Report: Announcement coming soon on alliance between B1G, ACC and Pac-12

A formal announcement regarding an alliance between the B1G, ACC and Pac-12 is expected to come as early as Tuesday, according to a report from Yahoo’s Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel. Last week, ESPN reported that an official announcement was expected at some point during this week.

The alliance, which would feature three of the major Power 5 conferences, is in response to Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

Per the report, the goals of this newly-formed alliance would be to frequently schedule non-conference games between the teams in the three leagues, have a louder voice in terms of College Football Playoff expansion and changes and influence television power and “halt ESPN’s total control.”

From Yahoo:

• Under such a plan, the Big Ten could drop its conference schedule from nine games to eight, and require each school to play one game against an ACC and a Pac-12 team each year. Wisconsin, for example, would play Virginia and Oregon one year, Florida State and UCLA the next. Big Ten schools would be allowed to schedule the additional non-conference games as they see fit.
• If adopted, the Big Ten’s conference season would consist of six games within either the East or West Division and two crossover games. There are currently three crossover games.
• ACC teams, which already play eight conference games, would schedule a Big Ten and a Pac-12 opponent annually.

  The ACC adding value to its television rights is the tricky part, as it is stuck in a lopsided deal with ESPN until 2036 that it signed in order to obtain a television network. The Alliance is not expected to help the conference get out of the ESPN deal.

• The Pac-12, which currently has nine league games, would consider dropping down to eight as well, or just use two of the three non-conference games in the Alliance.
• Any Big Ten or Pac-12 team already playing Notre Dame, which has its own scheduling deal with the ACC, would be able to count the Irish as its ACC opponent.

  Pac-12 members USC and Stanford have annual series with Notre Dame. Big Ten programs Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue also have future series scheduled with the Irish.

With Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC, television deals became more lucrative for the conference. The power league added two of the biggest brands to an already-strong group.

Other conferences wanted to act in some way to respond to the SEC forming the first “Super League” in college athletics. It sounds as though the new alliance will be the answer.

You can learn more on the potential agreement from Yahoo here.