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The alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 will be announced at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.
All three leagues are expected to focus on “shared values” and unanimous support impacting key topics affecting varsity athletes and schools in all sports. Sources say the Pac-12 has been the most aggressive of the three leagues in forming and encouraging the alliance.
When news of a potential alliance first broke this month, a Pac-12 source told ESPN the league was a bit further along than the other two in building support and enthusiasm for the pact. Other league sources were expecting an announcement earlier.
Another source familiar with Tuesday’s talks told ESPN: “The Pac-12 is the engine of this.”
New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who declined to comment on Monday night to ESPN about the alliance announcement, has been clear in his mission to improve football in the league. Kliavkoff said he has focused on improving access to college football playoffs and ways to increase football income, especially as the Pac-12 prepare to renegotiate their deal. on media rights. He also told the San Jose Mercury News that the league will decide in the coming weeks whether to explore a possible expansion.
The gist of the alliance – which one source says is in response to the changing landscape of varsity athletics, but not necessarily a direct counter to the SEC on its way to becoming the first 16-team superconference – is a ability to collaborate academically and athletically. among some of the most reputable research institutions in the country.
The bottom line is that there is no immediate or direct impact on college football today.
“The impact now is a look to and excitement for the future and what it will mean,” a source told ESPN.
Tuesday’s alliance announcement will not include the generalized programming principles of football among the three leagues, sources said, as many match contracts are drawn up for several years. There is also a desire to see what a potential expanded CFP model looks like before adopting new planning strategies.
Teams from all three leagues are expected to start scheduling more games with each other, and individual leagues may make adjustments to their scheduling models. One possibility would be for the Pac-12 to reduce their number of league games from nine to eight, which would allow teams to play against opponents from other Power 5 conferences, such as the Big Ten and the ACC.
But generalized scheduling approaches won’t come right away. The Big Ten and the Pac-12 announced a programming deal in December 2011 that was due to start in 2017. But the deal eventually collapsed on the Pac-12 side.
“We cannot repeat history,” said a source.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich contributed to this report.
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