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The Pac-12, Atlantic Coast (ACC) and Big Ten conferences on Tuesday announced a “historic alliance” in which the Power Five conferences and their 41 institutions say they will take a “collaborative approach to the future evolution of athletics. academic and programming “. “
Almost immediately, BYU fans began to speculate about the impact the alliance will have on Cougar athletics, especially the soccer team. That’s because as an independent college football, BYU relies on scheduling games against teams from all three leagues, especially the Pac-12.
On sports fields and courts, there shouldn’t be much to worry about, thanks to a particular line in the press release sent by all three conferences:
“The programming alliance will begin as soon as possible while honoring current contractual obligations,” the statement said.
So it doesn’t look like any of the games scheduled by BYU against the Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten teams are going to be abandoned anytime soon. The impact of the alliance plan on future programming discussions remains to be seen. The BYU athletic director said the Cougars would like to play the “best possible competition” as an indie, which typically means three to five Power Five opponents per year.
BYU is set to face five Pac-12 teams this season – Arizona, Utah, Arizona State, Washington State and USC – and an ACC program, the Virginia Cavaliers of former Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall. His seventh opponent from Power Five is Baylor of the Big 12, who has been oddly left out of the alliance.
Most national experts agreed on Tuesday that the main reason for forming the alliance is to thwart what the powerful Southeastern Conference (SEC) did recently by hijacking Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 to become even more dominant on the university sports landscape, in particular as regards football.
BYU is not expected to play Utah in 2022 or 2023, but games against the Utes are scheduled for 2024-2028. No games are scheduled beyond that, but this is not unusual as rivals typically don’t schedule. not their matches against each other so far. outside.
BYU already has 31 games scheduled with opponents from the Power Five Conference from 2022 to 2035, including 25 against New Alliance teams (Pac-12, ACC, Big Ten). The contracts that BYU has signed in the past with opponents of Power Five typically have buybacks of $ 1 million or more.
The alliance’s stated goal of “providing thought leadership on various opportunities and challenges facing varsity athletics” is perhaps one of the most pressing concerns for BYU:
• Strong academic experience and support
• Diversity, equity and inclusion
• Social justice
• Post-season championships and future formats
When the Cougars were trying to get into the Big 12 a few years ago, the LGTBQ community raised concerns about BYU’s code of honor and how it bans gay behavior on campus.
Could such language, and BYU’s status as a religious institution owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, be used as reasons to withdraw from contracts or to avoid to play Cougars in the future? Most of BYU’s other sports participate in the West Coast Conference, which is made up entirely of private denominational schools.
So BYU has friends in the varsity sports landscape, but perhaps not so many in football – which pays the bills.
The alliance also has an academic component, as the press release touted “innovative research from 41 schools that benefits communities around the world”.
BYU is an undergraduate institution, not a Tier 1 research institution. It is also not a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), and likely never will be, due to its religious affiliation.
According to the statement, 27 of the 34 AUA Power Five members are in the alliance’s 41 schools, and 34 are ranked among the top 100 national universities by US News and World Report. BYU is ranked 80th in this post’s most recent rankings.
According to the statement, “a working group made up of athletic directors representing the three conferences will oversee the programming component of the alliance, including determining the criteria on which programming decisions will be made.
“The three leagues and their respective institutions understand that programming decisions will be an evolutionary process given current programming commitments,” the statement continued.
Many believe the alliance was also formed to delay the expansion of college football playoffs, which currently has four teams. Alliance members see playoff expansion as a way for the SEC to get more teams out of its playoff conference.
On BYU Football Media Day in June, Holmoe said he and BYU were generally in favor of extending the playoffs to eight or even 12 teams, as it would likely benefit the Cougars more than the current system.
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