Interesting write up about PAC 12/BIG10 divisive history with the other conferences
https://www.theringer.com/2020/8/13/21367968/big-ten-pac-12-sec-acc-big-12-college-season-decisions
Would it ever be possible for these conferences to be ruled by a higher authority? Ala NFC East and West under the NFL umbrella? Seems like it would be the only reasonable way to finally even the playing field for all these conferences.
August 17th, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
Weird; from the headline, I expected a better write up about the history.
Not one mention of the College Football Association, the original split between the Big Ten & Pac Ten on one side and the other major college teams on the other side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Football_Association
Although one could argue instead that the Rose Bowl deal in the 1940s was the genesis of that divide.
August 17th, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
Agreed. The administrations behind the decisions around college football have quite a storied history of behind the scenes intrigue. Even a cursory recounting of some of that narrative would have made this article far more worthwhile.
It's too bad that sportswriting today is generally devoid of talented people who also have the work ethic to chase down and own the facts that contribute to broader narratives and themes. The stories are there, especially in football.
August 17th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Garbage article. Said a lot without saying anything.
August 17th, 2020 at 1:23 PM ^
I don't think a lot of the current crop of writers know the history, but they are also fighting with an audience that doesn't really care much for historical relevance. The traditional schools with traditional jersey elements are eschewed for the Oregon approach of "look at all the fun color combos". I didn't think I was old enough to be a "get off my lawn you darn kids" guy yet, but maybe impending fatherhood is really bringing it to the surface.
August 17th, 2020 at 1:38 PM ^
I just didn't find the author's argument remotely persuasive. He seems to believe that the main problem plaguing college football is a lack of conference unity, but he doesn't provide any evidence for that assertion at all. He implies that if the conferences were united, then maybe we could all have a responsibly-played season this fall, but I just don't see how that would change anything.
All of the sport's issues with the NCAA and the problems with bubbling so-called amateur athletes would still be there. The author seems to take for granted the notion that increased centralization of decision-making would greatly improve decision-making, and so he doesn't even attempt to support this point with an argument. But I just don't think this is true. It's just as likely that increased centralization would give more power to people who shouldn't have it.
August 17th, 2020 at 2:42 PM ^
Craig Ross made a good point about the Big 10/Pac-12 v. everyone else. One of those groups includes Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Stanford, Cal Berkeley, and Washington (you could also add UCLA). The other group does not.
August 17th, 2020 at 7:42 PM ^
The ACC can make a fairly compelling stand there with Duke, Vandy, UNC, UVa, Wake and GaTech.
But otherwise, yeah.
August 17th, 2020 at 8:48 PM ^
Good point. Fair enough.
August 17th, 2020 at 3:17 PM ^
Not sure what the solution to the fractiousness of college football is. Perhaps it's time for some sort of national collegiate athletics association?
August 17th, 2020 at 7:50 PM ^
Feels like a lazy effort. Go out and do some reporting if you're going to write something like this.
August 17th, 2020 at 8:04 PM ^
Interesting.