On Tuesday, the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences announced a historical alliance between the three Power Five conferences, countering the SEC’s recent move to add the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. By and large, the alliance was cheered on as a historical move.
Then again, without any actual contracts signed between the three conferences, it wasn’t.
But why was the Big 12 Conference, undeniably the conference with the most already at stake during the latest round of realignment, left out in the cold when all was said and done?
The easy answer: Frankly, no one’s sure the Big 12 will even exist come 2023.