Daily briefing: On the alliance's mission, Pac-12 expansion and LSU's nuclear option

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

What exactly will alliance do?

Here’s hoping someone will explain the mission of the ACC/Big Ten/Pac-12 alliance more coherently than the word salad we got Tuesday. They’re going to schedule games together, just not right now. They want to continue to advance the collegiate model, the importance of education and gender equity — all values they already espoused. Of course, the alliance isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to the SEC because Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said it isn’t. Sigh. I know college athletics is rudderless these days, thanks to the complete abdication of NCAA leadership. But it would have been nice to hear the three commissioners define a mission beyond platitudes. I do applaud their refusal to give into the urge to give Greg Sankey the finger.

Pac-12 expansion? Yeah, OK

And in pretty much the same breath, the Pac-12 announced it will decide whether to pursue expansion by the end of the week. What is there to decide? There is no candidate that meets the Pac-12’s academic standards that isn’t at least two time zones away from the Pacific time zone. There is no candidate that’s going to move the television needle in the Pac-12’s favor. What the Pac-12 needs to do is recruit California kids to stay in the conference. Play better — that might help with attendance, too.

LSU goes nuclear

Raise your hand if you’re as gob-smacked as I am that LSU is among the first athletic programs to require fans to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test within 72 hours of kickoff if they want to go see the Tigers play in Death Valley. I know of at least one SEC program that has considered again reducing stadium capacity to limit the spread of the virus. I’m glad that LSU decided to go nuclear. If science doesn’t convince people in the South to get vaccines, taking away their football tickets just might.