Report: ACC, Pac-12 Discussing "Loose Partnership"

With conference realignment imminent and their governing institutions under threat, the ACC and Pac-12 are talking about combining forces.

PITTSBURGH -- The anxiety is building. The latest round of conference realignment, which had been clearly on the horizon but still seemed years away, is on the doorstep. Rumors that USC and UCLA would leave the Pac-12 and join the Big 10 which swirled last week seem all but certain now. Oklahoma and Texas have plans to leave the Big 12 for the SEC as well and the money and prestige of the SEC and Big 10 threatens to overshadow the rest of the Power Five. 

To counteract this consolidation of major college athletics brands, the ACC and Pac-12 have reportedly talked about joining together in a "loose partnership", according to a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. 

"The ACC and Pac-12 have discussed what has been termed a 'loose partnership' that could end the season with the conferences playing a 'championship game' in Las Vegas," Dodd said on Wednesday. 

Dodd claims that it was the ACC who came up with the idea, which is intended to increase the value of each conference's respective media rights deals with ESPN. This is supposed to reflect "strength in numbers" for the 24 combined schools, which are desperate for ways to tread water at the highest level of college athletics. 

Neither conference is in a particularly strong position with the sports broadcasting giant. The ACC is locked into an unfavorable deal through 2036 with the only chance of sooner renegotiations coming if they add new schools to the mix. The Pac-12, after losing two of its most popular programs, is expected to lose a broadcasting partner in Fox at the end of their current contract. 

These two conferences joined the Big 10 in a similar pact last year after Oklahoma and Texas announced their intention to join the SEC. There was really nothing upon which the organization was based and "The Alliance" hasn't done much to speak of since, besides parter on a few small initiatives. 

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