The NCAA landscape has changed dramatically because of conference realignment. Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and new avenues of revenue sharing have forced college athletic programs to follow the money.
In turn, some of the core aspects that made college sports feel different from professional sports have been ruined. Sports director Nolan Reynolds and sports editor Finnely Pendergast offer different perspectives on the topic.
Finnley’s thoughts
Conference realignment has destroyed something that has played a huge role in college athletics — rivalries.
A major part of sports is the battle between two historic teams, and some of the best rivalries happen at the college level. Whether it be in-conference rivalries like Ohio State and Michigan or between two of the most storied football programs, the University of Southern California and the University of Notre Dame, these rivalries excite fans.
Even the in-state battles between the University of Oregon and Oregon State, or Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State, mean something.
According to the people behind conference realignment, they actually mean nothing.
Some of the oldest rivalries in college sports are going away. While I respect conferences and schools looking to maximize their revenue, the loss of these rivalries has to outweigh the potential for heavier pockets.
One of the best conferences from an entertainment standpoint has been the Pac-12. The battles between West Coast teams deep into Saturday nights were always must-see TV.
Fans got to see games between teams that hated each other. While some of these teams weren’t making a splash come playoff time, these games truly mattered to the players, the coaches and most definitely the fans.
The Apple Cup was significant to the state of Washington. Come late November, and the battle between cross-town rivals UCLA and USC is marked on everyone’s calendar. Luckily, this rivalry is still going.
The same can’t be said for a lot of these rivalries.
If they’re going to allow these programs to move to conferences across the country, at least keep these rivalries alive. Without them, it’s as if the years of battling for fun and rotating trophies were for nothing.
Nolan’s thoughts
Now, I’m not raising my voice at you, but what made college conferences work like a well-oiled machine was the regionality. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), being made up of teams on the eastern seaboard, made sense. The Southeastern Conference, being made up of teams in the southeast United States, made sense.
After the dissolution of the old Pac-12, teams like Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley moved to the ACC, becoming “conference rivals” with teams like Florida State, the University of Miami and Duke University.
In what geographical sense do people from Durham, North Carolina, or Tallahassee, Florida, have in common with people from Palo Alto, California, or Berkeley, California?
I feel for the numerous athletes at these universities who don’t play football or basketball, who have to travel across the country because their universities decided to prioritize money over their own students’ educations.
In nine days, Stanford women’s tennis had to travel from Syracuse University to Boston College to the University of Notre Dame to the University of Louisville for conference play. That’s over 6,600 miles of travel in nine days.
That doesn’t account for travel back to Stanford in the middle of the road trip because these student-athletes also need to go to class.
I would assume, of all places, that Stanford would prioritize its students’ education.
While Fresno State does not face the same ridiculous travel issues, the university sure is maximizing its profits.
I hope that these universities realize the magnitude of their mistakes and return to a more regional basis of conferences.
Bring back sense in college athletics.
