Amid Pac-12 stumbling in Power 5, Nebraska AD emphasizes saving the sports culture and strengthening the Big Ten and SEC

The current situation of the Pac-12 has been a wake-up call for college sports on the need to keep college athletics healthy and safe.

Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts stressed the need to save college sports culture amid the Pac-12 stumbling within the Power Five. This follows the statement he made a few days ago, where he expressed that there will be another wave of Big Ten expansion.

Once again, conference expansion and realignment have overwhelmingly dominated the college football off-season. The current wave has seen the Pac-12 lying on the brink of collapse following the mass exodus of its members to other Power Five conferences.

However, Alberts believes there's a core need to take action to ensure the survival and prosperity of college sports. He expressed the need for the bigger Power Five conferences to make decisions that benefit the college sports landscape in the long term:

“We’ve got to save our sports. We can sit here in an isolated room and just only think about ourselves. Or we can say what’s in the best interest long term for college athletics.”

The need for strong conferences in college athletics

It would have been unthinkable some years back to have the Power Five poaching from each other. However, with the Pac-12 situation, it appears the Power Five are aiming to send each other into extinction. The conference is left with just four teams following recent poaching.

Trev Alberts has called for the need to strengthen the Power Five conferences. He expressed the necessity for effective leadership and collaboration in addressing the challenges:

“Leadership needs to come together and find solutions. Obviously, there’s legal risk to all that; we need to figure that out. But I think the Big Ten needs and wants the SEC to be real strong and all the conferences and vice versa. It doesn’t do us any good to try to make decisions in a vacuum.”

What does the future hold for the Pac-12?

The Pac-12's future in college sports remains uncertain following the recent occurrences. The league will lose eight members going into 2024 to be left with four teams. This could effectively mark its end within the college sports landscape.

However, there are currently moves to keep the conference alive, preserving its over 100 years of history. The leadership of the league is currently exploring the possibility of expansion to ensure the survival of the conference and retainment of its Power Five status.