Loved the article. I miss the days of the smaller conferences

when everyone played everyone every year. I miss the SWC, Big 8, the smaller Big Ten, SEC and Pac 12, and (gasp) the Big East and the old order ACC.

What we have now aren't conferences, they are federations.

While the article was about the SWC, the demise of the traditional sized conference started with Penn State leaving the Eastern Independents for the Big Ten. It is a damn shame that they couldn't put together a Big East Football Conference before Penn State bolted. A conference of Penn State and other Eastern Independents along with Miami, VT and maybe South Carolina and East Carolina would have been great to be a part of. It would have been a fun parallel to the ACC and FSU as well. Also, (real) Big East basketball would still be together possibly.

Lastly, could you imagine an 8 team playoff with the champs of these 7 conferences with just one at-large bid for Notre Dame, another independent or minor conference champ (BYU?) or the highest ranked major conference runner up as the 8th spot?

Yeah, yeah, I know. It wasn't doable. Bowls. TV money. College Presidents. And all that.

But it would have been far more appealing than what we have now. And the loss of rivalries such as A&M-Texas, OU-Nebraska, and so many others is just a cryin' shame.

BTW, if there is anyone out there who hasn't seen ESPN 30 for 30: Requiem for the Big East, it is a must see for college realignment discussion.

[Post edited by Maroon Baboon at 12/02/2020 9:23PM]

(In response to this post by Lakeridgehokie)

Posted: 12/02/2020 at 9:23PM

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Current Thread:

Interesting ESPN article on demise of SW Conference - Public vs Private -- Lakeridgehokie 12/02/2020 11:39AM

This quote seems particularly pertinent to our (VT's) situation... -- Culpeper Hokie 12/03/2020 4:58PM

TV destroyed them -- DarylS 12/02/2020 7:41PM

Loved the article. I miss the days of the smaller conferences -- Maroon Baboon 12/02/2020 9:23PM

Perfect model is 10 teams, 9 game round robin, IMO. -- reestuart 12/03/2020 4:56PM

Odd # of games leads to uneven home schedules -- mrcaniac 12/03/2020 6:11PM

11 team conference. 10 games, 2 OOC. ** -- Maroon Baboon 12/03/2020 8:37PM

I had read that JoPa wanted a NE football conference, but... -- EDGEMAN 12/03/2020 08:07AM

Eastern Conference -- Millpoint 12/04/2020 3:55PM

It was the 80's -- mrcaniac 12/03/2020 6:04PM

Saw an article talking about the PSU move. The commissioner of the ACC -- reestuart 12/03/2020 6:21PM

Interesting, since JoPa’s Eastern Conference would have included Maryland -- I85Hokie 12/08/2020 11:38AM

I think JoPa would have looked at the ACC like the Big East. -- HOO86 12/04/2020 11:09AM

Yeah, I tend to agree with that. Just struck me as funny the ACC didn't -- reestuart 12/04/2020 11:12AM

Corrigan believed in expansion, but there was a lot of resistance back then -- HOO86 12/04/2020 11:41AM

Yeah, he mentions that he had to stay on everyone to get FSU admitted. ** -- reestuart 12/04/2020 1:04PM

Joe wanted unequal football but equal basketball sharing, as I recall ** -- TerryD 12/03/2020 11:17AM

Bingo - Prop up PSU basketball but let football keep its money, and then so ** -- Tailgate Guru 12/04/2020 11:43PM

SWC destroyed themselves internally -- Mercury 12/02/2020 12:33PM

That is what you got out of that article? -- goldendomer 12/02/2020 11:49AM

I laughed at the part where the Texas Lt. Gov. basically threatened to -- Maroon Baboon 12/02/2020 7:11PM

Big TX could afford to become a private school, but... -- EDGEMAN 12/03/2020 08:08AM

The SEC used to be that way too. -- HOO86 12/02/2020 11:56AM

Loved the article. I miss the days of the smaller conferences

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