Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Remembering ‘The Alliance’: Fans, media react to anniversary of ill-fated agreement

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Think back if you can to the summer of 2021. With a number of changes starting to go down around the country, the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 announced an “historic alliance” between the 3 leagues.

The official announcement for that alliance came on Aug. 24 and featured an agreement between the 41 “world-class institutions” spread between those 3 conferences. That alliance pledged a “collaborative approach” to the future of college athletics and scheduling. The official announcement also pledged to be guided by “a commitment to, and prioritization of, supporting student-athlete well-being.”

The alliance did not make it a full year of existence with Ohio State AD Gene Smith revealing early in 2022 that the scheduling aspect of the alliance was essentially over. That came with the B1G deciding to stick with a 9-game conference schedule.

Since the creation — and destruction — of “the alliance,” the landscape of college athletics has further splintered. The Pac-12 has since dwindled to 4 remaining programs with a chance that 2 of those schools also depart in the near future.

In regard to the other alliance leagues, the B1G has added arguably the most prominent Pac-12 programs with the ACC in a fight for survival during the ongoing realignment. And with the anniversary of the alliance falling on Thursday, fans and media across the country took time to troll the grand idea.

Take a look:

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.