There’s no point in NCAA sports having conferences anymore
Christopher Tremoglie
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College football shocked the country again with the news that three more schools, two located on the Pacific Coast and one in Texas, would be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference. Yes, you read that correctly. Pacific Coast teams are joining a football conference with the words “Atlantic Coast” in its name. It’s the latest creation of a new ACC and a so-called super conference. With these changes, and the ones announced earlier this year, there’s really no point in collegiate sports having conferences anymore.
“This is a significant day for the ACC as we welcome Cal, SMU, and Stanford to this incredible conference,” said University of Virginia President James E. Ryan, chairman of the ACC board of directors. “This expansion will enhance and strengthen the league now and in the future. We greatly appreciate the tireless efforts of Commissioner Jim Phillips throughout this entire process, especially his focus on minimizing travel burdens for student-athletes, and we are excited about the ACC’s collective future.”
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“We are thrilled to welcome three world-class institutions to the ACC, and we look forward to having them compete as part of our amazing league,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. “Throughout the evaluation process, the ACC Board of Directors, led by President Ryan, was deliberate in prioritizing the best possible athletic and academic experience for our student-athletes and in ensuring that the three universities would strengthen the league in all possible ways. Cal, SMU, and Stanford will be terrific members of the ACC, and we are proud to welcome their student-athletes, coaches, staff and entire campus community, alumni and fans.”
Consider the developments in recent years that changed the landscape of college athletics. As mentioned above, Stanford, Cal, and SMU will be in the ACC. They might as well change the name to the “Any Coast Conference.” Then, there was the Big Ten, the oldest athletic conference in the country. After their latest additions, they will have 18 teams starting in 2024. The Big 12 will have 16 teams beginning next year.
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The Southeastern Conference, considered the powerhouse of collegiate athletics due to the league’s dominance in sports, is also geographically incorrect. The SEC now has teams from the Midwest and Texas. And the once formidable Pac-12 conference, which used to be the Pac-10, and before that, the Pac-8, will fade from relevance into oblivion.
In what seems like forever ago, athletic conferences used to have a geographical relevance. Now, they are meaningless and nothing but a money-making scheme so universities can make even more than they already are. The NCAA should abandon all geographically-inspired names for their conferences since they’re no longer applicable, sell each conference’s naming rights, and change the name to the corporation that bids the highest. Keeping the current names for each conference is pretty pointless.