West Virginia athletic director reacts to conference realignment, alliances

West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons told Sirius XM and ESPN’s Mark Packer that he is disappointed in the news of a potential alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12. As one of the eight remaining members of the Big 12, West Virginia has maintained that it plans to remain loyal to the conference since the news of Texas and Oklahoma’s planned departure last month.

West Virginia joined the Big 12 during the last round of conference realignment in 2012. The Mountaineers joined TCU as the new members set to replace Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas A&M following their moves to other conferences.

A disappointed @WVUADLyons reacted to the news of a potential alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12.
@WVUSports | @MarkPacker pic.twitter.com/7MPONoSfXH

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) August 20, 2021

Planning for the future

Lyons and other leaders at Big 12 schools continue to report that they are committed to the conference, despite speculation about future realignment. The West Virginia athletic director believes that while that is true now, things can change quickly.

“Is it best for us to stick together? The answer is right now, yes, it’s best for us to lock arms and keep moving forward and let’s see what the future is going to hold,” Lyons told Serius XM. “Things could change a lot, as we all know. It can change from day-to-day, let alone a month-to-month or year-to-year but we do have some time, and we’ve got to see what it looks like because there’s a lot that can change in the next six to 12 months that could mean difference for all eight of us.”

The timetable for potential realignment remains up in the air. Texas and Oklahoma are currently not set to join the SEC until 2025, leaving a four-year window to make potential additions or subtractions in the Big 12.

“You look through this thing, you have to look at the different options and that’s what I talk about,” said Lyons. “We have runway, we have some time to work through and look at different options.”

Pressure from ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 alliance

Other conference commissioners and school leaders have continued to feed the flames. In a cryptic response to questions from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said he spoke with “probably all of the [schools] you would expect and several you’d be surprised by.”

Klivkoff has put the Pac-12 at the center of the debate about the future of college athletics, also joining a reported alliance with the ACC and Big Ten. The exclusion of the Big 12 has turned a bad situation worse as the remaining eight schools look for a solution.

“Everything is on the table,” said Lyons. “We’re going to hang together, but we do also understand that we have presidents and board directors that we all have to answer to as well.”