Here's what the ASUN/UAC partnership *really* means, now that the dust has settled

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About a month ago, I wrote about how conference realignment brought about one of the most unique partnerships we’ve seen at the D1 level.

The ASUN and the Conference Formerly Known As The WAC But Now Currently Known As The UAC, announced a partnership. The two leagues would still function as independent conferences, with their own automatic bids to NCAA postseason events, commissioners, logos, and everything else.

But the two leagues will also formalize a partnership that allows them to potentially combine some things. Perhaps that means combining media rights deals, or MMR partnerships. Perhaps that means securing scheduling agreements across multiple sports. Perhaps that could even mean sharing conference staffers.

But that was back in late June. Now that the press releases have gone out the door and the congratulatory text messages have slowed down, how does one go about trying to turn two conferences into a larger partnership? What does this actually end up looking like?

I called up ASUN commissioner Jeff Bacon to find out.

And it starts, he told me, just like with building a house. “You gotta start with the foundation.”

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