Trap of the Day: NCAA Realignment
In 2010, the richest college football programs in the game profited a grand total of over $1.1 billion collectively. This is an over 10% increase from the year prior, and has universities chirping about which direction to move in order to snag a larger piece of this enormous revenue pie in college athletics. To stay or to go, that has become the question. Allow me to introduce to you, the NCAA Realignment Trap. Like it or loathe it, changes are certainly on the horizon:
It’s been nearly a year since the big announcement of the “Pac-12”, yet still to this day I find myself saying “Pac-10” when having a conversation discussing college football. When I first heard about the University of Colorado and the University of Utah joining the conference, I was adamant that the Pac-10’s new name should be simplified, dropping the number altogether to play it safe. Call it the “Pacific Conference,” because who knows when the next university will come knocking on our commissioner’s door ready to join up. Turns out, it’s looking like I was correct.
However, the Pac-12 is not the only conference that could look different when the season kicks off in 2012.
After the announcement surfaced that Texas A&M will officially be leaving the Big-12 for the SEC after this season, rumors and speculation began swirling that the Big-12 may not survive after their departure. Could a Domino Effect really kill off an entire conference? Many college football analysts are predicting that this will in fact happen if other universities choose to follow suit and leave the Big-12 in the dust for other conferences.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-12? Texas to the ACC? Baylor to the Big East? Florida State is reemerging as a powerhouse yet again, will they move elsewhere? After being independent since 1978, are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish contemplating joining a Super-conference in the making?
So many questions, yet so few answers. If only NCAA brass would step up and admit that discussion on conference realignment is distracting fans and players from what really matters, the game. The forefront of discussion should never be about what is happening outside-the-lines, yet that is exactly what has been going on thus far this season. Unfortunately, time is definitely money and college football is undoubtedly a business when all is said and done.
As the waiting game continues, you might as well have something to read. Stay informed on the latest conference shuffling with the NCAA Realignment Trap. Play on!
-Geoff