Huge Ten, SEC partner to ‘attend to’ college problems

• Heather Dinich, ESPN

  • Senior WriterFeb 2, 2024, 01:54 PM ET Close College football press reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

The Big 10 and SEC have formed a joint advisory group of university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors to “attend to the considerable challenges facing college athletics” and how to enhance the student-athlete experience, the conferences revealed Friday.The move is substantial since it reflects a growing relationship between the 2 biggest and wealthiest conferences and their respective commissioners as the balance of power continues to tilt in their favor in the evolving college landscape.Sources have informed ESPN that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey have been working closely together– more than their predecessors had– at a time when conference expansion has even more separated their leagues from the other FBS conferences. The SEC will invite Oklahoma and Texas this summer season, while the Big Ten will include Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA from a Pac-12 that is on the verge of extinction.Editor’s Picks The advisory group was formed in response to”recent court decisions, pending litigation, a patchwork of state laws and intricate governance proposals,”according to the Huge 10’s news release. “The Big 10 and the SEC have substantial investment in the NCAA and there is no concern that the voices of our two conferences are integral to governance

and other reform efforts,”Petitti stated in a declaration.” We acknowledge the similarity in our circumstances, as well as the urgency to attend to the common obstacles we deal with.”The Big Ten-SEC advisory group will serve as an expert to the leagues but won’t have authority to carry out modifications. Its structure and schedule

and the specific issues it will take on are still uncertain. What it has actually done, however, is additional bind the two behemoths together.” There are comparable cultural and social effect on our student-athletes, our organizations, and our neighborhoods due to the fact that of the brand-new collegiate sports environment,

“Sankey said in a declaration. “We do not have predetermined answers to the myriad concerns facing us. We do not anticipate to agree on whatever however improving interaction between our conferences will help to focus efforts on sound judgment options.”