Inside the proposal for a Big 12 and Pac-12 college football scheduling alliance
-- by Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports, 28 Feb 2019
It ultimately did not happen, but the Big 12 had a big idea about working with the Pac-12. The Big 12 and Pac-12 would have play an interconference championship game as part of an overall scheduling alliance proposed between the two leagues to boost their profiles, according to a document from Kansas State's former president that was obtained by CBS Sports.
The year-old proposal from former K-State president Jon Wefald suggested the two league play their three annual nonconference games against one another. That would create 30 unique Big 12 vs. Pac-12 nonconference games each season in addition to the nine intraconference games played by each league. At the end of the season, Wefald suggested the league's "could play a game for the interleague championship." Wefald went on to offer another proposition: four-team playoff "for the overall championship" between the conferences.
No action was ever taken on the proposal, which was created in the aftermath of Big 12's expansion study. Wefald made it at the request of West Virginia president Gordon Gee, the chairman of the Big 12 board of directors. The San Jose Mercury News dug down on the details of the proposal in a story published this week. Jon Wilner wrote that Wefald's first inclination was to lure Arizona and Arizona State to the Big 12.
Both conferences' primary media rights deals expire in 2025.
Sources:
- https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/inside-the-proposal-for-a-big-12-and-pac-12-college-football-scheduling-alliance/
- https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/26/former-big-12-president-proposes-strategic-alliance-with-the-pac-12-the-conferences-should-embrace-the-future-together/
-- by Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports, 28 Feb 2019
It ultimately did not happen, but the Big 12 had a big idea about working with the Pac-12. The Big 12 and Pac-12 would have play an interconference championship game as part of an overall scheduling alliance proposed between the two leagues to boost their profiles, according to a document from Kansas State's former president that was obtained by CBS Sports.
The year-old proposal from former K-State president Jon Wefald suggested the two league play their three annual nonconference games against one another. That would create 30 unique Big 12 vs. Pac-12 nonconference games each season in addition to the nine intraconference games played by each league. At the end of the season, Wefald suggested the league's "could play a game for the interleague championship." Wefald went on to offer another proposition: four-team playoff "for the overall championship" between the conferences.
No action was ever taken on the proposal, which was created in the aftermath of Big 12's expansion study. Wefald made it at the request of West Virginia president Gordon Gee, the chairman of the Big 12 board of directors. The San Jose Mercury News dug down on the details of the proposal in a story published this week. Jon Wilner wrote that Wefald's first inclination was to lure Arizona and Arizona State to the Big 12.
Both conferences' primary media rights deals expire in 2025.
Sources:
- https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/inside-the-proposal-for-a-big-12-and-pac-12-college-football-scheduling-alliance/
- https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/26/former-big-12-president-proposes-strategic-alliance-with-the-pac-12-the-conferences-should-embrace-the-future-together/