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Welcome Where the realignment merry-go-round stops, no one knows

  • By Greg Hunter

Every decade or so, major college athletics goes through significant conference realignment.

For West Virginia University, it feels like 2003 again.

Rumors that year had the Atlantic Coast Conference eyeing Big East members. Initially, Miami (Fla.), Boston College and Syracuse were the objects of the ACC’s attention, though eventually political wrangling brought Virginia Tech to the fore, and pushed SU and BC out, at least for the time being. By 2004, the Hokies and Hurricanes were playing in the ACC and the Eagles followed a year later.

The Big East tried to reconstruct itself, but when Pitt and Syracuse, along with affiliate member Notre Dame, also were plucked by the ACC in 2011, the Big East, at least in terms of football, was all but doomed. Most of the remaining Big East schools also went looking for new conference homes. The Mountaineers were fortunate in that they quickly found one in the Big 12, joining that league in 2012.

Now another round of conference movement started last year, and WVU’s league was again at the heart of that turmoil.

Within short order in the summer of 2021, two founding Big 12 members — Texas and Oklahoma — reached out to the Southeastern Conference, inquiring about joining that league and a couple weeks later both were accepted into the SEC with an entrance date no later than 2025.

The this past summer, the Pac-12 saw two of its marquee brands, USC and UCLA, both announce that they are leaving that league. Each has been part of the Pacific Coast Conference since the 1920s, but history isn’t stopping them from leaving for the riches promised by the Big Ten.

College athletics at the FBS level has become all about chasing the money. The SEC and Big Ten will soon be making the most, paying each of its member schools in the neighborhood of $100 million annually. That’s more than double the amount the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC are paying. Thus, it’s so long tradition and hello huge bank accounts.

The ability to deposit nine-figure checks is tempting for all. I understand that, but for those left in the wake, it’s a scary time.

Last year the Big 12’s left-behinds were wondering what was going to happen to their league. They ultimately went out and added BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. While admittedly the reconstituted Big 12 won’t have the same brand-power without Oklahoma and Texas, it seems fairly stable with the eight holdovers and the four new additions.

Now the Pac-12’s orphans are wondering what their future entails. And even though the Atlantic Coast Conference hasn’t been picked over yet (other than Maryland’s move to the Big Ten a decade ago), those in the ACC wonder how long it will be before the SEC and/or Big Ten come calling for the likes of Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia and/or Miami. Sure, there is a huge grant-of-rights penalty to leave the ACC prior to 2036, but high-priced lawyers have found loopholes in contracts before.

If you are a school with an invitation to the big media money party, you feel pretty good about your future in college athletics, but all the rest are worried about their place at that table.

The desire to grab huge dollars is understandable, but it is greatly impacting the landscape for those outside the SEC and Big Ten.

Now those in the other leagues have to consider pouching themselves. The Big 12 is apparently on the prowl for any Pac-12 discontents who could also add to the Big 12’s bottom line. To assure its survival, the Pac-12 is eying some Mountain West members, and so down the line it goes.

It’s distasteful to be so predatory, but in today’s cannibalistic college athletic world, it’s either eat or be eaten.