I think the point was that happened to be the game that Fox decided (had?) to feature on their national pregame show. And it’s a matchup that was created by realignment.
Cracks in the B1G?
- Thread starter twojman
- Start date
They absolutely started it when they took Miami and Va. Tech from the Big East in 2004.
I agree it was a dumb site for the pregame show. But this from the article seems to be trying to make a bigger point:
That’s the growing divide between the Big Ten and the Big 12. One is chasing media markets and television ratings, expanding coast to coast in search of brand value. The other is holding tight to its roots-regional rivalries, local pride, and the kind of fan loyalty that doesn’t need a playoff bid to show up and show out.
Don’t spread that noise. We started it in the 1900s when the Big12 got Texas and A&M!!!
Get real. That’s apple and oranges to what the Big 10 and SEC did. Big 12 was a stable football and basketball conference. What the ACC did had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the unethical and criminal behavior of the Big 10 and SEC and with the unethical behavior they continue to do this very day.
I agree that paragraph (especially the latter half) is a bit hyperbolic, but I think the sentiment is relatively true. The B12 is a collection of castoffs in rural or less populated states with institutions that care about football.
While the B10 has gobbled up institutions that are either in big markets and/or the flagship university in a state. Some care about football, some do not, but all are somewhat corporatized.
You also conveniently chose the one school in the Big 12 that doesn’t fit the profile the author described. But the rest of the B12 additions either created or maintained regional matchups (Utah vs BYU, Cincinnati vs West Virginia, CU vs the Kansas schools, Houston vs other Texas schools, etc). None of the B10 additions did that outside of maintaining UCLA/USC and OU/Wash and maybe Iowa vs Nebraska
What the ACC did had never been done, they poached 2 of the best football programs from the Big East, and a pretty solid Boston College program. It had never happened before that. The Big East commish at the time said it was "the most disastrous blow to intercollegiate athletics in my lifetime".
And here we are. All the expansion and realignment that's happened since then is reactionary.
If the Big 12 could've added the likes of USC or Oregon, it would have.
The only additions from the B1G expansions that haven't given regional rivalries are Rutgers and Maryland. The addition of USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, and Nebraska have all maintained or contributed regional rivalries.
That sounds like things to come out of Nebraska, Missouri and Texas at one time.
SEC took Arky in 1992 from the SWC. Most of the others around that time were independents joining conferences.
Yeah but the SWC was pretty much on the verge of collapse all by itself when that happened.
That’s not the argument here or what the author (or I) was saying.
Which regional rivalries did taking USC, UCLA, Oregon, or Washington (the latter 2 the B10 supposedly didn’t even want but got them for a nickel on the dollar) with teams already in the B10? Those 4 would have continued to play perfectly fine in the PAC without the B10.
And the closest school to Nebraska in the B10 outside of Iowa is Minnesota which is 5 hours and 40 minutes away. The Kansas schools, ISU, Missouri were all closer or the same distance as that. But I’ll concede they at least are in the vicinity of other B10
Forget the supper league title. A league of the higher earners from the Big 10 and SEC with the rest left behind. Heck yeah the networks would be interested in that. You don't need to vote anyone off the island; you just have to have a possible lucrative landing spot for the high earners. I think everything that has happened the past few decades proves nothing but money matters, and if they can peg teams against each other networks are willing to value and devalue conferences to improve their bottom line as well. Short term ratings are valued over long term health of the sport.
I said the PAC additions maintained those existing regional rivalries. No, they obviously didn't create new regional rivalries with existing B1G teams. Nebby created our rivalry. I wouldn't say Nebby has any other regional rivals.
Ahh, but they have run out of piggy banks to raid. Time to turn on their own, or your right, now the powers that be, OSU and Texas and the like will be concerned about Rutgers over their bottom dollar.
Right. I gave you several examples of the additions of the B12 creating (or maintaining for BYU vs Utah) regional rivalries.
So, it sounds like you agree with the paragraph you quoted from the article then.
