Mike Bobinski: Conference coalition 'made a lot of sense'
At Purdue, this alliance forged in recent weeks between the Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12 is as much theoretical anything.
As of now, all existing football contracts will be honored and little changes otherwise now that the three leagues have coalesced together in response to the SEC's growing strength and influence.
"In the short term, I don't know that we'll feel any tangible impact," Purdue A.D. Mike Bobinski said Wednesday.
Again, Purdue football's schedules are booked through 2028. Bobinski said that a dozen of those 21 non-conference games already included ACC or Pac-12 programs. Among them: Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Notre Dame of the ACC, and Oregon State of the Pac-12. Purdue won't need to add or subtract any games, and the SEC doesn't show back up until a 2029 meeting with Vanderbilt.
In time, under this hand-shake agreement, its schedules are expected to include at least one Pac-12 team and one ACC team every season. It remains to be seen when those games will start being added, but 2029 would seemingly represent Purdue's first openings.
It would seem likely that conference offices and maybe networks would help play matchmaker to avoid what Bobinski suggested might be a "free-for-all" if schools were competing with one another for games and contracts.
The scheduling component was a secondary consideration as this partnership was forged, though. This was more about clout, about having the loudest voice possible when it comes to the many sea changes already gripping college football, with more to come.
"There was a coming together of the commissioners of our three leagues to discuss how we might have some way to better shape our destiny from an NCAA governance perspective, (College Football Playoff) expansion, what college athletics comes to look like, and there was an agreement between our three leagues that we have more commonalities than differences," Bobinski said.
"I think we all recognize we're in a time of upheaval — that's probably not too strong a word — in terms of the fabric and nature of college athletics. It's time has come."
This a non-binding pact between three leagues and 41 schools. Needless to say, interests will vary widely among them, but Bobinski believes the power of the collective can give this alliance both teeth and staying power.
"We all see value in the association, in the collaboration," he said.
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