The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What does triple league alliance mean for Big 12?
The ACC, Big Ten and Pac12 announced a first-of-its-kind conference alliance Tuesday that commissioners from each league expect will bring stability to an unsteady college sports landscape.
But that wasn’t the news of the day for folks who live in Big 12 country. That was provided after the news conference about the alliance ended.
George Kliavkoff, the Pac12’s commissioner, told The Athletic that his league will announce whether it will explore expansion “before the end of the week.”
The Pac-12 already has an expansion committee in place and has discussed a timeline for evaluating prospective members. Kliavkoff has said schools from across the country have reached out to the Pac-12 about possibly joining the conference, and the Big 12’s eight remaining members figure to be among them now that Oklahoma and Texas are leaving for the SEC.
So much for that whole stability thing, huh?
Whatever the Pac-12 decides, its announcement will give leftover Big 12 members direction as fans of schools like Kansas, K-state and Iowa State anxiously wonder what is next for them and their beleaguered conference.
If the Pac-12 opts to explore expansion, all eight schools can put their best foot forward and try to earn an invitation West. If the Pac-12 decides to stand pat, all eight schools can start mulling other options, including rebuilding the Big 12 together through expansion.
Replacing Oklahoma and Texas with schools such as BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston or Memphis has
been seen as a fallback option for the Big 12. Perhaps the conference could start exploring expansion options of its own.
For what it’s worth, former college and NFL football coach Dave Wannstedt told a Chicago radio station Tuesday that TV execs of some kind had informed him the Pac12 was targeting Oklahoma State and Kansas State, while the Big Ten was eyeing Kansas and Iowa State. He also said the ACC wants West Virginia.
Fans of those schools will hope what he said is true, but there is no reason to take his words as fact.
In any case, the new alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 seems to have little immediate impact on the Big 12. All three conferences promised big things, such as a scheduling alliance for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, but fans are unlikely to see any of those games soon because of existing games on schedules.
Some football teams have nonconference games on the books as far out as the late 2030s, and Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren said the
alliance was not designed to replace those games. It seems the main purpose of the alliance is to gain short-term political clout that will keep the SEC in check while college football leaders work to expand the College Football Playoff.
The Big 12 wasn’t invited to participate in the alliance. None of the three commissioners explained why Tuesday, but they all had a few awkward things to say about the Big 12 and Bob Bowlsby, its commissioner. They talked glowingly of Bowlsby, calling him one of the most respected leaders in the nation. Warren said he was confident Bowlsby would do whatever he needed to help the Big 12 thrive moving forward. Then ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips took things a step further.
“We want and need the Big 12 to do well,” Phillips said. “The Big 12 matters in college athletics. The Big 12 matters in Power Five athletics.”
Not enough to join an alliance with the ACC, Big Ten and the Pac-12. But perhaps its remaining schools matter enough to engage in expansion talks with the Pac-12.