The Beginning and the End of College Sports As We Know

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Created on Wednesday, 21 September 2011 17:10

Written by Howie C.

At the time I’m writing this blog we are hearing that the ACC has officially accepted Pitt and Syracuse as new members leaving the Big East after 25 plus years to join the ACC and that Oklahoma & Texas may jump from the Big 12 to join the Pac 12 which many believe will be the Pac 16 if Oklahoma St and Texas Tech jump ship as well.  WHAT IS GOING ON PEOPLE???

Is the greed for TV revenue that great that these Fortune 500 companies  EXCUSE institutions of higher learning can abandon their current conferences because they feel they aren’t getting a bigger cut of the TV revenue money.  On Monday Oklahoma and Texas board of regents respectively granted both presidents the authority to take action regarding conference alignment. Basically they have the permission to seek out acceptance to the Pac-12.   Do you think the Texas-UCLA had other implications besides a football game?  Neither OKLA nor Texas has informed the Big 12 that they are leaving but its just a formality until they do.    Oklahoma President David Boren said over the weekend he had “very warm and constructive discussions” with Pac-12 officials.  That doesn’t bode well for the remaining 5-6 institutions left in the Big 12.  Last year the Big 12 went through this losing Colorado and Nebraska as the remaining team members pledge to stick together.  Oh how a summer can change things !!!  By not deciding to create a conference network similar to the Big Ten and Pac -12, not agreeing to split revenue equally, and allowing Texas to create the Longhorn Network with ESPN (discussion for another time), estimated at $300 million for 20 years, the Big 12 or Small 12 has backed themselves into a corner that doesn’t seem promising.  Yes, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, if there is a merger with the now defunct Big East, but that light without Texas and Oklahoma in the conference looks like a train coming.

Hey Guys, has anyone taking into account the scheduling and traveling that we are asking our student-athletes and parents to endure when choosing a school.  Over the last few years it has become a cool trend to stay and home and play for a nearby school so that your family and friends can attend a game.  What if my parents can’t afford to fly across the country to watch me play every other Saturday?  Will I sell my game jersey to pay for a ticket for my mom?  Oops, that’s a violation.  And speaking about violations, where is the NCAA?  The so-called Governing Body of College Sports.  So you can suspend a few players for getting free tattoos and put schools on probation for rules violations, but you just stand by and watch the total realignment of college sports and do nothing????  Do we even need the NCAA when the presidents and athlete directors calling all the shots?

This trend is on-going as the ACC (previously mentioned) announced it was adding long-time Big East Companies Syracuse and Pitt. And UConn is also reported to have strong interest in joining the ACC. Remember when the Big East had Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami just a few years back. When they left for the ACC it was tough but the conference moved on. By the way have they won anything recently in the ACC??  Now losing Syracuse, Pitt, and UConn from a basketball standpoint will be devastating to the Big East.

We are talking about three basketball programs that at one time were all in the Top 10 last year. Two of them (UConn and Syracuse)  have one national championships, with UConn winning last year.  From a regionally standpoint Pitt seems more like a Mid-Western team that should be considered for the Big Ten not the ACC.

The most likely Big East candidates to be scooped up by remaining Big 12 schools are Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida and TCU, with the prospect that UConn and Rutgers may not be available if each school can land in the ACC. There are reports that the SEC has its eyes on West Virginia

Without Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the Big East still has six football members, Cincinnati, UConn, South Florida, Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia. Add on TCU joining the Big East conference next year giving them a presence in Big 12 country. And the ACC already with 14 members will probably add UConn and Rutgers giving them a presence along I-95 from Miami to Connecticut and all in between.

I haven’t even mentioned Notre Dame who remains an independent in football, but plays all other sports in the Big East.  Has the luck of the Irish run its course??  Has loyalty, rivalries, and integrity been replaced by the greed of money in college sports?  Somewhere Gordon Gecko believes it has.