NFL
By: Greg Rector
Okay, I am old enough to remember when the NCAA and its divisions for college football and basketball made sense. I now am seeing as we all are the demise of the PAC-12 conference. This week saw the landscape changed forever not just for NCAA football but college basketball will also be affected as will all sports going forward.
As it stands today, this is what Power 5 College Football will look like in 2024👀 pic.twitter.com/AmJMHWz3Pt
— On3 (@On3sports) August 5, 2023
The Pac-12
California Oregon State Washington State and Stanford are now all that’s left of the PAC12 Conference. I understood the days of UCLA’s dominance in college basketball and USC dominating football for decades. I even got used to the fact that Oregon and Utah were now winning the PAC-12 championships in football over USC and Washington. The decision to leave the PAC-12 by USC and UCLA to leave for the BIG10 started this mess we saw this week.
Once the BIG10 invited Washington and Oregon to also join the BIG10 this week the PAC-12 Conference was destroyed. So when Colorado University joined the BIG12 they also saw the two Arizona schools and the Utah Utes invited to join what was once home to the Southwestern Conference. Yes, I miss the 1970s 80s, and the 90s when these conferences made sense.
USC AND UCLA
Once the two biggest schools in Los Angeles decided on joining the BIG10 this was bound to happen. The PAC-12 conference hurt itself with a terrible TV deal that was hurting its exposure. I understand how that happened and why both schools decided to jump ship.
Once they left the next two big programs in Washington and Oregon were bound to leave as well. For me, the loss of the “Apple Cup” between Washington and Washington State played annually except for 1943 and 1944 because of World War Two and the former “Civil War” games between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers which is the 5th oldest rivalry game in NCAA history is simply an unbelievable occurrence.
The Outside Four
So what happens now to Oregon State and Washington State along with the California Bears and the Stanford Cardinal? My assumption is they now join the Mountain West conference which of course is not a Power 5 conference. I know have to live without one of the top schools visiting “The Farm” at Stanford is known and getting their butts handed to them by the Cardinal.
The Big12
The BIG12 is now sixteen schools with schools from Florida to Arizona all inside the conference. With Cincinnati Houston UCF already in they have been joined by Colorado along with ASU and Arizona and Utah. This conference is making up for losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC in a big way. Now will these new schools become the Power 4 programs that we now have and can they dominate this new conference? Time will tell but for me, it will take time for all of these schools except for Utah to become dominant.
TheBig10
Welcome to an eighteen-school Big10 which stretches from Seattle in the west to Rutgers on the east coast. A truly national conference. I have no idea how the new schools will play inside the BIG10 I just know that UCLA and USC can enjoy playing in November games in the Midwest and good luck with that. Just what other schools join to make the BIG10 a twenty-team conference is going to be interesting to see. Michigan and Ohio State versus USC in November will be interesting to see how those games turn out.
SEC
The all-powerful SEC schools are now 16 teams strong as well. With Texas and Oklahoma coming over for the 2024 season. The days of this region dominating football will remain but how well the two new schools do in the SEC is going to be interesting to watch. I believe the first move that started this new landscape for college sports was started by the SEC. I have no doubt that Georgia and Alabama will continue to be two of the best programs in college football.
The ACC
Here’s the other conference where changes are coming if the Florida State Seminoles decide to leave as their school President said is a possibility this week. The fourteen schools in this conference have recently gotten a new TV deal that is favorable. I have no idea what will happen with the Florida Stae Seminoles if they decide to leave.
Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish will remain an independent program. Will they stay with the ACC or move back to align themselves with their more traditional rivals in the BIG10? They have recently re-signed the largest uniform deal in CFB football and their new TV deal with NBC is expected to be as massive as possible. Y’all didn’t believe I would write about college football and not mention my Notre Dame Fighting Irish did you?
The New Conferences
The new conferences are going to see the big boys simply get bigger and stronger. I have zero hope for mid-major schools to see themselves ever being able to compete against the big boys in college football. It’s college basketball where we will see mid-major schools still be able to compete. I am still sitting here as a fan of seeing the “Apple Cup” being no more and that in itself is a stinger. I have watched the “Apple Cup” games my whole life between Washington and Washington State. Seeing the demise of such a historic rivalry in the PAC-12 conference is truly an era I never saw coming.
I never thought the PAC-12 Conference would see itself destroyed the way it has happened has been a shocking development. Good luck to Washington State Stanford California and Oregon State. You’ve been left behind and now must decide how to remain relevant in college sports.
