The appeal of college football has been largely carried over into its history and tradition. This serves as one of the grounds against instituting a true playoff system for the highest level of the sport at the collegiate level, alternately known as “Division 1-A” or “Football Bowl Subdivision”. The first National Collegiate Athletic Association football season occurred in 1906. In contrast, the National Football League did not begin until 1920. In the NFL, forty-eight franchises have fielded a team for one or more seasons and then they retired in the course of his eighty-two years. However, thirty members of Division 1-A have either been downgraded or terminated their football programs since that level’s final designation in 1978. Since 1920, the NFL has added thirty franchises, which still exist, to the two who were part of the founding members of the league. In the thirty-four seasons since 1-A was created as a distinct level, seventeen have risen to the highest level of NCAA football. Additionally, eight programs demoted their programs from 1-A to 1-AA, but then moved back up to the top echelon of NCAA football. Both NCAA and NFL football have undergone similar changes in recent decades.
A review of the roster of teams from thirty years ago in both the NFL and Division 1-A exposes the myth of college football continuity. In 1982, of the ten conferences existing at that time, three no longer exist at that level. The Missouri Valley Conference has been relegated to Division 1-A with only two of its members still participating in 1-A. Of the seven Pacific Coast Athletic Association teams, three no longer have field football teams, while this conference’s successor, Big West, does not sponsor football at any level. The Southwest Conference collapsed after the 1995 season; its nine members reside in the Big Twelve (four), Conference USA (three), and the Southeastern Conference (two). Disbandments of these conferences have also interrupted or halted long-running series between shows across the country.
College football has experienced two seismic periods in this thirty-year span, in the early 1990s and early 1990s. Of the one hundred and fourteen teams that participated in Division 1-A in 1982, twenty-six have changed their conference affiliation at least once since then. Of the twenty-five independents, nineteen are now in a conference and two have dropped from Division 1-A. In 1982, twenty-three of the current members of 1-A did not participate at this level. In all, of the one hundred and twenty-four FBS teams, seventy-four members have instituted a major change in their soccer programs in the last thirty years. This season continues the tumult, which began last season. In 2011, Nebraska moved from the Big Twelve to the Big Ten; Colorado and Utah jumped from the Big Twelve and Mountain West respectively to the recently renamed Pacific Twelve. This year, even more former members are entering new conferences after defecting from the Big Twelve. Texas A&M and Missouri begin their affiliation with the Southeastern Conference. The Big Twelve was stabilized by adding Texas Christian and West Virginia. Instead of the Big Twelve appearing on the brink of collapse, the Big East is the one teetering as Syracuse and Pittsburgh complete their final seasons before moving on to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
By contrast, the NFL has only realigned its teams once since the NCAA created Division 1-AA. That consisted of moving some teams from one of the three five- or six-team divisions per conference to one of the newly established four four-team divisions. In reality, most of the reorganizations occurred in the Southern Divisions. In the NFC, three of the five from the NFC West entered the NFC South. Likewise, two teams from the old AFC Central and one from the AFC East formed the AFC South along with an expansion team. The most jarring change involved Seattle switching from the AFC West to the NFC equivalent.
College football fans all storied rivalries and conference affiliations as a sense of continuity that encourage interest and lend credibility as an established tradition. However, the relocation of former Big Twelve members has ended three long-running series. The second most played series, Kansas-Missouri, ended with Missouri defecting to the SEC. Texas A&M’s departure to the same spot ended the third most played series between the Aggies and Texas. The fourth most played series ended before last season when Nebraska went to the Big Ten, thus stopping their series against Kansas. This latest round of shifting programs to different conferences is undermining the nostalgic allure of NCAA football.
If he had held a position of power in college football a generation ago, the picture would be quite different. It would have pushed all the Eastern Independents to form the Great East. If necessary, he would have dragged all ten of them, kicking and screaming in some cases, to join them. They had long-running series, including some fierce rivalries with each other. The most successful among them even received an unofficial championship award each season, the Lambert Trophy. This group would have dominated the huge media markets of New York, Boston, Washington, and Philadelphia. The huge revenue from the television rights to its games would have prevented any temptation to seek a position on the geographical periphery of another conference. Such a formal agreement would have cemented traditions and reduced travel costs. Such stability would have allowed for later additions from programs moving up from Division 1-AA, such as Connecticut or Massachusetts.
Unfortunately for fans and historical relationships, this alliance never came to fruition. Joe Paterno flexed his muscles to ward off neighboring programs within easy travel distance because of his lingering indignation at being shut out of the Big East for basketball. Furthermore, the seven Eastern Independents that formed the Big East smugly ruled out the possibility of including the Military and Naval Academies. Faced with an awkward schedule with just seven teams, the Big East invited Miami. Despite few connections with the members, Big East made a move out of desperation. For Miami, the move was simply a marriage of convenience. Once the ACC called Miami to join the conference where it belonged geographically, Miami left without hesitation.
As I wave my wand to shape conference affiliations the way I’d like them to be, I’d love to undo the recent absurd moves involving the Big Twelve. West Virginia in the same conference with teams in Texas and the Great Plains seems doomed to eventual breakup in less than a generation. It parallels Miami’s time in a conference with its closest co-member over a thousand miles away. I know those connected to Missouri and Texas A&M got tired of being seen as inferior in the Big Twelve. However, his defection to the Southeastern Conference will hurt his programs financially and emotionally. Instead of the ability for their teams to take buses on day trips to some venues, as well as fans having manageable car trips to most games, more frequent flights will be required. That will result in the most spending for both teams, as well as fewer fans at road games.
Plus, it would stop the mad rush to the Mountain West Conference and push some teams back into the Western Athletic Conference. Teams might prefer to split between a conference west of the Rockies and one that includes those in and east of the Rockies. The second option is to have two overlapping conferences. Additionally, Brigham Young University needs to reduce its sense of self-importance and rejoin the Mountain West Conference or the Western Athletic Conference.
As anyone who reviews the past few decades of NCAA Division 1-AA football can see, there have often been changes within its ranks. However, modifications that many of the spectators and media have been clamoring for, namely a true multi-team playoff, have been advancing at the pace of a geriatric turtle. As a fan, I fear that the latest spate of frenzied affiliation alterations will undermine the long-term success and appeal of the sport at this level.
COPYRIGHT BY CHARLES KASTRIOT JULY 2012
