Why College Football Should Form Separate Conferences
Look at a place like Iowa or Illinois, and you might notice that their high school football conferences are completely different from their leagues in every other sport. In high school, it’s because football is a numbers game, and it’s completely unfair to expect smaller schools to compete with larger schools in a sport where bodies matter.
In college, it’s about television dollars. That hasn’t necessarily made a difference in competition, as Rutgers has continued to be terrible with money while Boise State flourishes without it, but it has made conferences nothing short of nonsensical. Here’s why college sports should splinter into two sets of leagues, one for football-only and one for other sports.
The Travel is Totally Different
The Travel is Totally DifferentIn most college sports, athletes compete twice a week. This can be twice at home, twice away or one of each, depending on where the opponents are located. In the ACC, for example, Clemson women’s soccer could go play Georgia Tech on Wednesday and host Wake Forest on Saturday, without too many missed classes. Florida State might go play Duke Thursday and North Carolina Saturday in the Triangle. For these sports, games need to be close by.
Football plays once a week, no exceptions. That allows a team to play wherever it wants and fly back when it wants. The geography is nowhere near as important, allowing for geography to get totally ignored as it has been.
It Already Has a Model In Hockey And Other Sports
Except for the Big Ten, hockey’s conferences look nothing like any other sport. Boston College would never visit Maine or New Hampshire in football or basketball, but in hockey, they share a conference. Schools in Minnesota compete in Division II in most sports, but play Division I hockey, while Johns Hopkins competes in Division III in everything but lacrosse. Meanwhile, Kentucky and South Carolina are SEC in most sports, but play soccer in the Sun Belt.
Even in football, there are already models in place. North Dakota State and South Dakota State will never be invited to the Missouri Valley in basketball, but they’re proud football members. The same could happen in football, with schools that wanted to be big time in the biggest leagues and other schools de-emphasizing the sport.
Basketball Conferences (and Other Sports) Would Make Sense
Gonzaga should have moved up from the West Coast Conference long ago, but can’t because it doesn’t play football. Wichita State should be an equal to Kansas State and Kansas, but that won’t happen for the same reason.
Take football out of the equation, and these local matchups can be conference games. What’s more, you can eliminate the absurdity of sending softball and tennis across the nation to compete. If UCLA football feels the need to go play Ohio State, that’s fine. UCLA softball would rather play San Diego, and that’s OK. With the sports this different, it’s time for the leagues to go their separate ways.