June 7th, 2010
By Just A. Bartender
Dilworth, NC – The Bartenders have been off for awhile, with college football dormant, but it is time to wake up the ghosts of the gridiron. Today’s topic the building of the Super Conference, and no fear I think Woody would like this.
The Big Ten started this a few of months ago, if you ask this martini maker, it is more than just a money grab, they have more money than the Vatican. Instead this is a “Hey Congress legislate this” for their meddling in the BCS. Let’s go back a little over a decade when it took a bunch of arm twisting by the SEC and the Big XII to force the Big Ten and Pac 10 into the BCS. The Big Ten, Pac 10, and Rose Bowl have never been overly keen of this agreement, it cut into their tradition and power, not something these three entities have been happy with. Don’t forget ego drives college football.
What are the ramifications of the Big Ten and the Pac 10 expanding to 16 schools each, with a super championship game in the Rose Bowl, well first off who needs the BCS. Here is what a Super Conference will very well look like:
Pacific Conference West – California, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State (the original Pac 8 )
Pacific Conference East – Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado (the Texas state legislature can kiss off, Baylor doesn’t bring Denver), Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech
(In football each 8 team “league” would play a round robin, with the top from each meeting for a championship game)
Big Ten Group #1 – Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern
Big Ten Group #2 – Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Big Ten Group #3 – Notre Dame, Rutgers, Penn State, Syracuse,
Big Ten Group #4 – Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa
(In football each team would play a round robin in their group and then rotate through the other three groups over a six year period, the winners of each scheduling matrix would meet in the championship game)
Take a look at those 32 schools that would basically become THE Super Conference, with the Rose Bowl and its long standing association with these schools. In the mix you have Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, and Notre Dame, the four highest rated television schools in the country. Even scarier, take a look at the top schools in wins all time:
1. Michigan 877
2. Texas 845
3. Nebraska 837
4. Notre Dame 837
5. Ohio State 819
6. Penn State 812
7. Oklahoma 797
8. Alabama 792
9. Tennessee 783
10. USC 775
The first seven schools on this list would be in the Super Conference, and the 10th as well.
More importantly, if both the Big Ten and Pac 10 work in concert, why not expand the Big Ten Network to include the Pac 10 and call it the Rose Bowl Network. With these 32 schools aligned together and out of the BCS, where does that leave the SEC, Big East, ACC, and Mountain West? The Super Conference would no longer need these conferences around and return college football to the pre-BCS era, when the Pac 10 and Big Ten were tied to the Rose after winning the conference and not able to play for the mythical national championship. In the BCS era (1998-2009), the SEC has won five titles, the Super 32 have also won five titles in the 12 years. In the 74 years before the BCS, the Super 32 won 50 titles or 68%, the SEC 10 titles or 14%. No wonder the Super 32 and the Rose Bowl want a change.
What fun the change would be, these 32 schools in a Super Conference, imagine the Big Ten Championship game with Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, and the Pacific Conference Championship game featuring USC vs. Texas. Then the winners playing in the Rose Bowl, is an Alabama/Georgia Tech Sugar Bowl going to do 1/4 of the rating of that Rose Bowl. Not a chance. Especially considering the Super Conference having a couple of 24 hours networks featuring these teams all season.
Television is key, just take a look at the top TV Markets and the schools that bring the Rose Bowl Network to every cable system:
1. New York (Rutgers)
2. Los Angeles (USC/UCLA)
3. Chicago (Northwestern, Illinois, Notre Dame)
4. Philadelphia (Penn State)
5. Boston (ACC Market)
6. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (Cal, Stanford)
7. Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas, Oklahoma)
8. Washington, DC (ACC Market)
9. Atlanta (SEC Market)
10. Houston (Texas A&M)
11. Detroit (Michigan, Michigan State)
12. Tampa/St. Pete (Big East Market)
13. Seattle (Washington, Washington State)
14. Phoenix (Arizona, Arizona State)
15. Minneapolis/St. Paul (Minnesota)
16. Cleveland/Akron (Ohio State)
17. Miami (ACC Market)
18. Denver (Colorado)
19. Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto (Pac 10)
20. Orlando/Daytona (SEC Market)
21. St. Louis (Missoui, Illinois)
22. Pittsburgh (Penn State)
23. Portland (Oregon, Oregon State)
24. Baltimore (ACC Market)
25. Indianapolis (Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue)
26. San Diego (USC, UCLA, though a bit of stretch vs. sunshine)
27. Charlotte (ACC Market, but oddly enough already has Big Ten Network on the Time Warner cable system)
28. Hartford/New Haven (UConn women’s hoops)
29. Raleigh-Durham (ACC Market)
30. Nashville (SEC Market)
31. Kansas City (Missouri)
32. Columbus (Ohio State)
33. Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
34. Cincinnati (Ohio State)
35. Greenville/Asheville (SoCon, Big South)
36. Salt Lake City (MWC Market)
37. San Anotonio (Texas, Texas Tech)
38. West Palm Beach (ACC Market)
39. Grand Rapids (Michigan State)
40. Birmingham (SEC Market)
Looking at the list the Big Ten would have 14 of the top 40 markets, the Pac 10 would have 11. Combined that is 25 of 40, including the top 4 markets, 7 of the top 10, and 15 of the top 20. More than enough to create a national network that would be in at least three times as many homes as ESPNU. In theory that would make the Rose Bowl Network one incredibly powerful force in college football and all of college sports, again who needs the BCS. If you look at the remaining conferences in Top 40 markets, it reminds you that the SEC, the ACC, the Big East, and the others would need some serious realignment to try to keep up. The ACC is in the best shape with six top 40 markets (5, 17, 24, 27, 29, 38). The SEC has only four (9, 20, 30, 40), the Big East has the 12th market, leaving the Big South/SoCon with the 35th.
Money grabs and the BCS all seem like very likely reasons for expansion, but in reality the powers of college football want their power back without Congress meddling. The Big Midwestern schools, the Texas schools, the Pacific schools and the the Rose Bowl, controlled college football from the early 20th century until the turn of the century. Then giving the BCS and the SEC a lot of that power. Only naivety, would lead someone to believe that the Rose Bowl doesn’t want to go back to being the grand daddy of them all, instead of it rotating there very four years. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, USC, and Texas have taken about enough from the BCS and the SEC as well, throw Congress into messing with them, and it smells of an anti-BCS conspiracy. Jim Delany along with the Big Ten and Pac 10 presidents have been brewing this up for some time I guarantee.
The two keys remaining are Texas and Notre Dame, although it seems Texas is the key right now. At this point in history Texas does hold most of the cards, with Notre Dame football being on the downswing. The Irish are still the key to keep the peace between the Big Ten and the Pac 10. If Notre Dame says “no”, the Big Ten will want Texas. If Notre Dame says “yes” there is no way Texas would jump to the Big Ten with Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame all being in the same conference. The Texas schools are a good fit with the Arizona schools, just as the Big Ten and Notre Dame are a match made in TV heaven. If they both jump, the Big XII and Big East die in football, and the ACC and SEC are looking at merging their best markets to compete, not on the field, but on TV. Think about it, did anyone know what Curling was before NBC put it on all day every day for two weeks during the Olympics, exposure is everything.
The bottom line is, the Super Conference is a very real possibility, especially if you consider the egos of the Big Ten, Pac 10, Texas, Notre Dame, and the Rose Bowl. It is about the schools grabbing more money, but it is more about power and the arrogance of the alumni groups of those big time schools. So welcome back Granddaddy of them all, and hello to the Super 32.
Title IX bull shit note: I heard Bob Davie on ESPN this afternoon talk about Texas A&M’s women’s tennis team going to Eugene, Oregon for a regular season game. Here in lies the rub, the conferences will align into schedule matrix’s of 8’s or 4’s on a regional basis. Oregon won’t play Texas Tech in non-revenue sports until the conference tournaments, so quit crying it will kill the non-rev sports. The only minor sports that will continue to die, are men’s sports at football playing schools, thanks, of course to Title IX.