INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Barry Alvarez lived through the tidal wave of conference realignment that swept over college sports in the early 2010s as Wisconsin’s athletic director, watching the Big Ten grow to 14 teams from the Midwest to the East Coast.
Another round of shuffling could be on the horizon, with Texas and Oklahoma initiating discussions with the Southeastern Conference about leaving the Big 12 and joining what is already college football’s strongest league.
Alvarez’s reaction when he heard the news: “Why?”
One day after word of the discussions surfaced, the ripple effects across the sport were clear as schools far from the Big 12 and SEC tried to sort out where this is going.
The Big 12 athletic directors and university presidents and chancellors held a call Thursday to be briefed on what’s going on with Texas and Oklahoma, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press.