The Big Ten and SEC are coming together to form a joint advisory committee “to address the significant challenges facing college athletics,” according to numerous reports.
I would refer to this new structure as a true ‘Alliance,’ for those who remember the time before realignment shook the college football world — when former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren formed the famous ‘Alliance’ with the Pac 12 and ACC before adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten, forcing the Pac 12 to disband forever.
This proposed structure with the Big Ten and SEC actually makes some sense. It will be a joint advisory group of university presidents and athletic directors with the same purpose: steering college football into a sustainable future. The Big Ten and the SEC are the two clear powers in the sport, so their input and actions should carry more weight than what the NCAA tries to do to remedy the disaster it created.
Sources: The SEC and Big Ten are set to announce that they are setting up an advisory committee. It’s expected to look at the entire college sports landscape and solutions within it.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 2, 2024
This is a big step towards a true governance structure of college football, not of college sports as a whole. As we’ve seen over the past few decades, but especially over the last few years, college football needs clear rules, direction and leadership. This news doesn’t bring that, but at least it’s an initiative toward that goal.
Given the last ‘Alliance’ resulted in one conference pillaging another, I don’t see how this can end up any worse.