On Aug. 24, the commissioners of the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 held a joint video conference to announce the Alliance, a new partnership between three of the five most powerful conferences in college athletics.
The launch generated immediate reaction -- and memes from "The Office" -- and set expectations for significant action, but its ambiguity also prompted plenty of questions. Most notably: What exactly is it?
The Alliance came together weeks after the SEC's stunning addition of Oklahoma and Texas, and amid a turbulent and transformative summer for college athletics.