ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 alliance to focus on 'collaborative approach' [View all]

ESPN / 8-24-21

The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 alliance became official Tuesday, with the three conferences coming together "on a collaborative approach surrounding the future evolution of college athletics and scheduling."

The three leagues emphasized common values and unanimous support impacting key topics affecting college athletes and schools in all sports. Sources say the Pac-12 has been the most aggressive of the three leagues in forming and encouraging the alliance.

SNIP

The gist of the alliance -- which a source said is in response to the shifting landscape of college athletics, but not necessarily a direct counter to the SEC on its way to becoming the first 16-team superconference -- is an ability to collaborate academically and athletically among some of the country's highest-regarded research institutions.

SNIP

Teams from the three leagues are expected to start scheduling more games with one another, and individual leagues could make adjustments to their scheduling models. One possibility would be for the Pac-12 to reduce its number of league games from nine to eight, which would free up teams to play opponents from other Power 5 conferences, such as the Big Ten and ACC.

FULL STORY: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32076233/sources-acc-big-ten-pac-12-alliance-announcement-focus-common-values

Thoughts? Well, if this leads to eliminating those cupcake games with smaller schools, I'm all for it. I guess regional rivalries will remain in place (Ohio State/Michigan, Cal/Stanford, etc).

Next up: expanding playoffs to 8 or 12 teams.

The times, they are a 'changin ...