The Pac-12 is looking to fend off other leagues from poaching its remaining members, looking into options for expanding its own league to counter the future departures of USC and UCLA, and looking to start formal negotiations for its next media rights deal. Quite a bit is going on. And it seems no stone is being left unturned as commissioner George Kliavkoff and the Pac-12 CEO Group try to stabilize the conference.

According to Pac-12 insider John Canzano, one of those options could be a “loose partnership” with the ACC or the Big 12.

From Canzano’s reporting:

What would a “loose partnership” with the ACC look like? It could include a shared media rights deal with ESPN, who currently works with both entities. Also, it could result in the 10 remaining Pac-12 teams sticking together and the winner of that “10-team division” playing in an ACC vs. Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas at the end of the season. Also, there could be some attractive regular-season crossover games between the entities in football and men’s basketball.

Per Canzano, Oregon and Nike co-founder Phil Knight would like to join the SEC or the Big Ten. More than anything, Canzano writes, Knight doesn’t want the Ducks to be left out when the dust settles on this period of conference shuffling.

A report from CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd on Tuesday suggested the Big 12 was targeting the ‘four corners’ in the Pac-12—the Arizona schools, Utah, and Colorado—as well as Oregon and Washington in a bid to push that league to 18 members. Dodd also reported that a merger between the Pac-12 and the Big 12 remains a possibility.

Since, three of those four aforementioned teams have come out with various statements of support for the Pac-12. Utah told The Salt Lake Tribune’s Josh Newman the report was blatantly false. Arizona State and Colorado both released statements saying they remain committed to the Pac-12.

A merger of sorts between the Pac-12 and another league has been tossed around often since news broke last week about the L.A. defections. We discussed that possibility, among others, here.