The NFL is a billion dollar industry, and while college football may not be that, it is still a world powered by finances. New violations are coming out every day from football powerhouses like Oregon and LSU, due to their payment of scouts and other agencies to gain an upper hand in recruiting. It's casting a dark shadow on every campus; is this the only way programs can rise?
Look at a program like UNC. A team that many considered to be on the rise last year, they were completely hammered by numerous violations by key players like Marvin Austin and Greg Little (who just happened to be hot NFL prospects and were recently drafted). Take a gander at them now: Butch Davis was fired and their athletic director recently resigned. The program is suddenly in a downward spiral, putting a stain on one of the most respected athletic institutions in the nation. Oh how the mighty have fallen. And the blows even struck one of the penthouses of college tradition at Ohio State, with their fate still hanging in the balance. The scariest part is that there will most likely be more programs struck that we would have never even fathomed going down. If USC and Ohio State can, anybody can. Which they will.
If you still are not convinced, look at the imminence of conference realignment around the country. The wealthy SEC just looks to keep getting richer. Texas A&M is the newest school to have new conference flirtation, and it is looking more and more likely that they will jump to the Southeast from the Big 12. Now for those of you thinking, "Wait, Texas isn't in the Southeast. SEC stands for Southeastern Conference right?", you are absolutely correct. And they wonder how our country could be so inept with geography.
Why they are leaving is the same excuse college football gives for keeping the BCS: money. The Aggies bring even more tradition and power to an already stacked conference, but that's not why they're here. It's the TV market. The SEC is looking to spread its influence and bring in even more viewers, which of course leads to more cash. They will have finally made it into football-crazed Texas, an accomplishment that SEC commissioner Mike Slive would certainly be proud of. Not to mention that A&M is anxious to come out of the Longhorns' shadow, bringing some light onto the 12th Man and Kyle Field.
But it gets even better: there are rumors swirling that Florida State, Clemson, and Missouri could be making the jump to the SEC as well. FSU and Clemson make geographical sense, but come on, Missouri? I love my school and all, and would be greatly excited to watch SEC football, but we're in the Midwest. The only connection to teams in the SEC would be the Missouri River, which is a tributary of the Mississippi River, but that is a far stretch. If you're keeping count, that would bring the number of teams to 16. In a football conference. That is a bit too much for my taste.
I cannot really see the presidents at Florida and South Carolina voting to bring in the Seminoles and Howard's Rock, so there is definitely more speculation to come. Even if it does not happen, I'm sure more realignment is on the horizon. And it's just getting ridiculous.
Last summer's whole buzz about the Pac 10 becoming the Pac 16, with their constant courting of Texas, started this whole fiasco, and led to Texas being given its own network by ESPN (another reason A&M is looking to bolt). So basically, the reasons why your maps appear to be thrown off is due to that absolute dire need for the Longhorns to have their own network, when they already get ridiculous amounts of media coverage. I guess every major program will get one soon, maybe even their own cable provider.
All of this brings us back to the original point: this sport is no longer concerned with being collegiate and traditional. If it was, the TCU Horned Frogs would not be playing in the Big East (TCU is in Texas by the way). Programs would not be getting busted daily for illegal activities, which are mounting up so much that the NCAA has to have investigators at the local McDonald's to make sure a coach doesn't buy a recruit a Big Mac. People would not be clamoring for players to be paid when they already are getting a free education that some kids would die to pay for. It's all run amok, and soon we might as well just have four conferences with 16 teams each.
A cleaning is needed here, and the focus needs to come back to the beauty of college football. Let's get back to it being identified with the dotting of the I at Ohio State, the daily smacks on the "Play Like A Champion Today" sign at Notre Dame, the sprinting of that Sooner wagon onto the field at Oklahoma. Make conferences that coincide with geography, so the student athletes do not have to travel as much and can actually have more time to study. Bring us a playoff so we can stop having yearly debates about if this team or that one deserved a shot at the national title. Just return this gem from the greedy hands of presidents and conference commissioners to the football crazed towns like Tuscaloosa and Ann Arbor.
One problem with that though; money talks. No matter how much we scream, one noise is always louder; cha-ching. The National Collegiate Athletic Corporation is open for business, and the millions keep on rolling in. Time is running out for the greed to stop; and the last grain of sand is about to fall in the collegiate hourglass. Let the chaos begin.
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