This is an opinion column.
What is a conference?
Seriously, think about it. How do we define the idea of an intercollegiate athletics conference in the Year 2024?
These are idle thoughts during the dog days of mid-August after the buzz of the preseason fades and before the smell of tailgate grills waft into our souls.
It’s also never been a more relevant question as we embark on a journey unlike any we’ve traveled before. We’ll ford unfamiliar rivers and forge new rivalries.
Oregon’s almost literally doing the Oregon Trail in reverse as it flees its west coast roots to join the Midwest version of elite.
So … what is a conference?
It’s funny because there really aren’t many readily searched definitions when searching online. But if you do google “What is a college football conference,” you’re rewarded with a 2012 post from the British outlet The Guardian headlined “College Football explained.” It’s worth your time.
Traditionally, this pea-brained sports guy would say they’re geographically, philosophically and academically aligned institutions that band together to make scheduling less of a nightmare.
One could say conferences were less necessary before the rules surrounding live television broadcasts changed and … you know what happened next.
But it’s the geography that always seemed to be the strongest factor.
It’s the SOUTHEASTERN Conference. The ATLANTIC COAST Conference.
It was the PACIFIC-12.
But the others killed them so RIP.
Even the non-geographical leagues have been living a lie.
The Big TEN hasn’t had 10 members since 1990.
The Big 12 went to 11 in 2011 and has since seen the number change more than Tommy Tuberville’s state of residence.
Now, you have schools just miles from the Pacific — Stanford and California — flying the Atlantic Coast Conference flag.
And in the truest of college football traditions, SMU bought its way into the coastal league from deep in the heart of its leafy Dallas neighborhood.
The Big Ten has 18 spanning from New Jersey to Los Angeles and Seattle.
The Big 12 has 16 with outposts in places like Orlando, Tucson and Salt Lake City.
The SEC expanded to 16 as well but kept the most geographic continuity that its name is the only one that isn’t a lie.
What is a conference?
Here’s a list.
— They’re money-makers and revenue drivers. Take the Big 12, for example. In June, The Action Network reported that the league was in discussions about selling its name to an insurance company. The “Allstate 12 Conference” was a leading contender for the 16-team league if they were to agree to the $30-50 million a year proposal.
— A few are trying to survive. The Big 12 and ACC aren’t exactly on steady ground when compared to the Big Ten and SEC. They will be getting smaller pieces of the playoff money moving forward and don’t have the TV revenue to keep pace.
— They’re getting sued. At least the ACC is because Clemson and Florida State want out.
— They’re liars.
What it means to be in a conference is just shifting faster than what it means to be Atlantic Coast.
In the era of 16-to-18-team mega leagues and a 12-team playoff, the value of a conference championship goes up.
Not only will that mean automatic byes in the new 12-team playoff, but it means you will have just beaten another team that’ll be in the field.
Gone are the days when, for example, the SEC East Division produced a non-competitive league title game participant. Those championships still counted, but games with 56-17 or 54-16 finals don’t produce the same buzz.
So that’s better.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to argue league competition to make the SEC championship game will be stiffer than making the CFP itself. (That leads to a separate discussion for the evolution of what it means to be a playoff team, but that’s for another day.)
And with a still unannounced SEC tiebreaker plan, there will still be plenty to fight about come December.
Because that’s what conferences are really all about.
Hating thy neighbor (or other coastal cousin by marriage) while sharing the bounty of wealth and simultaneously conspiring against the others for full world domination.
Now that’s something the British can understand.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter@ByCasagrandeor onFacebook.
