NCAA president Charlie Baker issued a statement to Sports Illustrated on Monday emphasizing his concerns with the recent realignment moves within college athletics, asking for major-college leaders to work together in areas that "impact student-athlete well-being and competitive equity issues."
“I share concerns about the impact that the recent spate of conference realignment activities will have on student-athletes’ well-being," Baker said in the statement. "The recent conference moves highlight what I found during my review of the issues facing the NCAA – the growing gap between well-resourced Division I schools and the rest of the division is highly disruptive for all of DI and college sports overall. I believe DI university and college presidents, commissioners and the NCAA should work together to explore ways to address the impact this growing gap is having on student-athlete well-being and the competitive equity issues across the division.”
Last week, the Pac-12 was stripped of five members: Oregon and Washington left for the Big Ten Conference while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah departed for the Big 12. Those three followed the departure in late July of Colorado for that league. The resulting chaos from these new, long-distance partnerships has left the 108-year-old Pac-12 with just four members. Two of those, California and Stanford, are being vetted by the Atlantic Coast Conference for potential future membership.
