2-4 schools in the central time zone when USC/UCLA/TX/OU left, they would still be in business.
If I were a Memphis or SMU fan, would I really want to see my school pay big bucks to join Cal and Stanford to possibly play on Apple TV? Especially knowing those two clearly aren’t happy?