Is college football the new “Super League”?

For those that are anti-pro sports and pro-college, you may want to stop reading now. This will paint a grim picture of what the future of college athletics will look like. Over the last forty years, the NCAA has lost power over the sports that it “governs.” Most recently, the reactionary decision to allow student-athletes the ability to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Since the floodgates have opened, we have seen BBQ restaurants give endorsement deals to entire offensive lines and even a booster for the University of Miami is helping “Bring Back the U.” For the first time athletes have been able to pursue the money like what university athletic departments have done since the 1980s. Prior to the landmark case that pitted the NCAA and the University of Oklahoma and Georgia, there was only one broadcast of a college football game each week during the season. This meant marquee matchups would not be broadcasted and thus no television revenues.

Since the Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA, conferences have continued to one-up each other with their television broadcasts. From Notre Dame’s exclusive contract with NBC to the University of Texas launching The Longhorn Network with ESPN, there is no stopping it. The PAC 12’s television contracts were so bad; it is a primary reason why the conference has lost relevancy in the national picture. In a recent report, USA Today published the highest revenue athletic departments in the country. The top 22 schools were all in either the SEC, ACC, Big 10, or Big 12. The highest-ranking PAC 12 member was the University of Washington, earning more than $90 million less than the leading school, Texas.

But how valuable is a TV contract worth? Last December, the SEC reached an agreement with ESPN on a $3 Billion contract spanning over 10 years starting in 2025. With 14 member schools, each would receive more than $21 million annually. But with the recent reports of Texas and Oklahoma being interested in joining the conference, it could allow the conference to renegotiate their deal. While the all mighty dollar may be the biggest reason why the two flagship schools in the Big 12 are looking elsewhere, both haven’t been pleased with their conference leadership. Oklahoma was recently displeased that their marquee non-conference game versus Nebraska was scheduled for an 11:00 am kickoff and Texas with the “lack of respect” they receive with the horns down handsign.

The most recent major conference realignment took place a decade ago and we saw the death of the Big East Conference. 25 years ago, we saw the death of the Southwest Conference when Arkansas bolted to the SEC and left the rest of the conference to fend for themselves. History is most likely going to repeat itself unless Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has a genie that can grant him a few wishes.Like when the SWC disbanded, schools were left fighting for scraps. Leading to Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Baylor joining the Big 8. While TCU, SMU, and Houston were forced to join the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA.

While Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC may appear like a good fit, there may be some critics in the conference itself. Most notably Texas A&M, which was finally out from the shadows of the big brother. The Aggies have been able to renovate their stadiums and hire some of the best coaches in the country; they aren’t about to let this happen without a fight. But what is the future of the Big 12 going to look like? It will most likely see its demise. WVU could look at either joining the ACC or Big 10. Iowa State could join their in-state rival Iowa in the Big 10. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have been rumored to be interested in the PAC 12. The rest of the conference may end up in a rebranded AAC.

As more money is invested by ESPN and FOX, expect conference realignment conversations to occur until we are stuck with a Super League situation again. What’s preventing the blue bloods from dropping their conference associations and creating a conference reserved for the “elites”? Parity in college as we knew it was dead and we can all thank the Sooners and Bulldogs for it.