Last Friday, news broke that the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 met and had high level conversations of forming an “alliance.” The report stated that the “alliance” could relate to scheduling and issues related to College Football Playoff expansion.

Obviously, the SEC’s expansion — adding Texas and Oklahoma — brought about these discussions, and it’s a direct response to the Southeastern Conference. Greg Sankey sent shockwaves around the nation when the SEC added the Big 12’s 2 biggest brands in the Longhorns and Sooners.

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach is reporting Friday morning that the trio are expected to make an announcement soon — maybe as early as next week — on their alignment. There are many details to “iron out” among the 3 conferences, per the report.

While the alliance is certainly about scheduling, it’s more about the ability of the 3 conferences to delay the coming College Football Playoff expansion. This summer, the working group proposed a 12-team Playoff in the future.

The alliance is bad news for the Big 12’s chances of holding things together after Texas and Oklahoma announced it would leave for the SEC.