Buffs athletic director Rick George took the podium at the Champions Center on-campus at CU today following the anticipated Tuesday announcement by the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 Conferences that the 41 university members of all three leagues would be joining forces to collaborate on the "future evolution of college athletics and scheduling."
The announcement comes in the immediate aftermath of both Texas and Oklahoma's formal invitation by the SEC to join over from the Big 12, with the intention of forming a 16-member SEC by the mid-2020s.
For Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff and his Big Ten and ACC counterparts, Kevin Warren and Jim Phillips, the move has major implications as far as future non-conference football and basketball scheduling is concerned as well as the future of the College Football Playoff, with a particular eye on expansion from four teams.
Earlier on Tuesday, Klaivkoff, Warren and Phillips outlined key areas of concern regarding their collective student-athletes moving forward in a joint press release:
“I think it’s going to allow our student-athletes to compete on a bigger stage, having some marquee games around the country. I think it’s going to bring visibility to our department and our university, playing on the East Coast to the West Coast. I think it's going to provide more eyeballs and opportunities for Heisman Trophies and other things (like) national awards. And I think that’s going to be really important and bring some excitement to our fan base and our alumni across the country."
"I think there’s so many positives on this alignment and what it will look like. In all of our sports, I think you can create some multi-team events whether it’s men’s or women’s basketball or soccer or cross country — you can envision a meet that has just the three conferences and others."
Again, we’re not just scheduling with those conferences. We’re still going to have scheduling opportunities in sports for all the conferences, just like we do today, but what this will do (is) it might allow us to have some early season — for all of our sports — really marquee events that are going to be marketable and watched all across the country. But again, playing from coast to coast, being in all four time zones in this country will be really important for us and it will bring some visibility."
"I think from a student-athlete perspective, it's going to provide some experiences that they may not have just in this conference in some of the non-conference games that we’ve been able to get. I think there’s really opportunity for all of the peers in these three leagues to work together and really make this a meaningful experience for all of our alumni and fans across the country.”
Currently, Colorado football has its non-conference schedule booked through the 2028 season, with single non-conference games remaining available in the 2029 and 2031 seasons. The Buffs have scheduled opponents as far out as 2038.
George indicated that as of now, no rescheduling will need to be undertaken on those notes.
As far as tweaking the number of league games played per year, George said he was open to it.
“We want to look at it all and see how it fits for us. We’ve been very comfortable with the nine-game schedule. Could we get comfortable with an eight-game schedule and adding another component in the future, we could get comfortable with that, too. What we’ll do collectively as an AD group, with our coaches and our conference offices — we’ll work together on what we think is best for us and for our student-athletes moving forward. I don’t have that answer totally yet.”
A big-ticket item handcuffed to the newly-announced alliance between the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC has to do with future expansion of the College Football Playoff from its current four-team lineup.
The Pac-12 has not had a team compete in the CFP since 2016-2017, when No. 4-seeded Washington lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Peach Bowl.
A primary goal of the alliance will undoubtedly be to eventually expand the current number of teams in the CFP. However, exact details of what that number will be remains undetermined, per George.
“I’m speaking as the athletic director at the University of Colorado. I serve on the CFP Selection Committee, so these are my thoughts, not the CFP selection’s thoughts, but Ido think that expansion is good. Whether 12 is the right number, I'm not totally sure on yet and I don’t have a final opinion on that as we look at all the information but I think there’s always been a process that was going to take place when they made the announcement that 12 (teams) was being looked at. There’s still some opportunity for us to get more data that would maybe change where that direction is moving forward.”
On a final note, George addressed concerns about the alliance not being legally binding with respect to a contract. In essence, the announcement comes as a gentleman's agreement between Kliavkoff, Warren and Phillips as well as an agreement between every institution's athletic and university leaders in the three conferences.
“It’s not a joke, it’s serious and important. I think the commissioners have really laid that out (regarding) their thought process. We don’t need a contract if you trust the people you’re working with and we certainly do. When you have all 41 ADs, all 41 presidents, all three conference commissioners — I think that word is important. We’re going to work together with both of those conferences and we think it’s important for us to come together and collaborate to improve on the collegiate model and bring some stability to our industry. Having a contract — I’m not concerned about that."
.....
Kliavkoff's tweet(s) regarding the exit of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and then regarding today's announcement basically sums it up!
The announcement comes in the immediate aftermath of both Texas and Oklahoma's formal invitation by the SEC to join over from the Big 12, with the intention of forming a 16-member SEC by the mid-2020s.
For Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff and his Big Ten and ACC counterparts, Kevin Warren and Jim Phillips, the move has major implications as far as future non-conference football and basketball scheduling is concerned as well as the future of the College Football Playoff, with a particular eye on expansion from four teams.
Earlier on Tuesday, Klaivkoff, Warren and Phillips outlined key areas of concern regarding their collective student-athletes moving forward in a joint press release:
- Student-athlete mental and physical health, safety, wellness and support
- Strong academic experience and support
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Social justice
- Gender equity
- Future structure of the NCAA
- Federal legislative efforts
- Postseason championships and future formats
“I think it’s going to allow our student-athletes to compete on a bigger stage, having some marquee games around the country. I think it’s going to bring visibility to our department and our university, playing on the East Coast to the West Coast. I think it's going to provide more eyeballs and opportunities for Heisman Trophies and other things (like) national awards. And I think that’s going to be really important and bring some excitement to our fan base and our alumni across the country."
"I think there’s so many positives on this alignment and what it will look like. In all of our sports, I think you can create some multi-team events whether it’s men’s or women’s basketball or soccer or cross country — you can envision a meet that has just the three conferences and others."
Again, we’re not just scheduling with those conferences. We’re still going to have scheduling opportunities in sports for all the conferences, just like we do today, but what this will do (is) it might allow us to have some early season — for all of our sports — really marquee events that are going to be marketable and watched all across the country. But again, playing from coast to coast, being in all four time zones in this country will be really important for us and it will bring some visibility."
"I think from a student-athlete perspective, it's going to provide some experiences that they may not have just in this conference in some of the non-conference games that we’ve been able to get. I think there’s really opportunity for all of the peers in these three leagues to work together and really make this a meaningful experience for all of our alumni and fans across the country.”
Currently, Colorado football has its non-conference schedule booked through the 2028 season, with single non-conference games remaining available in the 2029 and 2031 seasons. The Buffs have scheduled opponents as far out as 2038.
George indicated that as of now, no rescheduling will need to be undertaken on those notes.
As far as tweaking the number of league games played per year, George said he was open to it.
“We want to look at it all and see how it fits for us. We’ve been very comfortable with the nine-game schedule. Could we get comfortable with an eight-game schedule and adding another component in the future, we could get comfortable with that, too. What we’ll do collectively as an AD group, with our coaches and our conference offices — we’ll work together on what we think is best for us and for our student-athletes moving forward. I don’t have that answer totally yet.”
A big-ticket item handcuffed to the newly-announced alliance between the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC has to do with future expansion of the College Football Playoff from its current four-team lineup.
The Pac-12 has not had a team compete in the CFP since 2016-2017, when No. 4-seeded Washington lost to No. 1 Alabama in the Peach Bowl.
A primary goal of the alliance will undoubtedly be to eventually expand the current number of teams in the CFP. However, exact details of what that number will be remains undetermined, per George.
“I’m speaking as the athletic director at the University of Colorado. I serve on the CFP Selection Committee, so these are my thoughts, not the CFP selection’s thoughts, but Ido think that expansion is good. Whether 12 is the right number, I'm not totally sure on yet and I don’t have a final opinion on that as we look at all the information but I think there’s always been a process that was going to take place when they made the announcement that 12 (teams) was being looked at. There’s still some opportunity for us to get more data that would maybe change where that direction is moving forward.”
On a final note, George addressed concerns about the alliance not being legally binding with respect to a contract. In essence, the announcement comes as a gentleman's agreement between Kliavkoff, Warren and Phillips as well as an agreement between every institution's athletic and university leaders in the three conferences.
“It’s not a joke, it’s serious and important. I think the commissioners have really laid that out (regarding) their thought process. We don’t need a contract if you trust the people you’re working with and we certainly do. When you have all 41 ADs, all 41 presidents, all three conference commissioners — I think that word is important. We’re going to work together with both of those conferences and we think it’s important for us to come together and collaborate to improve on the collegiate model and bring some stability to our industry. Having a contract — I’m not concerned about that."
.....
Kliavkoff's tweet(s) regarding the exit of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and then regarding today's announcement basically sums it up!
