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Kirk Herbstreit explains strategy behind Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 alliance
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While multiple details will continue to be worked out in the weeks, months, and even years ahead, the newly announced alliance between the Pac-12, ACC, and Big Ten continues to be a hot topic of conversation among college football experts and fans.
Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of “The Dan Patrick Show,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked for his thoughts on the new alliance, and to say he was skeptical would be an understatement.
“The only thing that I can think about is that they didn’t sign a contract,” Herbstreit said. “They’re talking about scheduling, (and) any time somebody talks about student-athletes, you got to be leery about what’s going on here. They talk about we care about the student-athletes. Well, the SEC, I think, cares about the student athletes.”
At the end of the day, Herbstreit thinks the ultimate motivation is for the 3 leagues to try to protect themselves against the SEC when it comes to inevitable changes to the College Football Playoff format.
“I think it’s about creating an alliance for any conference to vote,” Herbstreit continued. “If we’re going to go to a 12-team Playoff, the alliance in the corner over there is whispering in each other’s ear looking across the room at Greg Sankey like there’s 3 of us. You might be big and powerful, but there’s 3 of us. We get 3 votes.
“That’s the only thing that I can think of is that they’re aligned against the SEC at this point (so) that they can control things. Remember, for now, it’s Power 5 conferences, and those 3 for all intents and purposes, if they’re aligned, can control whatever decisions are made moving forward if it continues to be by a vote with a unanimous vote (being) what you need.”
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
