Ivy League takes hilarious jab at conference realignment

As if enough voices weren’t involved in conference realignment, the Ivy League just added its own take. Thankfully, the commentary is a splash of comedy in the storm of changes.

The more things change,
The more they stay the same. 🌿 pic.twitter.com/vJ73CWekKo

— The Ivy League (@IvyLeague) August 4, 2023

It’s not wrong. The Ivy League, as an athletic conference, was founded in 1954. The league consists of eight schools: Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania and Yale. All of the colleges except Cornell were created during the colonial period.

None have left the conference with visions of grandeur. Then again, not many outside conferences are calling, either. An Ivy league team has never won a national championship in football nor basketball. It appears theory can only take you so far.

Breaking down the conference realignments

The remains of the Pac-12 conference are a breathing example of theory put into action. After a whirlwind week, the league is down to four teams in 2024: Stanford, California, Washington State and Oregon State.

USC and UCLA began the delayed domino effect last summer when they announced the decision to join the Big Ten. While the move first seemed like an oddity, it rapidly became a pattern. On Friday, Oregon and Washington informed the Pac-12 they intend to join the Big Ten, as well.

The decision was an easy financial equation. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff proposed a media deal with Apple. That deal, which would fluctuate financially based on streamers, would start at around $20 million annually per school. The Big Ten, reportedly, offered Oregon and Washington $35-40 million annually, per school.

The Big Ten isn’t the only conference to poach from the Pac-12. Later on Friday, Utah and Arizona State applied for membership to the Big 12 Conference, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Arizona is expected to follow suit as the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees both Arizona and Arizona State have already met to discuss a potential move to the Big 12 amid conference realignment.

To add insult to injury, Colorado already was set to join the Big 12 before any of the recent movement. The landslide began after the conference leaders met on Friday and were unable to come to an agreement on a Pac-12 Grant of Rights that would be satisfactory for everyone.

Now, the Pac-12 is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If Kliavkoff isn’t careful, the long-standing conference will get smashed. Of course, the Ivy League can jab at the conference all it wants if it no long exists.