Auggie
Well-known member
Interesting interview in the Athletic with Jim Delaney on conference expansion.
For those that do not subscribe a few key points:
What sparked college football's realignment craze? Ex-Big Ten commissioner explains all
Delany reflects on what happened in the 1980s and '90s to spark one of college football's biggest waves of realignment.
theathletic.com
For those that do not subscribe a few key points:
- Media drove the 1st round of expansion. Notably the invention of the Big East to give ESPN programing inventory and when the Supreme Court ruled the NCAA violated the Sherman Act by price fixing and placing artificial limits on its membership through its television policy.
- Penn State was the key player that kicked off expansion. They wanted to develop an all sport East Coast league involving Pitt, West Va, Rutgers, Va Tech, and Penn State then pick off BC & Syracuse from the Big East. Gavitt/ESPN secured Syracuse and Boston College from this by inviting Pittsburgh on Nov. 18, 1981 into the Big East. It killed Paterno’s attempt.
- The next year, Penn State sought admission into the Big East. Six of the eight Big East members had to vote yes on Penn State. Basketball-only schools Georgetown, St. John’s and Villanova voted no, which kept Penn State out. Its ripple effect was profound when Penn State was accepted as a Big Ten member in 1990.
- In the '90s the Big 8, SWAC, & WAC all made reactionary moves that created a lot of volatility and doomed those conferences. The B1G looked at some but at that time was not interested primarily because all but 1 SWAC was on probation during that time period and in the Big 8 foot print there is not a lot of TV sets. A lot of shuffling around in the part of the country at that time.
- The next key event was the Big 8 going to 12 teams and getting a conference title game in the late '90s. They went to the NCAA and got a requirement of 12 schools w/ 2 Divisions to hold the game. So guess what, the SEC expands to get this lucrative event followed by the ACC & B1G.