Changing College Football Landscape

[houtiger]

July 1, 2022 (ESPN)

From the moment that Oklahoma and Texas ditched the Big 12 for the SEC nearly 11 months ago, chaos amid the collegiate landscape appeared both inevitable and imminent.

The countermove to the SEC's big strike occurred on Thursday, with USC and UCLA formally announcing they'll be joining the Big Ten in 2024. The flimsy Alliance formed between the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC in reaction to the SEC's move will now be remembered as college football's version of New Coke.

The consequence of Thursday's move will be that it accentuated a distinct power shift that has occurred in college sport -- two leagues that had already separated themselves competitively now financially gobbling up four of the most valuable properties in less than a year. And by doing so, riddled the rest of the collegiate landscape with uncertainty, anxiety and aspirational wanderlust.

The Big Ten's move is significant because it plants the league's flag in Los Angeles, one of the most alluring markets in the country. And it further cements the college football landscape as a Power 2.

"The SEC and the Big Ten have separated themselves from an overall property standpoint," Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin told ESPN on Thursday. "As we saw with Texas and Oklahoma a year ago, it's not surprising that other schools would want to be a part of one of those two leagues."

The ripples from the move reverberate everywhere through the sport, leaving a shaken collegiate landscape bracing for what could be next. From the future of the College Football Playoff to uncertainty in the ACC to a downtrodden Pac-12 to Notre Dame's independence, the move echoes through every corner of the sport.

[houtiger]

Why did UCLA move to the Big Ten?

In a recent interview with ESPN, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond gave his reasoning for the program joining the Big Ten...

quote:

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Well, one, national exposure. Now you’re going to be in three different time zones, multiple time zones. Here on the West Coast, when you think about some of the game times, you’re not always in the national spotlight. Now our student-athletes will get to showcase their talent and skills as far from the Pacific to the Atlantic, all through the East Coast. So, in a name image likeness [NIL] era and student-athletes are finding their voice and their brand and what’s important to them; this gives them a national platform that they can be seen in ways that we haven’t been able to.

 

It's going to be about MARKETING.

Edited July 4, 2022 by houtiger

[LSUDad]

For years ESPN, ranked the West coast teams highly, only to have them fizzle out at the end. They wanted folks to stay up, watch a ranked team. I a West Coast team was ranked ahead of your team, you would stay up, with the chance, that team would lose, your team would move up. 
The California teams had so many Junior Colleges within a radius, making JC transfers way too easy. 
Yes, this move is about the money. 

[Hatchertiger]

Wonder what happens to the Pac-12 now that these two marquee teams are moving on?  I don't want any of them in the SEC.  Maybe they join forces with the ACC???

Sort of off topic but I really want Clemson in the SEC. Poor Dabo's head would explode with so many excuses that he might actually "out-talk" Jimbo LOL.

[houtiger]

Clemson and Fla. St. to the SEC, Oregon and ND to the big 10.