There has been no other force outside of Clemson football to get inside the heads of SEC fans and administrations with such effectiveness in quite a while, but ‘The Alliance‘ might just be that next great thing.
For those who haven’t been following the news, here’s a rundown of what has happened over the course of the last few months in terms of conference realignment and the future of the college athletics in general:
- Texas and Oklahoma had talks with the SEC for months and then jumped ship from the Big 12 conveniently right after the expanded CFB Playoff seemed like a done deal.
- The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have now been in discussions in forming an alliance to combat the SEC’s power move
- Now, SEC administrators are upset that the other conferences would stand up for themselves
One of the things coming out of this alliance has been the talks that an expanded CFB Playoff might be placed on the backburner. That has absolutely infuriated the SEC, which was obviously hoping to have an expanded field so they could create more revenue with more teams inside the bracket year-in and year-out.
Saturday Down South’s Matt Hayes posted this Tweet from an ‘SEC source.’
Re: The “Alliance”. #SEC source tells me for this week’s #Firstand10 at @SatDownSouth: “You’re building an alliance to limit the number of #CFP games, thereby limiting the amount of revenue you can generate -- out of spite. Brilliant.”
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) August 20, 2021
Clemson football fans should relish in the fact that the SEC is big mad at the ACC, Big Ten & Pac-12
There are SEC reporters out there who are legitimately defending the conference and now acting as if the other three conferences are being completely unreasonable by forming this alliance. They are acting as if we– along with the SEC– are all victims in this ploy and the conferences are only thinking about themselves.
Interestingly enough, they didn’t say anything when the SEC made a selfish move that looks as if it’s going to result in a Power-5 conference dissolving as a result.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey worked on a committee with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby when they were bringing forth this 12-team CFB Playoff expansion idea and the whole time he was having discussions with Texas and Oklahoma behind Bowlsby’s back.
And then SEC sources have the nerve to act as if the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 are acting in an underhanded fashion?
No, this alliance is giving those three conferences power and it’s also a statement to the SEC that it’s not going to bully its way into getting what it wants.
Those conferences are now going to be able to lay out terms when it comes to CFB Playoff expansion and, oh by the way, if they do the alliance right, they’ll make plenty of money for themselves as well.
The truth of the matter is that the SEC went into business for itself and it thought there would be no repercussions. Instead, it’s now having to deal with the backlash of the other power conferences making moves to ensure that they keep their seat at the table and for some reason, it doesn’t like it.
SEC fans and insiders haven’t been this frustrated since they saw Clemson football drum Alabama 44-16 on national television.