From the
Upper Deck
College Football's Collapse
By Jim Steele
steele@mckenziebanner.com |
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Tennessee fans, SEC fans for that matter, times are a
changin'.
In this big-money era of TV contracts and corporate
sponsorship, the face of college football is becoming
more and more blemished.
The most recent black eye to dot the complexion of
college football's mug was the lustful ACC's courtship
of Virginia Tech and Miami. In this once proud
basketball league, the Atlantic Coast Conference's brain
trust decided it wanted to become a football power. The
addition of the Gobblers and 'Canes should make coaches
K (I'm just not up for looking up the spelling; you know
who he is, deal with it) and Williams salivate. On
balance, this addition adds up to two more wins per year
for both Duke and North Carolina basketball programs.
Ditto Wake Forest.
But if you are involved in the football programs at
Duke, Wake Forest or North Carolina, then the addition
of Miami and Virginia Tech has just made your life more
miserable. Instead of a certain loss to FSU, now teams
will be dealing with certain losses to the Hurricanes
and Hokies as well.
"So, Steele," you may ask, "how does this affect the
SEC?"
It does so sharply and almost immediately.
Suddenly, the SEC is no longer the pre-dominant
southern football power. Check recent history of SEC
teams v. Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. Since
1997, the SEC is 4-9 v. those Big Three. And it's not
like Vanderbilt or Mississippi State has been taking on
these teams. In 13 meetings over the past seven seasons,
Tech, FSU and Miami have essentially thwarted the likes
of Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and LSU.
You think this doesn't impact recruiting? Think
again.
You think this doesn't impact television? You know
the drill...
Florida, Georgia and the Appalachian Trail has been a
recruiting hotbed for the SEC, ACC and Big East. Battles
for top players has always been hot and heavy, but Miami
and Virginia Tech didn't have to work that hard to
outduel Rutgers in the recruiting wars. Similarly, FSU
had little trouble losing players to Wake Forest and
Florida to Kentucky.
Tennessee has always recruited North Carolina well.
Will that be the case now with three legitimate national
powers battling in the ACC?
Florida State made the ACC better. Since it joined
the league in 1992, North Carolina, Clemson, Georgia
Tech, N.C. State and Maryland have improved their stocks
on a national stage. Likewise, Miami made Virginia Tech
better, which made the Big East better. Suddenly
Syracuse is to be reckoned with, as is Boston College
and West Virginia.
The point is that Miami and Virginia Tech will make
every team in the ACC better simply because they will
attract better players. It's similar to what happened
with the Big East basketball conference when St. Johns
and Georgetown made powers out of Pitt, Seton Hall and
Villanova.
But things go in cycles. The SEC will win some
recruiting wars as will the ACC.
Look for this in about 10 years: The SEC and ACC will
consider merging into a super conference. The Big 12 and
Big 10 will follow suit and we'll see Big TV's dream of
two or three super conferences, thus fomenting the
complete ruination of college football.
This is not a good thing, folks, for fans of the Vols,
the SEC or all of college football.
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