The Inevitable College Football Super Conference and the Curious Case of Baylor

Sep 10, 2011

The Inevitable College Football Super-conference? The Curious Case of Baylor

Bob Stoops’ tacit remark this past week that a college football super-conference may be inevitable could be the ultimate curtain call for the Big 12 and Baylor alike. While Stoops’ was dismissive over his involvement in the decision saying, “I’m for whatever the president and athletic director feel is best for the University of Oklahoma”, his position as one of the longest tenured and most high profile coaches in the Big 12 and College Football makes his position undeniable. Stoops has always been known as a pragmatist so his sentiment is not surprising. However, his indifference over the future of the Big 12 is the strongest indicator that the Big 12 is all but finished and a college football super conference could start as soon as 2012 or 2013.
On the other side of Stoop’s indifference is of course Baylor. Baylor has essentially blocked Texas A&M’s entry into the SEC with the threat of litigation. Baylor’s ploys first began earlier this year when Nebraska and Colorado exited the Big 12 and a collapse seemed imminent until Texas reaffirmed its commitment to the Big 12. The launch of the Longhorn Network has now given Texas an unrivaled independence in college football (except possibly for Notre Dame). Enter Oklahoma and Bob Stoops. Baylor’s desperation is at once futile and revealing. Shortly after the A&M departure became public, Baylor launched this site on its own domain http://www.baylor.edu/nation/texasfootball.htm. Labeled “Don’t Mess with Texas Football”, this short polemic bemoans supporters of Baylor and Texas football to urge the collective leaders of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech to engage in “clear – headed thinking” that rewards “Texas and her citizens”. It is interesting to note that of the schools mentioned, it is only Baylor that is not a Texas state institution. While this webpage is certainly self-serving and almost embarrassing, it does raise undervalued points
First, the article states that supporters should not let “hundred-year-old rivalries be cast aside as the state’s largest universities align themselves with other states across the country”. This highlights one of the most overlooked sentiments in the entire realignment debate. Part of what separates college football from the NFL, is the long standing personal and intense rivalries that every school has. This is one of the most special and endearing traditions of college football and something that is generally being ignored in the debate. There are also the financial and academic repercussions that these conference alignments produce? Does it make sense for TCU students to spend their entire Fall semester on the East Coast when they start Big East Play in 2012? Similarly is it any better for Texas to be travelling to California every week in a Pac 16 super conference? Conference play is supposed to be centered on shared rivalries, local support, and intense competition. Super conferences erode these essential elements of conference play and college football in general. The opportunity for interesting cross country matchups are properly explored in the Bowl season. Conference realignment also diminishes the unique appeal of bowl season, a tradition that soon might be changing as well.
Baylor’s other arguments are mostly prudential, pointing to the talent drain and state resources that will now go out of state. These arguments are peculiar because as noted before Baylor is not a Texas state school. While the other remaining Big XII teams have as late as Thursday night made clear that they have not waived their right to sue. Baylor has emerged as the curious frontrunner. Baylor, as well as any other possible litigants from the Big XII, stands on solid legal ground from preventing A&M from leaving the Big XII for at least this season. Even temporary injunction at this stage of the season would spoil A&M’s hopes of leaving for the SEC this season. Baylor might also be the lead litigant in the case as the smallest and lowest profile team in the conference they would suffer the most harm.
Baylor’s ultimate decision to pursue litigation may prevent A&M from departing this season but it will not prevent the inevitable collapse of the Big XII. This decision rests solely on Oklahoma at this point. However, litigation may be a valuable way for Baylor to reserve its place in the post Big XII power scramble. An extra season may give Baylor the time and exposure to join a power conference rather than being related to the WAC or the MWC. At this point, Baylor’s decision may come purely out of pride. Exiled to the bottom of the Texas football scene, Baylor may block A&M’s entry solely for the exposure as well. The heavy rhetoric placed on its ‘Don’t Mess With Texas Football’ website supports both angles. Baylor will probably only pursue litigation if A&M’s departure is enough to push Oklahoma to another conference and trigger the Big XII’s collapse. It is in Baylor’s best interest to stay in a Big 9 conference. This is the only guidance we have in this age of realignment: self-interest.
This shuffle comes at a time when both Texas A&M and Baylor are experiencing historic times in program history. A&M comes in with one of its highest preseason rankings in history and Baylor is riding the biggest upset of the college football season thus far. Robert Griffin III might be one of the most electrifying players in college football, but very few people are aware of his existence. After the Department of Justice inquiries demoaning the evils of the BCS system, where is the critical attention to the evils of conference realignment? At the very least the NCAA should evaluate the huge impact these conference realignments could have on academic performance. How can we consider NCAA college football an amateur sport when teams align for the highest dollar and catch phrases like “best interest” are synonymous with the highest media contracts? It would be unfathomable for the NCAA to regulate any of this just as it is still unspeakable for the NCAA to consider preventing coaches from changing schools at a moments notice and the highest price while athletes are not free to do so.

The college football Armageddon is rapidly approaching and Baylor may well be its harbinger.