Conference expansion and tradition concerns

[OrangeUte]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=608148&f=124

this article expresses my concerns regarding the selfish window shopping being done currently. The Big East was lucky to survive the ACC raid and CFB still seems to honor it's traditions... But, if the Rumors swirlng actually come to be, we will probably be watching the end of College Football being about tradition and student athletes. I hope any expansion progresses with this in mind.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Didn't this already start to happen with the last expansions in the mid-90s? The SWC and all their rivalries were broken up and not renewed. Arkansas/Texas for example. The B12 basically laughed in the face of Oklahoma/Nebraska which at the time of the forming of the B12 was maybe the biggest and most important rivalry in college football.

[Babs]

Didn't this already start to happen with the last expansions in the mid-90s? The SWC and all their rivalries were broken up and not renewed. Arkansas/Texas for example. The B12 basically laughed in the face of Oklahoma/Nebraska which at the time of the forming of the B12 was maybe the biggest and most important rivalry in college football.

yup.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...&postcount=645

[OrangeUte]

yup.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...&postcount=645

Absolutely it has already started to happen. But, my fear is that this large scale expansion will cause the remaining facade that CFB is about tradition and rivalries and student athletes tocompletely crumble, and CFB will lose it's remaining appeal.

[Top Ute]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=608148&f=124

this article expresses my concerns regarding the selfish window shopping being done currently. The Big East was lucky to survive the ACC raid and CFB still seems to honor it's traditions... But, if the Rumors swirlng actually come to be, we will probably be watching the end of College Football being about tradition and student athletes. I hope any expansion progresses with this in mind.

Did you mention the Big East and tradition within 100 words of one another? Was there anything wrong with some two dozen schools holding independent status? Was there a hue and cry over consolidation of CFB amongst six major conferences when Florida State went to the ACC, and Miami joined the Big East?

As for the SWC, it made its own bed via probation. It was not a major conference at the time of its breakup. Arkansas had the foresight to notice this when it left for the SEC in 1990. Texas was a fringe player in terms of national relevance, and the only program of true national relevance was Texas A&M. Playing SMU, Houston, Rice, TCU and Baylor in the 1990s did not capture anything close to the fervor and enthusiasm to what the SEC, Big 10 and Pac 10 had at the time.

The SWC slit its own throat, not the forces we see in place today that threaten to significantly change college football.

[Babs]

Did you mention the Big East and tradition within 100 words of one another? Was there anything wrong with some two dozen schools holding independent status? Was there a hue and cry over consolidation of CFB amongst six major conferences when Florida State went to the ACC, and Miami joined the Big East?

As for the SWC, it made its own bed via probation. It was not a major conference at the time of its breakup. Arkansas had the foresight to notice this when it left for the SEC in 1990. Texas was a fringe player in terms of national relevance, and the only program of true national relevance was Texas A&M. Playing SMU, Houston, Rice, TCU and Baylor in the 1990s did not capture anything close to the fervor and enthusiasm to what the SEC, Big 10 and Pac 10 had at the time.

The SWC slit its own throat, not the forces we see in place today that threaten to significantly change college football.

Top Ute, go back and read the articles I posted. They're word-for-word what you see today. Only the names and dates have changed. And there were hundreds and hundreds of articles just like them. The forces are absolutely the same...those forces are simply farther along on their crash-course toward an NFL-lite.

[Top Ute]

Top Ute, go back and read the articles I posted. They're word-for-word what you see today. Only the names and dates have changed. And there were hundreds and hundreds of articles just like them. The forces are absolutely the same...those forces are simply farther along on their crash-course toward an NFL-lite.

I don't deny the forces we see today were in place in many other circumstances over the years, but the SWC was a unique situation. Probation, SMU's death penalty and Arkansas' departure made that league ripe for a takeover.

There were a lot of self-inflicted wounds with the SWC that won't come into play if the Big 12 dissolves, but at the heart of them all, greed rules.

[OrangeUte]

I don't deny the forces we see today were in place in many other circumstances over the years, but the SWC was a unique situation. Probation, SMU's death penalty and Arkansas' departure made that league ripe for a takeover.

There were a lot of self-inflicted wounds with the SWC that won't come into play if the Big 12 dissolves, but at the heart of them all, greed rules.

Are you saying an expansion to these mega conferences is a good thing, bad thing, not going to change much because it's a natural progression? And, yes, I did say tradition and big east within 100 words of each other. Ernie Davis, Backyard Brawl, Rutgers as the birthplace of college football. That's tradition, regardless of it not showing up on the field in several years.

[Top Ute]

Are you saying an expansion to these mega conferences is a good thing, bad thing, not going to change much because it's a natural progression? And, yes, I did say tradition and big east within 100 words of each other. Ernie Davis, Backyard Brawl, Rutgers as the birthplace of college football. That's tradition, regardless of it not showing up on the field in several years.

All of those things you mentioned with Big East connections were in play long before the Big East conference existed.

When I think of college football and tradition, the Big East ranks very low. Its existence came into play strictly because of basketball, and its founders very much wanted to keep college football out of the picture. Had Penn State stayed independent, it likely would've never been a football conference.

[OrangeUte]

All of those things you mentioned with Big East connections were in play long before the Big East conference existed.

When I think of college football and tradition, the Big East ranks very low. Its existence came into play strictly because of basketball, and its founders very much wanted to keep college football out of the picture. Had Penn State stayed independent, it likely would've never been a football conference.

All of these things are part of the schools that make up the Big East.

[beefytee]

I love how all the Ute fans are all of a sudden concerned about tradition, when they were excited (and still would be) to have the Utes go to the Pac-10.

For me, the tradition pretty much died with the Bowl alliance and January 1st no long holding all the major bowl games.

Teams have been moving conferences for a long time. Unless you are huge Pac-10 or Big Ten fans (where change hasn't been common), there isn't really much to complain about here. Realignment is the constant here, not the change.

[myboynoah]

I love how all the Ute fans are all of a sudden concerned about tradition, when they were excited (and still would be) to have the Utes go to the Pac-10.

Good point, although LA Ute has been loyal to the BYU-Utah linkage. Good for him. SU, on the other hand, treats us like we are dog turds. That hurts.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I love how all the Ute fans are all of a sudden concerned about tradition, when they were excited (and still would be) to have the Utes go to the Pac-10.

For me, the tradition pretty much died with the Bowl alliance and January 1st no long holding all the major bowl games.

Teams have been moving conferences for a long time. Unless you are huge Pac-10 or Big Ten fans (where change hasn't been common), there isn't really much to complain about here. Realignment is the constant here, not the change.

I like BYU and enjoy the tradition and rivalry. But if we passed up an opportunity to move up the food chain simply because BYu wasn't included, I might go Mark Hoffman on my alma mater.

[OrangeUte]

Looks to me Like a very influential group were also worried that massive wholesale expansion proposals were not in the best interest of college football. I'm sure that they weren't as altruistic as it sounds, but altruism and concern for the pageantry and amateurism of CFB were at least a driving force. It may not save the MWC fromlosing Utah, but the WAC, MWC, Big East, etc. will not he destroyed or made completely irrelevant by what could have occurred.

[ame="http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=5286816"]ESPN NCAAF Source: Influential group saved Big 12[/ame]