Announcement of Alliance Between the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 Expected Soon

In response to the defections of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, the other three power five conferences might form an alliance.

My wife is a trooper. She likes sports. But she so kindly tolerates my obsession with them. As a native of the Texas panhandle, how could she not? Friday night lights is king.

Here’s why she’s a trooper: On our honeymoon, she memorized every team in the power five conferences. But as luck would have it the entire landscape changed just a year or two and everything she had worked for fell apart.

Due to the impending departures of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 (Big 10, or even Big 8 now, if we’re being honest), it seems that the time has come for her to, once again, learn the make-up of the major conferences.

Questions abound: What will be the major conferences? Will the Big 12 fall apart? Will the conferences continue to exist as we know them? How will the changes affect mid-majors? How will the changes affect low majors? Heck, will the NCAA even exist in five years?

In short: Will anything ever be the same again?

At this point, everyone is apparently an expert, theorizing on the next move and who is partnering with whom and what school is going to what conference and the importance of media markets vs. fan bases and on and on in an incessant cycle of realignment prognostication.

The most recent news, which would affect North Carolina, is the advent of a possible alliance between the remaining three major conferences not affected by the Texas / Oklahoma move. As first reported by The Athletic, the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12, for multiple reasons, are supposedly working to formalize an agreement amongst the 41-member schools.

We will unpack things more in depth as information continues to come to light, but for now let’s walk through a couple of the major talking points.

Philosophy

The ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 find themselves more philosophically aligned with one another than with either the SEC or the Big 12.

Financial considerations would certainly eventually be part of the equation, but for now an alliance would be an acknowledgement of institutional similarity.

Alternative to Expansion

Rather than continuing to poach each other’s existing members in service of growing their individual conferences, an alliance would allow these three conferences to align themselves, while still maintaining some of their individual uniqueness.

Push-back Against the SEC Moves

The SEC’s poaching of Texas and Oklahoma is certainly a power move and a money-grab for the brands.

And alliance between the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 would be an opportunity to push back against that power. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is one of the more powerful voices in collegiate athletics and the opportunity to have the three alliance commissioners (plus potentially Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick) push back against that would be a massive win.

Speaking of Notre Dame…

Where does Notre Dame fit into all this? They are still “independent” in football, but are aligned with the ACC in other sports. Interestingly, their football schedule is made up of chiefly teams in the three teams in this rumored alliance – five ACC schools a year, USC, Stanford, and Michigan.

Notre Dame could continue to hold onto their independence, but if the SEC continues bulking up and the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 do indeed align, the Irish could be left on the outside looking in.

What Should the Tar Heels Do?

UNC doesn’t need to make any sudden moves. AD Bubba Cunningham certainly needs to be on the alert and part of any conversations that take place. But the current climate is more about staying aware than needing to take action.

A move to the SEC doesn’t seem likely, or frankly, wise. Carolina is a more highly-ranked institution than the SEC members. Additionally, similar to the Tar Heels, the rest of the ACC, the Big Ten, and the Pac-12 have a more robust Olympic sports offering than does the SEC.

If a day does come when the ACC landscape changes, the Tar Heels would be a prize commodity with worldwide brand recognition.

Stay tuned to AllTarHeels for all your conference realignment information as it unfolds.

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