ACC, Big Ten & Pac-12 make ‘alliance’ official (LINKS)

Whether or not it actually means anything is up for debate, however.

Last week, we briefly touched on the planned alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12, and now it seems that endeavor is officially official. Sort of.

All three leagues made the announcement today that they’ll be working together for the future of college football and all, but also within that agreement is no actual signed agreement, according to Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff. Just keep this in mind when the Big Ten offers an invite to USC or something similarly off-the-wall. This has so many shades of the Roosevelt Bouie typo already.

Getting into the actual “what” of this whole thing, though, here’s how the leagues (vaguely) put it:

The three conferences remain competitors in every sense but are committed to collaborating and providing thought leadership on various opportunities and challenges facing college athletics, including:

Student-athlete mental and physical health, safety, wellness and support

Strong academic experience and support

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Social justice

Gender equity

Future structure of the NCAA

Federal legislative efforts

Postseason championships and future formats

So this sounds a lot like what the NCAA should be doing. The announcement also adds scheduling components for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball to create new opponent opportunities and events. Obviously these conferences play one another a lot already as it is in hoops given the number of early-season tournaments and interconference events like the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But we may see an uptick in those now.

For football, quite a few teams are scheduled out for years already. So curious if the plan is to replace those, or just populate more schedules with games between ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 teams going forward once accounting for what’s already set.

Of course, without a signed deal, who knows how. much of this is all for show. Lauren Brownlow seemed to capture the vibes of this quite well on Twitter, and I’d have to agree. Without anything formal in place, this is just a thing that theoretically exists until we see something actually come of it.

More on that, plus the rest of our daily links below — including the news that a Syracuse grad (Kathy Hochul) is officially New York’s governor now. All your executive branches belong to us!

ACC, Big Ten & Pac-12 announce historic alliance (TheACC)

The alliance includes a scheduling component for football and women’s and men’s basketball designed to create new inter-conference games, enhance opportunities for student-athletes, and optimize the college athletics experience for both student-athletes and fans across the country. The scheduling alliance will begin as soon as practical while honoring current contractual obligations. A working group comprised of athletic directors representing the three conferences will oversee the scheduling component of the alliance, including determining the criteria upon which scheduling decisions will be made.

Syracuse alum Kathy Hochul makes history (The NewsHouse)

As a student, Hochul was part of a group which pushed to name Syracuse’s new stadium after Ernie Davis. Imagine if they’d been successful back then…

Tajon Buchanan Reportedly Leaving Revolution At End Of Season To Sign With Club Brugge In Belgium (CBS Boston)

Revolution fans are going to have to soak up all the Tajon Buchanan they can this year. The New England winger is reportedly heading overseas at the end of the season. Rumors have been circulating that Buchanan would find a home in Europe since he was a standout for the Canadian National Team during the Gold Cup. He will reportedly be moving on to Club Brugge in Belgium at the end of New England’s season, according to Sam Stejskal of The Athletic.

At long last, ACC Network appears on Comcast, but only temporarily (AJC)

ACC football: Predicting every team’s 2021 record at end of September (247Sports)

Syracuse football camp Day 16 observations: G Chris Bleich returns, 2 key linemen remain out (247Sports)

Chase Scanlan declares for NLL Draft (Syracuse.com)

Syracuse alum Akane Hosoyomada part of Team Japan at World Championships (The Ice Garden)

Matt Abbott named to PLL team of the week (Inside Lacrosse)

Given recent revelations around Syracuse women’s basketball, do you really want to know the answer to this question, POTUS?