In a ballroom buzzing with anticipation, the chiefs of three of the surviving sports power conferences reflected upon the dramatic upheaval in college sports. They stood amidst the wreckage of three years of realignment, face-to-face with the impact on the 108-year-old institution that was the Pac-12.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark began, offering a sobering albeit strategic perspective: 'Obviously, not happy about the ultimate outcome to the Pac-12, but I’m in this position to give us the best options and future possible and we took advantage of the moment.” He was, of course, referring to the six-week maelstrom this past summer where the Pac-12 conference was systematically dismantled by its competitors, irrespective of geographical alignment.
One simply cannot speak about the Pac-12's shocking disintegration without addressing the significance of this conference within college sports. To draw the magnitude of this, the Pac-12 boasts the most NCAA championships and a glittering legacy dotted with household names such as Jackie Robinson, Bill Walton, Aaron Rodgers, Katie Ledecky, Tiger Woods and Cheryl Miller. Yet, the gavel of conference realignment has now hammered this once hallowed institution into annihilation.
By 2024, these drastic changes will reshape the landscape of college athletics in a way that hasn't been witnessed before. With Oregon and Washington pledging alliance to the Big Ten, where Southern California and UCLA had already found refuge, the ground began shifting faster. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma sought solace in the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference. Stanford and California managed to cling to a lifeline with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In light of major shifts, a key question surfaces: “How much of the realignment moves are to position these universities for better success in the NIL world?” The answers, one can surmise, might reveal the unseen forces at work behind the alignment deals.
The first harbinger of change appeared in the summer of 2021 when Texas and Oklahoma declared their decision to defect to the SEC. This declaration, according to ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, leveled the ground for other schools eager to 'take advantage of free agency.” Over the course of this frenzied round of realignment, the motive became clear: no ship was going down without a fight.
In retrospect, this round of realignment feels more predatory than strategic, with survival now favoring the fittest. For as Bob Bowlsby aptly puts it, “I don’t think the college athletics ecosystem is better with the absence of the Pac-12.”
However, if we look past the turbulence, there appears to be a cease-fire on the horizon. Each of the remaining power conferences now has a media rights deal pinned to their chest, acting as a shield extending up to 2029-30. Still, the echoes of uncertainty reveal the unfinished story: are we moving towards a super league model similar to European soccer?
As for the schools bearing the brunt of these changes, it might be a rough transition. As Bowlsby warns, “I think there are some in the larger conferences that will clearly be marginalized, and the money won’t be worth it because they’ll there’ll be traditional losers on a regular basis.”
Only time will tell where these seismic shifts lead next year. For now, the dust begins to settle, revealing a transformed landscape in the world of college sports.
