AP Photo/Barry Reeger
According to Max Olson, The Athletic, the Pac-12, ACC, and Big Ten are in "high-level talks" about forming an alliance among the three conferences.
According to sources within the three conferences, "Talks have focused not only on a scheduling alliance for football but also in broader cooperation." For several weeks, George Kliavkoff (pac-12 commissioner), Kevin Warren (Big Ten commissioner) and Jim Phillips (ACC commissioner) have been in contact."
The Athletic pointed out that it is unclear how scheduling would work among the three conferences. However, the goal is to be on the same page and vote for key concerns such as College Football Playoff expansion or any "NCAA governance reforms," according Olson.
Olson's report comes amid reports that the SEC is expanding by adding Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma, Texas and Texas to its ranks.
Olson was told by one of the SEC's athletic directors that this is their chance to win.
According to Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic, The Big 12 is not involved in these discussions. The Big 12 currently has a 10 team league, but Oklahoma and Texas are expected to leave in 2025.
Stewart Mandel, of The Athletic, tweeted that the report was "not good news for the Big 12" as the conference will likely have to continue without these two powerful schools.
Matt Fortuna, of The Athletic, explained why the Pac-12 and ACC would follow this path.
"The NCAA has announced the creation of a constitution commission in the hope of expediting the development of a governance model. In terms of voting power, it is here where an alliance between the ACC and Big Ten would show that three conferences have power41 votes to 16 votes for the expanded SEC.
When The Athletic asked George Kliavkoff, Pac-12 commissioner, for his comments, he replied the following:
"I have been in regular and frequent contact with all the other A5 commissioners over the past few weeks regarding the complex issues facing the industry." He also stated that there was "nothing to be reported on this particular matter at the moment."
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg confirmed that the Athletic report was true, writing that the conferences had engaged in preliminary talks regarding an alliance. These talks were likely to be centered around scheduling.
Rittenberg noted that there is "plenty of work to do" at conferences, but many meetings have taken place in person in the past few days.
