When all the conference realignment BS began
I always thought ND should have pursued a quasi independent conference of 4-5 teams that all play each other each year and are free to schedule whomever they like the rest of the year..
Not that it would have been easy, but getting ND, Texas, USC, (+/-Miami) and one of the top teams from the B10 (?PSU)
and/or SEC or ACC (?UT or FSU) together would draw a huge TV contract and ensure 4 high end games for each team every year….plus open the entire country to recruiting…. not that it isn’t already to some degree for these teams.
Replies to: When all the conference realignment BS began
Power teams will decouple from NCAA, form a Super League and create geographic divisions...
Ironically, by leaving the NCAA the old conference rivalries will be reconstituted.
Good!
Let the NFL minor leaguers have their own industrial league while college football returns to what it aught to be with an emphasis on scholars playing in local (not nationwide) conferences. Make the pros pay millions$ for any players they take before graduation.
Yup
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You're probably right.
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It's ruining college football
We are going to - soon - have two major national conferences with a bunch of sub conferences. Geographic rivalries have gone out the window, and so will fan interest. Even the SEC today is too big. I wonder when this bubble is going to pop, but it may take decades.
The geographic rivalries were wonderful for college football and then the bowls could have been
arranged so it was a field of 8 and alternated each year so that the 4 major bowls could have had great matchups and would share in the semi finals and finals. It's absolutely crazy that volleyball teams from USC have to travel to Rutgers and vice versa. What a joke and what a waste of resources.
True, but
Once you get beyond an 8 hour bus ride I suspect most teams are flying now anyway (I have no idea if this is true…just a guess. I use that as my own cut off when it’s more than just me in the car)
And I get it costs more and can be more stressful to go coast to coast, but time wise it’s not that much worse than a 10 hour trip even with getting to and from the actual plane.
I do agree on the lost rivalries and the obstacles it presents most fans of teams who might otherwise go to away games if drivable.
Its already been ruined with the transfer rules and NIL crap.
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There was already conference realignment in the 1990s.
Teams vacating the Southwest Conference for greener pastures. Arkansas was the first to go, then four others left to join the old Big 8 which then became the Big 12. That was the end of the storied and NCAA infraction plagued Southwest Conference. I still can't get my head around the complete and total destruction of the PAC 8-10-12. The Rose Bowl will never be the same.