Citing “mountain pressures,” the SEC and Big Ten, college sports’ two wealthiest conferences, agreed to form a joint advisory group Friday to address the future of the college sports landscape.
News of the unnamed joint alignment was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The advisory group will consist of school chancellors, university presidents, and athletic directors from the two conferences.
The SEC and Big Ten have long been considered bitter enemies, both on and off the field, for their distinctive clash of cultures, academic-related matters, and other issues that made the two conferences stand apart.
But much of that was before things like “name, image and likeness” and “transfer portal” entered the public vocabulary, to say nothing of mass antitrust lawsuits and outright disagreement over long-held NCAA traditions. In short, what many believe and have alleged is an ongoing effort by the SEC and Big Ten to potentially “break” from the NCAA altogether.
Both SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti strongly deny that, but there’s no question the two leagues hold more weight and leverage than at any other time before. In turn, that has also raised the question about the long-term health and future of other leagues, including the ACC.
Here’s how Twitter/X users reacted to the news of the SEC-Big Ten joint agreement.