I love college sports.
Whether it’s waking up for an 11 a.m. kickoff on a crisp fall morning, watching a hectic Frozen Four hockey game in the winter, or seeing a new world record set in the track and field championships in the spring, I love it all.
There is something indescribably special about the bands, the colors, the fight songs, and the overall pageantry of college athletics that you just don’t get with professional sports.
It’s a magical cocktail of pride and passion embedded in the very fiber of my being. There’s just no substitute.
Unfortunately, due to conference realignment and major TV network deals shifting the narratives of college sports, the purity and grandeur of NCAA athletics have become a forgotten archive of a much better time in American sports culture.
College sports have become more transactional than ever, and it’s ruining the games for both the competitors and the fans who care deeply about them.
For decades, regional and inter-conference rivalries meant something not only for the fans and alumni of those institutions but also to the residents of those states. Now, because of conference realignment, those historic rivalries are no longer guaranteed.
One prime example, which came much earlier than the current realignment period, was the University of Missouri’s departure from the Big 12 Conference in 2012. With Mizzou’s absence, the ‘Border War’ rivalry with its not-so-friendly neighbor to the west, Kansas, also left. The centuries-old feud between the Jayhawks and Tigers ended abruptly and unfinished because of Missouri’s desire for more exposure and money.
This move — the first of many to be made in the larger game of conference realignment — showcases how school-sanctioned athletic departments and administrative teams care about only one thing: money.
This selfish decision was piggybacked by Texas A&M joining the SEC, which catapulted both institutions into an era of financial prosperity and conference consistency. However, it didn’t satisfy the many fans and alumni of either school.
The move to another conference can be beneficial for some, but for others, it acts more as a lifeboat away from a sinking ship than an ocean liner sailing to success.
Take, for instance, the most obvious and well-documented case of the downfall of college sports: The Pac-12 Conference.
The historic collection of West Coast teams, which played as the Pac-10 until 2011 when Colorado and Utah joined, existed for over 40 years, before their ultimate demise this past summer. The conference ceased to exist largely because UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington left for the Big Ten in exchange for larger paychecks doled out by FOX Sports and CBS.
The major storyline, though, was that the Pac-12’s demise was not only consequential for football but all NCAA sports, forcing schools like UC Berkeley and Stanford to play Division I sports across the board as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference, or ACC. This historic decision helped Cal and Stanford maintain their ‘Power 5’ status as athletic institutions but conversely put their athletes in difficult situations, making many teams travel thousands of miles more just to compete.
What these decisions by athletic directors and university officials show more than ever is that colleges are less concerned with those who are actually competing on the court or field and more interested in how large their bonuses will be.
As a member of the Big Ten, the University of Iowa stands in a very advantageous position amid the recent expansion of college football conferences. Other than having to travel more to California and the Pacific Northwest, realignment won’t hinder Hawkeye athletes too badly.
However, the addition of teams from USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington means increased competition from historically talented programs in football, soccer, baseball, swimming, and women’s basketball. To continually compete against their new West Coast foes, the UI will have to rise to the challenge of improving all athletic programs.
That said, the first few years might be rough as the new Big Ten opponents acclimate to Midwest sports culture, and the original Big Ten members fight to recruit West Coast talent.
Despite the financial advantage and the chance for college football players to perform for a larger TV audience, those making the decision didn’t factor in the human cost of conference realignment. Not only are we asking athletes to travel farther distances, but we’re also removing them from the climate they’re familiar playing in, the support system they’ve come to depend on, and the classes that are essential for them to graduate.
Susan M. Shaw, writing for Forbes, said, “In some ways, student-athletes have more voice than ever, yet, for this kind of decision made at the highest levels of their universities, they had no say-so.”
I understand we live in a capitalist society where the ‘bigwigs’ in their ivory towers make decisions for the rest of us, but what those in power don’t understand is how much these decisions affect fans, athletes, and families alike. Unfortunately, because of the greedy people at the top, college sports will never be the same again.