Gene Smith discusses how USC, UCLA additions could impact Alliance partnership

Last year, the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC formed a historic Alliance regarding scheduling and other issues around college athletics. But questions have come up about its future after USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten last week, and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith talked about what the big news means in the long run.

USC and UCLA are set to join the Big Ten by the 2024 season — a seismic conference realignment shift. It’s unclear what it means for the future of The Alliance, but Smith said it’s not going anywhere. However, there’s still a lot to determine about how the trust between the Big Ten and Pac-12 will be impacted.

“At the end of the day, we needed to look at what’s best for our 14 schools and the student-athletes we serve and our institutions,” said Smith, who previously worked in the Pac-12 at Arizona State. “This was part of that decision process. Certainly, the Alliance still exists because we still have cooperative relationships around certain things that we do. But it certainly impacted it.

“I can’t speak to the trust yet. The fallout from this move is still fresh. What happens between now and the end of next week and the end of July will help determine that. But at this point in time, it’s hard for me to project that trust issue that you’re talking about. I have a lot of friends and colleagues in the Pac-12 and I was in the Pac-12.”

Gene Smith on conference expansion: ‘This is not new’

Smith also discussed what conference realignment means for college athletics as a whole. He has plenty of experience with it dating back to his time at Iowa State when the Big Eight Conference became the Big 12. He said time is a big factor in seeing the impact of expansion and realignment.

“Conference expansion has been in place for years,” Smith said. “This is not new. I was on the committee that took it from the Big Eight to the Big 12. You think about all the expansion over time, the industry gets over it. They adjust, and colleagues adjust once they find their own way.

“We have a lot of volatility around a number of different issues that contribute to the challenge of that trust issue that you raise, but I think it’ll get back to there at some point. It just takes time.”