ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 announce "historic alliance"

After weeks of “high-level discussions,” the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have officially announced a “historic alliance” between 41 institutions. The goal? To collaborate on the “future evolution of college athletics” and form an inter-conference scheduling partnership.

“The alliance – which was unanimously supported by the presidents, chancellors and athletics directors at all 41 institutions – will be guided in all cases by a commitment to, and prioritization of, supporting student-athlete well-being, academic and athletic opportunities, experiences and diverse educational programming,” the conferences said in a joint statement. “The three conferences are grounded in their support of broad-based athletic programs, the collegiate model and opportunities for student-athletes as part of the educational missions of the institutions.”

The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 will remain competitors “in every sense,” but will join together to collaborate on provide thought on the following opportunities and challenges facing college athletics:

• Student-athlete mental and physical health, safety, wellness and support
• Strong academic experience and support
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Social justice
• Gender equity
• Future structure of the NCAA
• Federal legislative efforts
• Postseason championships and future formats

The scheduling component involves football and women’s and men’s basketball, with the alliance designed to “create new inter-conference games, enhance opportunities for student-athletes, and optimize the college athletics experience for both student-athletes and fans across the country.” Current contractual obligations must be fulfilled, but the scheduling partnership is set to begin immediately.

For football, “additional attractive matchups across the three conferences” will begin, all while continuing to honor historic rivalries and traditions. As for basketball, the three conferences will add matchups and annual events that feature premier matchups. Participating parties are also exploring opportunities for Olympic Sports programs to compete more frequently.

“The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 recognize the unique environment and challenges currently facing intercollegiate athletics, and we are proud and confident in this timely and necessary alliance that brings together like-minded institutions and conferences focused on the overall educational missions of our preeminent institutions,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. “The alliance will ensure that the educational outcomes and experiences for student-athletes participating at the highest level of collegiate athletics will remain the driving factor in all decisions moving forward.”

“Student-athletes have been and will remain the focal point of the Big Ten, ACC and PAC-12 Conferences” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. “Today, through this alliance, we furthered our commitment to our student-athletes by prioritizing our academics and athletics value systems. We are creating opportunities for student-athletes to have elite competition and are taking the necessary steps to shape and stabilize the future of college athletics.”

“The historic alliance announced today between the Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten is grounded in a commitment to our student-athletes,” said Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff. “We believe that collaborating together we are stronger in our commitment to addressing the broad issues and opportunities facing college athletics.”

While the “historic alliance” sounds all fine and dandy on the surface and the joint press release was cute, the public announcement revealed a few key details that should be made clear.

For starters, there was no contract signed and this alliance is nothing more than a handshake agreement.

“There is no signed contract,” said Kliavkoff. “There was an agreement among three gentlemen and a commitment from 41 presidents and chancellors. … There is no signed document and there doesn’t need to be.

“Today is a press release but it’s also a commitment.”

Participating parties also made clear that schools within the alliance can still schedule games with programs outside the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12. In other words, scheduling is no different now than it was a day ago.

Support for the Big 12 – who just lost Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC – was also shown. Phillips added that those within the alliance “want and need the Big 12 to do well” because “the Big 12 matters.”

But the Big 12 wasn’t invited to participate.

There were also no restrictions made on schools leaving one conference within the alliance for another or adding new members outside — looking at you, Big 12 (or what’s left of it). Kliavkoff added that the Pac-12 will announce whether it will expand membership “by the end of the week,” but no limitations as of today.

One of the first reported goals of the alliance was for participating conferences to work and vote together on major issues. Some of those included College Football Playoff expansion and NCAA governance changes. Any real update there? Nah. The Pac-12 is “100 percent in favor” of expansion, while the ACC is unsure. The Big Ten is a “big believer” in expansion, but “homework” must be done first. No commitment to anything specific or a plan to make it happen.

In short, the alliance has no signed contract, does not limit schools from scheduling games against SEC foes, and does not bar conferences from poaching member programs from one another. It essentially boils down to a pinky promise between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 in hopes they will all be nice to each other.

But hey, at least they can say they’re buddies.