Ryan McGee examines ACC football closely and crunches numbers to determine if any team can challenge the mighty Clemson Tigres. (2:47).
Multiple sources have indicated that the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 will announce an alliance within the next seven to ten days. However, the details of the agreement are still in flux.
The college sports landscape has seen seismic changes, including the name, image, and likeness (NIL), playoff growth, a Supreme Court ruling opening the door for antitrust litigation against NCAA and its members, and the addition of Texas to the SEC -- which have created a desire between the three leagues to find philosophical consensus to chart a way forward.
"Is it about philosophy, governance, or scheduling?" One athletic director asked. "It could be all those things."
The Athletic first reported the news of the announcement.
The Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 began to explore options for countermoves after Texas and Oklahoma declared their intention to move to SEC. An "alliance committee" was formed that included several athletic directors from each league and the three commissioners to decide if an alliance would be a good option. Multiple administrators who have direct knowledge of the talks say that members of these subcommittees will hold a telephone call to decide the language for a formal announcement.
According to one AD, the scope of the alliance is still unclear. Although initial discussions included all sports, recent discussions have centered on football and men's/women's basketball. Although a partnership with nonconferences could create lucrative TV opportunities for schools, there might not be agreement between all schools about how to do that. Currently, the ACC hosts eight league football games while the Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big Ten each host nine. Several ACC schools also have annual rivalries with SEC schools. One ACC athletic director stated that "no one is ripping up future scheduling agreements yet."
This alliance is also an opportunity for Kevin Warren, Big Ten's commissioner, who has been in the job for less than two years. The ACC's Jim Phillips, Pac-12's George Kliavkoff were both hired this spring to steal some political clout from the established SEC.
The expansion of the College Football Playoff is the most pressing concern. The proposed 12-team expansion was designed by a working group that included the SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Bob Bowlsby, Big 12 commissioner and Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson. However, sources claim that members of the Pac-12, Big Ten and Big Ten expressed concerns about the expansion and preferred a six- to eight-team model. The 12-team model was also criticised by Mack Brown of North Carolina and Dabo Swinney from Clemson, two of the most influential coaches in the ACC. The backlash grew when the SEC flirted with Oklahoma and Texas. Kliavkoff expressed his opinion that the leagues would be most benefit if they waited until 2025, when the TV rights for the playoffs can go on the market.
