The alliance between the ACC, the Big Ten and the Pac-12 will be announced Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, sources told ESPN.
The three leagues are expected to emphasize “common values” and unanimous support affecting key issues affecting college athletes and schools in all sports. According to sources, the Pac-12 has been the most aggressive of the three leagues in forming and fostering the alliance.
When the first potential alliance was unveiled earlier this month, a Pac-12 source told ESPN that the league was a little further than the other two in generating support and enthusiasm for the pact. Other sources in the league predicted that an announcement would arrive sooner.
Another source familiar with Tuesday’s discussions told ESPN, “The Pac-12 is pushing this.”
New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff, who declined to comment Monday night on ESPN about the alliance’s announcement, has been clear on his mission to improve football in the league. Kliavkoff has said he has focused on improving access to college football playoffs and ways to increase football revenue, especially as the Pac-12 prepares to renegotiate its media rights agreement. He also told the San Jose Mercury News that the league will decide in the coming weeks whether to explore possible expansion.
The essence of the alliance, which according to one source, responds to the changing landscape of college athletics, but not necessarily a direct opponent to the SEC on the way to becoming the first 16-team superconference, is the ability to collaborate academically and athletically. among some of the most prestigious research institutions in the country.
The bottom line is that today there is no immediate or direct impact on college football.
“The impact now is a look to the future and an illusion about the future and what that will mean,” a source told ESPN.
Tuesday’s alliance announcement will not include widespread principles of football programming between the three leagues, sources said, as many game contracts are set for several years. We also want to see what a potential expanded PCP model is like before adopting new planning strategies.
Teams from all three leagues are expected to start scheduling more games between them, and individual leagues could adjust their scheduling models. One possibility would be for the Pac-12 to reduce the number of league games from nine to eight, which would free up teams to play opponents from other Power 5 conferences, such as the Big Ten and the ACC.
But general planning approaches will not come yet. The Big Ten and Pac-12 announced a programming deal in December 2011 that would begin in 2017. But the deal disintegrated in the Pac-12.
“We can’t repeat history,” a source said.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich contributed to this report.