Korea, Vietnam, Normandy? No. San Diego State is the central theater of military metaphors these days. It’s not what anyone expected, but college sports realignment really does seem to be a battlefield these days. The discussions involved in realignment are acquiring the tones and textures of a conversation military generals could relate to.
San Diego State has become such a hot and central topic in the midst of the Pac-12-Big 12 firefight because it represents an available way for both the Pac-12 and Big 12 to plant a flag in Los Angeles with USC and UCLA heading to the Big Ten. San Diego State has become the hill a military unit must capture in order to gain higher ground and a more favorable battlefield position. This has been one of the more unexpected but genuine plot twists in the larger theater of college sports realignment. It invites the question: What are the hills other conferences need to take in other regions of the country to fortify themselves in a long-term context?
We discussed this with Mark Rogers at The Voice of College Football. Our weekly USC live show is on Tuesdays just after 1 p.m. in Los Angeles:
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