ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 work on their response to SEC expansion
When news broke of the SEC extending membership to Texas and Oklahoma, I wrote how it was the death of the Big 12 as a power conference. I also commented on how the Big Ten would not be able to combat the move by adding two teams to it’s conference. Didn’t matter if they convinced USC and Oregon, or any other combination you could think of. Adding teams wasn’t the answer. At the time, I proposed a conference merger of sorts.
Turns out we may get a conference alliance instead.
Max Olson of The Athletic broke the news last Saturday that the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 were in talks about a conference alliance. The move is no doubt a response to SEC expansion, and at least on some levels an attempt to strip administrative power from the new 16 team conference.
As the NCAA revisits it’s governing model, it needs the votes of the schools to approve it’s constitutional changes. Should the alliance actually be formed and put to work, this new body would have 41 votes to the SEC’s 16. This could then impact playoff expansion and NCAA powers over the conferences.
Impact On Scheduling
This potential alliance would also look to impact future scheduling, where the three conferences would look to schedule each other for their non-conference games. Fans could see match-ups of USC vs Clemson or Ohio State vs UNC. It could result in more marquee games for all involved which could result in larger television contracts when each conference looks to renegotiate their media rights.
Andy Staples, also of The Athletic, wrote how the benefit of a scheduling pact would be the potential for more games watched by at least four million viewers. This four million number is an unofficial bar that media insiders view as premium television, and are happy to pay big bucks for.
I won’t disclose the research The Athletic did, you can read that for yourself on their site. However, if the SEC is bringing in two of the highest grossing programs in the sport, then the other three conferences need to elevate the value of their schools by providing prime contests.
It would be a win-win for this alliance and fans. The three conferences see more revenue come in as they play a large scale version of keeping up with the Joneses, and fans get to see compelling match-ups instead of cupcake opponents.