[SkiBum80]

It’s wishful thinking that the Pac-12 refugees could lift the Mountain West. In the last FOUR YEARS, the only top 25 Sagarin team from this hypothetical merger is 2022 Oregon State. This conference would be as minor as it gets.

Yep.  Tulane and Oregon State are the only teams in the preseason Coaches Poll that didn’t make the 2024 Power Four cut.  

It is either one of those conferences or irrelevancy for the Cardinal.

I agree. For football team the relevancy is crucial. 
UW President hit this on the head in interview discussing why bolting to B1G.
Said her football players deserved "visibility".
I believe trying to go Independent or teaming up with MWC teams would be a hard sell to current and future recruits on the visibility of the Stanford football program.
Given all options and their pluses and minuses, much as it might seem illogical at first, I think joining ACC (if possible) is best move from here.
I also think the posts rationalizing the reduction in priority or even elimination of Stanford football are misguided.
It has long been in Stanford's DNA to compete as strongly as possible in football.
Not always impressively effectively so, but sometimes miraculously well so, and never giving up so.
The seemingly well reasoned persuasions that minimize the importance of Stanford football still seem to overlook it's support contribution towards non revenue sports.
And those arguments, while at first sounding sensible, have a bitter aftertaste remindful of a petulant child not doing well in the game and so saying I"m taking my football and going home (to sulk).
I am hoping the true Stanford tradition is more of the Man in the Arena mentality.

[SkiBum80]

It’s wishful thinking that the Pac-12 refugees could lift the Mountain West. In the last FOUR YEARS, the only top 25 Sagarin team from this hypothetical merger is 2022 Oregon State. This conference would be as minor as it gets.

Yep.  Tulane and Oregon State are the only teams in the preseason Coaches Poll that didn’t make the 2024 Power Four cut.  

It is either one of those conferences or irrelevancy for the Cardinal.

I agree. For football team the relevancy is crucial. 
UW President hit this on the head in interview discussing why bolting to B1G.
Said her football players deserved "visibility".
I believe trying to go Independent or teaming up with MWC teams would be a hard sell to current and future recruits on the visibility of the Stanford football program.
Given all options and their pluses and minuses, much as it might seem illogical at first, I think joining ACC (if possible) is best move from here.
I also think the posts rationalizing the reduction in priority or even elimination of Stanford football are misguided.
It has long been in Stanford's DNA to compete as strongly as possible in football.
Not always impressively effectively so, but sometimes miraculously well so, and never giving up so.
The seemingly well reasoned persuasions that minimize the importance of Stanford football still seem to overlook it's support contribution towards non revenue sports.
And those arguments, while at first sounding sensible, have a bitter aftertaste remindful of a petulant child not doing well in the game and so saying I"m taking my football and going home (to sulk).
I am hoping the true Stanford tradition is more of the Man in the Arena mentality.