Three of college athletics’ Power Five conferences are aligning in response to the SEC’s expansion this summer, including the one to which Ohio State belongs.
The Big Ten, ACC and Pac 12 are uniting in response to the fact that the SEC will, in the next several years, be adding two of the bigger brands in college football to the conference: Texas and Oklahoma.
The leagues saw a need to make a countermove, and that was what was revealed today.
What effect the new alliance will have remains to be seen as many of the details have yet to be worked out, but here’s what we do know after a Tuesday press conference.
The commissioners of the the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten spoke.
There is no signed contract, but the commissioners of the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten Tuesday said they were announcing an alliance that represents the commitment of the leadership of all their combined 41 schools as well as their athletic departments.
The ACC’s Jim Phillips called the alliance groundbreaking. Kevin Warren of the Big Ten said he hoped bringing the three conferences together would provide stability. “There is turbulence right now in college athletics. … There is a lot of work to be done.” And the newly installed commissioner of the Pac-12, George Kliavkoff echoed this by saying their agreement would allow them to hit a reset button and deal with the current turmoil in college sports.
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The issue of academics was a huge point of emphasis
Phillips stressed seeking the right “educational outcomes.” Warren said he hoped the alliance would promote the experience of student-athletes who want to “world-class education at one of our 41 institutions.” And Kliakoff emphasized the alliance would promote “a commitment to both academic and athletic excellence.”
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The commissioners felt decisions on expanding the College Football Playoff were being rushed
All three men support expanding the College Football Playoff, but Warren said there was a concern among them that things needed to be done methodically.
There are “issues at the margins,” Kliavkoff added.
No new scheduling agreement — yet
Because they didn’t want to undermine any existing scheduling agreements, the commissioners didn’t introduce any new arrangements on that point. But Warren did say they hoped the alliance would pave the way to “epic matchups” down the road.
Nothing in writing
One subject that repeatedly came up is that today’s announcement only represents a promise, but there is nothing more binding than that.
Kliavkoff admitted as much admitting, “Today is a press release.” Then he quickly added, “But it’s also a commitment.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12 alliance aligned on schedules, college sports