In other words, both the Pac-12 and Big 12 should move their chess pieces in a manner that not only creates media value for the next contract cycle but positions each for competitive relevance in the 12-team playoff. His broad perspective is shaped by the confluence of four events that will catapult college football into its next chapter:Ģ024: The Pac-12 begins a new media contract cycleĢ025: The Big 12 begins a new media contract cycleĢ025: Notre Dame’s last year under the current NBC contractĢ026: The first season on an expanded CFP “You can say, ‘We aren’t the Big Ten or SEC, but we have seven or eight high-quality teams, and we’re entitled to a couple spots in the CFP.’ Maybe you’re 75 percent of those two, but you could get two or three slots in the playoff.”Ĭrakes is not directly involved in the discussions involving the conferences and their media partners, but he knows many of the key players, including new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark.

“Both leagues would make more by working together than they would separately,” Crakes said. The conferences are stronger together, not with one raiding the other but with each embracing a partnership that would add media value, warrant slots in the expanded CFP, marginalize the ACC, span every time zone and create a credible counterweight to the SEC and Big Ten. Now, an alliance - or an outright merger - might be their best chance for relevance at the highest level in the sport’s next era. Then came COVID and the departures of Texas, Oklahoma, USC and UCLA.

Three years ago, the Hotline examined the benefits of a strategic alliance between the Pac-12 and Big 12 that would make both stronger.īob Bowlsby, the Big 12 commissioner at the time, suggested a partnership was “not far-fetched,” but nothing materialized.

Teams joining the big 12 conference