This summer, an historic realignment of college athletics almost took place. The Big 12 conference found itself on the verge of collapse, the bulk of its members considering a move to either the Pac-10 or Big Ten conferences. The crisis was touched off by Nebraska, which was frustrated by low revenue, fleeing to the Big Ten conference. While the conference was ultimately saved, it was not without further casualties. The conference also lost Colorado, prompting moves in other parts of the country by Boise State and Utah. Fans can looks forward to seeing some radically different college football games in the near future.
The Big 12 suffers from having a glut of small markets outside of Texas, which leads to less television contract revenue than the other major athletics conferences. A new revenue sharing deal granting major teams like Texas kept the Big 12 together, but it is unclear how long this will last. Small markets also mean less merchandise and bowl game revenue, which could become more important as television revenue is impacted by an increase in viewers deciding to watch streaming college football online. Users can go to http://www.college-football-tv.com/, or similar sites, to watch college football games anywhere, without needing a television, which offers a more convenient option to an increasingly mobile nation. Struggling conferences like the Big 12 will need to keep this in mind if they wish to survive in the future.
The Pac-10, which enjoys far more revenue thanks to major markets in California, Washington and Arizona, managed to achieve its much sought after goal of expansion, though not to the extent it wanted. Despite an aggressive push to bring the Texas and Oklahoma schools into the fold, those universities opted to preserve the Big 12. Colorado, a smaller school, did not want to risk being left in the dust if the Big 12 did collapse, and bolted early. The Pac-10 needed to bring in a twelfth member to be eligible to hold a football championship game for the conference, and Utah, from the Mountain West Conference, was eager to get on board. Both teams will officially join the Pac-10 in 2012.
To fill the void left by Utah in the Mountain West Conference, Boise State shuffled over from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Once the rumors of realignment began, it was widely expected that Boise State would switch to a more prestigious conference. After years of success for the football program in the WAC, the program earned little national recognition, because of a consistently weak strength of schedule. Boise State will now be playing college football games against the likes of BYU and TCU, schools with slightly more national recognition than what they were used to facing in the past. It remains to be seen whether or not Boise State will continue their dominance in a new conference, or if that dominance will someday lead to a much sought after BCS championship game berth.
These teams won't be playing college football games against their new rivals this season, as all moves will not be finalized for another one or two years. Nebraska will join the Big Ten and Boise State will start playing in the MWC during the 2011 season, and the Pac-10 will need to wait until 2012 to welcome its newcomers. Until then, fans will only be able to speculate about how these four teams will fare in their new environments.
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