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Remembering ‘The Alliance’: Fans, media react to anniversary of ill-fated agreement
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:
Happy “ACC B1G P12 Historic Alliance Day” to those who celebrate https://t.co/4oPB0AZGWL
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 24, 2023
Happy Alliance Day to all who celebrate 😂😂😂 https://t.co/V86LyX7oiy
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 24, 2023
Glad this historic alliance stabilized college athletics two years ago. https://t.co/gfMOSegKam
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) August 24, 2023
Two years ago today, they formed The Alliance and … sure enough, Kliavkoff was right about more Ohio State-Oregon games. https://t.co/MUiHToOWxI pic.twitter.com/QAL0gor5a2
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 24, 2023
Happy birthday to The Alliance™️ https://t.co/jqm3nRbeiw pic.twitter.com/UkIUz6mvuq
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) August 24, 2023
Happy 2 year anniversary to this historic Alliance (and by historic, I mean that it’s history) https://t.co/WPauB6F3O5
— Fifth Quarter (@FifthQuarter) August 24, 2023
A lot can change, huh?
“Prioritization of student-athlete well-being”
“Committed to student-athlete mental and physical health”
“Feature attractive football matchups while honoring historic rivalries”
“Necessary steps to stabilize the future of college athletics” https://t.co/7iKod5DB40
— Adam Suderman (@adamsuderman) August 24, 2023
I know there a lot of people dunking on this today, but…..it turned out to be highly effective Trojan Horse for the Big 10 to get close to the conferences and ultimately pick off the teams they wanted. https://t.co/QMMJdF9QrP
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) August 24, 2023
Crushed it guys. Good work. https://t.co/xZWPmslmG3
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 24, 2023
On retrospect, this was possibly the best thing to ever happen to BYU. It directly led to the Cougars joining the Big 12. So thank you, Pac-12!🌹🌹 https://t.co/F4r1fhIEtf
— Taquineur 🇫🇷 (@Taquineur) August 24, 2023
The tremendous irony of the Alliance other than it failing to protect the Pac-12 from the Big Ten is that while it excluded the SEC and the Big 12, the SEC has not (yet?) expanded any further since getting Texas and Oklahoma two years ago, and the Big 12 added 4 P12 schools. https://t.co/SiPj1XwlKu
— Mind Hunter 𝕏 (@MinddestroyedX) August 24, 2023
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.