Mega Conferences

It is a funny thing this talk of expanding college conferences. Cable TV is the back bone of the expansion talk. The Big Ten has founded their own Big Ten Network and by doing so each school within the conference has doubled their TV money. The Big Ten is looking to expand to 16 teams because if they do that then each schools take from the monies may double again.

Where does this leave the ACC? What ever happens to the ACC will depend greatly on which direction the SEC goes. There is talk of Florida State jumping to the SEC. Looking at where they are located on the panhandle of Florida the Seminoles moving to the SEC would put them into a car trip to just about any conference member except Kentucky.

Clemson has been mentioned as a possible new member. Let’s be realistic here. What can Clemson offer the SEC that they don’t already have? They would not give the conference new territory for TV, the SEC already has South Carolina.

I can see the SEC looking to expand toward Texas or Oklahoma. If the ideal conference these days is 16 who do they want to add? Bringing in Florida State does not expand their TV territory. Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State adds 20 million new viewers to the SEC TV territory. Texas has already shown that they have no conference allegiance when they lead the move out of the Southwest conference a few years ago.

If new TV territory is what is pushing these talks of mega conferences where can the ACC go? Syracuse who was on the table the first time the ACC expanded seven years ago, Connecticut, If the ACC is a power basketball conference both the Cuse and U Conn help build on that. Rutgers, you know Rutgers is the State University of New Jersey and brings with it the New York City TV market. West Virginia and Pittsburgh, these to me are ideal for each other. Even before they joined the Big East they hated each other like State and Carolina.

The big casino in all this is Notre Dame. They continue to talk as if they will remain independent. Notre Dame talks as if they are the Notre Dame of thirty years ago. They joined the Big East because being independent only can work in football not basketball or soccer. It may not happen during this expansion period but Notre Dame can not last as an independent. NBC's contract with Notre Dame for home football games is not a given the next time the contract is renewable.

The big loser in all of this expansion talks is the Big East. Born in the late 70’s as a basketball league that found out quickly with out a conference affiliation football carries a big stick on campus. They have such a jumbled mess with schools that want to be in a football conference that they will be the easiest to steal from.

My guess is the SEC goes toward the south west while the Big Ten and ACC cut up the northeast. All the while the PAC Ten gets the pick of the litter of schools it wants west of the Rockies. Utah in the Pac-10?, Colorado?. If this happens the Big Twelve is torn to pieces especially if Nebraska and Missouri join the Big Ten and Texas heads to the SEC

Four MEGA conferences each with two division champions, sounds to me like we are halfway home to a football playoff system.

Let me throw grease on the fire. Four mega conferences getting all kinds of TV revenue, is this the first step in the end of the NCAA as we know it? Could these four break a way and let the NCAA handle the so called small schools and create their own championships?

It could happen!