Conference football expansion: Big Ten and SEC…who won the latest round of expansion?

Did the Big Ten or the SEC do better in the most recent conference expansions?

The Big Ten and the SEC are the new superpowers of college football. But which conference has won the latest round of expansion?

Last summer, the SEC raided Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, giving them two big pieces in the chess match of conference realignment. In June, the Big Ten landed UCLA and USC. The move out west for the Big Ten gives them a marquee college football program in USC and two universities in the second-largest media market in the country.

The Big Ten now is in the top four media markets, for what it’s worth (and that fact is certainly worth a lot).

But who has won the latest round of college football alignment?

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Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who played for UConn, said that the Big Ten were the winners here. He made his comments on ESPN on Tuesday morning.

“I think it is USC, UCLA to the Big Ten. Listen the SEC is the king of the castle, they have been for a long time and they deserve that,” Orlovsky said on ESPN on Tuesday morning.

“But the big key is the USC piece. We have no idea what OU is without Lincoln Riley as their head coach. Brett Venables comes over, defensive coordinator at Clemson, very highly thought of. We just don’t know it yet.

“I know what Lincoln (Riley) is as a head coach at OU…and now I’m thinking what he could become as head coach at USC which is significantly more fertile ground when it comes to recruiting athletes. This is a guy who in five seasons with Oklahoma won 85 percent of their games, 85 percent of their games. They won four Big 12 titles and three times went to the College Football Playoff. The talent that is in Southern California that has been kind of moving north to Oregon, he is going to be able to pull (that) back down. Specifically the quarterbacks. And that is a huge part of this equation.”

Also appearing on the ESPN panel was Paul Finebaum, the SEC analyst and college football insider for the network.

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Orlavsky also noted that UCLA was 8-4 in 2021 “and there is a lot of conversation around that program that they are heading in the right direction.”

Finebaum agreed with Orlovsky that the Big Ten’s move for the two Los Angeles programs was big. But he cautioned Orlovsky that the recency bias in his argument isn’t watertight.

“You can’t base conference expansion on today, you have to project into the future. And it is also worth remembering that Lincoln Riley replaced a legend in Bob Stoops,” Finebaum said.

“The point being, the fact that USC is going to the Big Ten is really what this is about. UCLA is not an important part of the conversation. The city of Los Angeles is moving to the Big Ten footprint. That is incredibly dramatic and important when you’re a television executive; this is a Fox property and they’re looking at it going ‘When USC wins, they are huge in the city of Los Angeles.’ Which can not be underestimated.”

Beyond the ratings, Finebaum isn’t convinced that the SEC’s move to mainly add Texas is going to be a windfall for the conference or the Longhorns on the playing field.

“Sure, Oklahoma is fantastic and Texas is a brand. But Texas has won I think three conference championships in the last 25 years. Two of those are in the Big 12. We’ve already heard what Dan said (what) Oklahoma has done the past five to six years…(Texas) not been relevant since they (played) Alabama in the 2009 Rose Bowl. Yea, they had Vince Young, they had a run. But they haven’t had anything since then. They’ve been a disaster,” Finebaum said.

“That’s why they’re getting out of the Big 12 and running to the SEC because they’re hoping it will enhance their recruit – which it already has I think with Arch Manning. And it will get them to a level where Texas A&M is right now. There is a lot more to it today. Texas had to make that move. As much as it pains me at the SEC media days, the move two weeks ago was the biggest move of the two.”

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Eight teams that the SEC should pursue if they desire more expansion

Should the SEC continue to look at expansion? Here are eight teams to consider.

Last summer we saw the SEC throw the first punch in college football expansion when they brought the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns into the fold. That move won’t become official until 2025 at the latest.

One year later the Big Ten went after the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins. With the announcement of that move, both the Big Ten and SEC sit at 14 current members and two more future members to join in 2024 or beyond.

Is conference expansion going to end there? Likely not.

Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams made their case for eight such teams should the SEC look to add more schools to the conference.

‘They don’t have any fans’: Iowa Hawkeyes’ QB Spencer Petras jabs new Big Ten additions USC, UCLA

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras welcomes the future additions of USC and UCLA. There’s nothing wrong with sunshine and no fans in November.

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras met with the media for the first time since the spring earlier this week. The Hawkeyes’ likely No. 1 signal-caller reflected on his experience at the Manning Passing Academy, discussed what excites him about Iowa’s offense entering 2022 and even broached the topic of college realignment.

Of course, the Big Ten recently made waves by announcing the future additions of USC and UCLA in 2024. As someone that grew up in San Rafael, Calif., Petras is naturally familiar with both and excited about what each will bring to the conference in the future.

One of his only hangups is the fact that he won’t get the chance to play against either during his time in Iowa City. At least as a conference foe anyways.

“I know. It sucks, but, no, I wish they had joined five years ago. It would be cool, but I think it’s good for the conference, I think it’s good for certainly the Big Ten like I said. I think it’s good for California. I’m excited to see how it all plays out,” Petras said.

In what has been a common remark from longtime Big Ten fans, Petras took a little jab at USC and UCLA’s oftentimes underwhelming fan support.

“I think the best part is, I mean, you’ve got to if you’re a Big Ten Midwest team, you’ve got to pray for a couple road games in L.A. in November. I mean, you can’t ask for better, because they don’t have any fans, so it’s not like it’s going to be too loud, tough environment. That’s rude. They have fans, but it’s not the same as it is here and 60, 70 degree weather in November would be pretty cool. Yeah, better than 40 mile per hour winds, you can’t feel your hands. Ball is like soaking wet,” Petras said.

Even as Petras fired a couple of shots at Trojans and Bruins fans, he backtracked it to some degree pretty quickly. Really, it’s all in good fun and part of what makes the additions of USC and UCLA so great.

There is a culture clash at play here between Big Ten lifers and the fans of these programs that the league is adding. That’s in addition to regionality being thrown out the window.

For now, Petras doesn’t have to worry about any upcoming games against either USC or UCLA. Make no mistake about it, though. This won’t be the last time USC or UCLA fans hear a current Big Ten player, coach, analyst or fan point out some of the perceived differences in fan support or ask how these two new additions will handle a cold November day in Big Ten country.

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Paul Finebaum: Notre Dame can tip the balance between the Big Ten and the SEC

Paul Finebaum thinks Notre Dame might tip the balance of power in college football.

The balance of power in college football – and perhaps the greater college sports landscape – might just hang in South Bend, IN. So says Paul Finebaum, who sees Notre Dame determining the arms race between college football’s two superpowers.

With the Big Ten recently adding UCLA and USC as part of their expansion, the conference may have caught up with the SEC in terms of relative strength. The SEC has long been the dominant conference of college sports and in particular college football.

But the addition of UCLA and in particular for football purposes, USC, is a massive boost for the Big Ten.

ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum told RutgersWire on Thursday morning that the Big Ten’s move is seismic. But with Notre Dame now potentially in the mix as an expansion candidate, the Big Ten might be able to pull away from the SEC as the powerhouse conference of college football.

Of course, the SEC and the ACC want Notre Dame too.

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Finebaum thinks where Notre Dame lands tilts the balance of power in college football:

“The recent move – plus the upcoming TV deal – puts the league firmly in the game – leaving everyone else in the dust,” Finebaum told RutgersWire on Thursday about the Big Ten’s expansion.

“This is now a Coke vs. Pepsi battle. Both survive and profit handsomely. But there can only be one No. 1. Where Notre Dame ends up – assuming it makes a move – could very well determine that.”

Notre Dame doesn’t bring a new media market to the Big Ten, given the overlap with the Indiana Hoosiers. But they bring a national fanbase as well as a storied football program, quality men’s and women’s basketball teams and a stable of Olympic sports that are consistently among the best in the nation.

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Were Notre Dame to leave their independent status and join a conference, their presence would, in all likelihood, tip the balance of power in college football to the Big Ten. Finebaum isn’t wrong.

With the addition of USC in 2024, the Big Ten would hold six of the top ten programs historically in the history of college football:

Were Notre Dame to join USC in the Big Ten, the ramifications in college football would be huge from a revenue point of view for the Big Ten but also the product on the field.

For what it is worth,  two SEC powerhouses check-in pretty high in the poll with Alabama (second) and Oklahoma (third).

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Iowa-UCLA tabbed a top-10 ‘must-see’ matchup in new-look Big Ten

The contrast of Iowa and UCLA could not be greater, and that is exactly why their future matchup is a top-10 “must-see” in the new Big Ten.

Field position. Clock management. Defense. Smart plays on offense. Limited turnovers. Punting. These are all things that the Iowa Hawkeyes do well and rely on to slowly constrict teams into victory by submission.

Going for it on fourth down. High-scoring shootouts. Aggressive play calls. Data and analytics. All of these could be relatively synonymous for how Chip Kelly operates the UCLA Bruins.

The stark contrast of these two teams is so vast that it brings an excitement level to it when we eventually see Iowa and UCLA take the field against each other in the next few years now that the Big Ten is expanding and adding UCLA and USC.

Athlon Sports’ Ben Weinrib put this future Big Ten matchup in his top 10 for new matchups fans will get once the move is complete in the 2024 college football season.

Talk about a contrast in styles, Iowa and UCLA should also make for a fascinating matchup. And if the conference’s divisions remain split east-west, these two could face each other quite often. – Weinrib, Athlon Sports.

The difference in these coaching styles and how these teams operate really sums up quite well in one statistic. UCLA nearly doubled up Iowa on their fourth down attempts in 2021. UCLA attempted 31 fourth down conversions while Iowa went for it just 16 times.

To go with that, Iowa punted the ball 82 times last season while UCLA only booted it away 34 times. These two teams playing is going to be similar to watching a run-and-gun, up-tempo basketball team play against a half-court system. Whoever can control the tempo in these future matchups will gain an advantage with their defenses being well-rested and playing their game.

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What the Big 12 could look like if it expanded to 20 teams

The Big 12 could secure its future by becoming the top basketball conference.

The Big 12 is well on its way to becoming the next super conference in college football. Continue reading “What the Big 12 could look like if it expanded to 20 teams”

How the Big 12 could become a third super conference in expansion

The Big 12 has considered adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

The UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans announced their departure for the Big Ten conference this week. The news came just one summer after Oklahoma and Texas voiced their plans to head to the SEC as late as the 2025 season.

Since the move, the Big 12 appears to be looking to become a third super conference. Not long after announcing a new conference commissioner, the Big 12 is reportedly looking at adding Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah.

While the league would not compare to what the Big Ten and SEC are building, it would present a viable third option to the two powers and include more teams in the future of college football.

The Big 12 has already added teams that could become recruiting strongholds. Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are based in talent-rich recruiting grounds and have strong support from alumni. A merger between the Big 12 and Pac-12 presents a best-case scenario for teams outside of newly formed super conferences.

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

Big Ten Expansion. NOW What Does It Do? 22 Thoughts For 2022, No. 14

Big Ten expansion – what can the conference do to keep up after the SEC landed Texas and Oklahoma?

22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 14: After the SEC landed Texas and Oklahoma, how can the Big Ten possibly respond to expand and keep up the pace?


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22 College Football Thoughts For 2022

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger
16. NFL, keep your hands off our announcers
15. Big 12: Get bigger and stronger, or else

14. Big Ten expansion: NOW what does it do?

Conference expansion and realignment have been a part of college football ever since college alliances began, but business-wise, it all went up a few notches in the early 1990s.

The Southwest Conference and Big 8 created the Big 12, Florida State joined the ACC – setting the tone for a wave of additions from the Big East – and Penn State went to the most forward-thinking conference of the bunch, the Big Ten.

Even when the Big Ten wasn’t bringing aboard schools, it was getting everyone talking.

When it has expansion and big business ideas, the B1G usually tells you what it’s going to do – or, at the very least, hints at it – and why? Because it can.

However, after Texas and Oklahoma made the move to the SEC, the Big Ten has been strangely quiet when it comes to conference expansion. As in, like, dead silent.

Under former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, the conference had a way of subtly letting out the expansion trial balloons to see which way the wind was blowing. So far under new commissioner Kevin Warren, there’s apparently no interest in adding more schools, everything is fine as is, and …

There aren’t a whole lot of options. That’s the problem. And there’s a bigger existential concern that Big Ten people don’t like to talk about at parties …

Ohio State.

All of a sudden, the SEC is positioning itself to take over the Big Ten as the most dominant revenue producing conference, but it needs more. It needs to make people outside of the southeast part of the country care about the product when it’s not the Alabama vs. Big Other SEC Team of the Moment showdown.

The SEC getting Oklahoma was one thing, but landing Texas changed the game.

First, it’s Texas. Blow off the problems on the football field; that’s the big boy at the table when it comes to revenue producing athletic departments.

Second, it’s Texas. It’s going to step in and be the second-best academic institution in the SEC behind Vanderbilt, or arguably 2B along with Florida.

Third, it’s Texas. Having Texas A&M is great, but you get the University of Texas, you get all the big markets across the entire state including a lockdown of the Dallas/Fort Worth area – the fifth largest media market in the country.

The SEC now owns Dallas, it owns Atlanta (7th largest media market according to the Nielsen Ratings), and it pretty much has Houston (8th), Tampa/St. Petersburg (13th), and Orlando (17th). That’s not quite like having Chicago (3rd), Philadelphia (4th), Washington DC (9th), Minneapolis (14th), Detroit (15th), Cleveland (19th) and whatever parts of New York that cares about college football, but it’s huge.

And the Big Ten totally blew it.


Big Ten 2022 Schedule Analysis: 3 things to know
Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Maryland | Michigan
Michigan State | 
Minnesota | Nebraska | Ohio State
Penn State | PurdueRutgers | Wisconsin


It was one of those spitballed ideas several years ago when the Big Ten was looking to expand. Texas was – and still is – the PERFECT fit for the Big Ten in every possible way. As I said in an earlier rant, Texas people aren’t doing their jobs – in terms of potential football success, revenue, and academic profile – if it doesn’t do a double-take on this SEC move.

But that’s not going to happen, Texas is going to the SEC, and that opens the gate for every big-time athletic school that would trade it all for a little bit more.

It’s doubtful the SEC could ever get Michigan – horrible academic branding downgrade – but Ohio State? It’s been more than just hinted that the SEC would love to get THE school in Ohio and all but end any possible balance of college football power.

Of course there’s the sports side, but to get all of the Ohio markets – and create a much, much bigger overall media deal – would be a devastating blow to the Big Ten.

No, I don’t think Ohio State is ever leaving the Big Ten, but it sure as shoot has a whole lot of negotiating power with a whole lot of muscle.

So now the Big Ten has to do something splashy to not only keep up with the SEC, but to make the current members richer and happier. 

But how?

There are two expansion issues for the conference. Expansion only makes sense if it raises the revenue for everyone. There’s no reason to keep adding schools just to add schools if it splits up the pie a few more slices. The other issue is the lack of options.

Part arrogance, part negotiating stalemates, part not wanting to add big-time football schools to make life a wee bit harder for the powerhouses – notice there was no griping whatsoever from the football coaches after adding Rutgers and Maryland – the Big Ten didn’t get Texas. It never really came all that close to figuring it out with Notre Dame – that was on both sides. It completely whiffed by not jumping on Missouri and Colorado to expand west, and it didn’t really go hard enough on the top ACC schools when it had the chance. 

That last one is the killer. 

The Big Ten would LOVE to have North Carolina – it fits in the exact same way Texas would have. It would have probably pushed for Georgia Tech for the Atlanta market – just like it wanted Rutgers for New York/New Jersey and Maryland for Baltimore/Washington DC – Boston College and Syracuse would’ve been interesting ideas, and Virginia would be a no-brainer.

But the ACC has its schools locked up until 2035 in a rough media deal – that’s sort of why you haven’t heard much about the SEC putting a fence around the southeast part of the country by taking over Clemson, Florida State, and Miami.

Everything has its price, and there’s always a way, but the ACC is all but out. Notre Dame continues to be a non-starter, and the Big Ten and Pac-12 don’t seem to want to mess with each other in any sort of expansion rumors – even though USC, UCLA, Arizona State, Arizona, and Washington are all probably more in the Big Ten’s thought bubble than many might want to believe.

So now what?

There are only a few schools that make sense for what the Big Ten is looking for. They have to be Tier 1 research universities with a good media reach and the ability expand the overall footprint – don’t worry too much about geography and travel; it’s 1,300 miles from Piscataway to Lincoln.

And it has to have the main schools the respective states – like THE University of Nebraska, and THE University of Maryland, and THE State University of New Jersey.

The easy starting point would be Kansas – great basketball, Tier 1 research, Kansas City and St. Louis markets, easy geographic rival for the Big Ten West – but that’s not exactly matching the SEC getting Oklahoma and Texas.

All of the other Big 12 schools other than TCU have the Tier 1 academic profile, but … nah. West Virginia doesn’t really fit, and the Big Ten isn’t going after Iowa State when it has Iowa, or Kansas State when it can probably get Kansas.

So that leaves the Pac-12. The Big Ten doesn’t want to ruffle that relationship, but business is business, and Colorado would slide right in and be at home in the Big Ten. The Pac-12 would get all mad, and then it would finally do what it should’ve done years ago and snatch Colorado State, San Diego State, and UNLV from the Mountain West.

Colorado and Kansas? Really? That would be the Big Ten’s smartest and best answer to the SEC getting Texas and Oklahoma? 

Yeah – because it works. 

Remember, this is business – don’t get caught up in level of play on the football field. 

Colorado would be about adding Denver – the 16th biggest media market in the country – and Kansas, again, gets you Kansas City (34th) and helps with St. Louis (23rd) to go along with the national basketball base that would park it on the Big Ten Network during the season.

Or nothing could happen, the Big Ten will keep printing money, and it’ll spend its time working on keeping the member institutions from thinking about entering the conference transfer portal.

But it’s the Big Ten. It might be quiet, but ohhhhhhhh, no. It’s not going to sit this one out.

You really think the Big Ten is going to let the SEC take over the world?

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger
16. NFL, keep your hands off our announcers
15. Big 12: Get bigger and stronger, or else

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2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams

 

Big 12 Needs To Keep Expanding: 22 Thoughts For 2022, No. 15

The Big 12 lost its two stars and made up for it with a smart expansion move. Now it needs to do more. 22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 15

22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 15: The Big 12 made some great moves after losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. Now it needs to do more.


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22 College Football Thoughts For 2022

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger
16. NFL, keep your hands off our announcers

15. Big 12, get bigger, better, stronger, or else …

The Big 12 adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF was great – it should’ve done that ten years ago, and added USF, too – but it’s not replacing Oklahoma and Texas with those four.

It’s not going to Moneyball its way past losing Damon and Giambi without doing a whole lot more to not only strengthen the conference, but to have an overall contingency plan.

The Big 12 is in a strange place – and yeah, I sort of mean the middle part of the country, because geographically it’s able to draw on other schools that make sense for the league … and for other conferences to pick off its members.

Basketball-wise the Big 12 is a rock star even without the two monster football Oklahoma and Texas programs, but football pays the bills.

Thumping the chest about Kansas, Baylor, and the last two basketball national titles is awesome, but who’s the football powerhouse? Oklahoma State? Baylor? Iowa State? Eventually BYU and Cincinnati? No, there isn’t one at the high-end SEC or Big Ten levels.

There’s a reason why the Big 12 is more than happy to dive into the College Football Playoff expansion idea. A Big 12 champion would almost always be in, and so would a 10-2 team that would likely be 8-4 or 6-6 in the SEC or Big Ten. A weaker Power Five football conference isn’t necessarily a bad thing in an expanded CFP.

On the plus side, that lack of any monster football programs will temper the expansion interests of other conferences, but soon the basketball side of the Big 12 is going to play a role.

There’s one giant whale out there that’s been eerily quiet.

The Big Ten can’t pick off schools from the ACC – that’s for a later rant; the ACC contracts are way too tough to get out of – and it’s not going to start sniffing around the Pac-12. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of options.

No, Kansas isn’t great at football – neither are Rutgers and Maryland. The Big Ten expanded the last time around because it wanted a footprint for the Big Ten Network – among other things – in the New York/New Jersey area and in Baltimore/Washington DC. As I’ll keep reiterating through all this expansion talk, the Big Ten wants THE school in a state.

It wants the massive big state Tier 1 research schools, and there are only a handful of them who might be available.

The University of Kansas is one – by the way, the rest of the Big 12 schools are Tier 1 other than TCU and, from the new batch, BYU – and yeah, it just won the national championship in basketball, and yeah, it helps to bring in the Kansas City and St. Louis markets, and yeah, it’s an easy and natural rival for Nebraska, Iowa, and most of the Big Ten West.

If you’re the Pac-12, there are only so many places you can go, too, without simply taking over the Mountain West. For a conference that likes basketball – even more than football in some ways – Kansas might start to look a whole lot better.

Most of the Big 12 schools have to be in a discussion at some Tuesday afternoon meeting in George Kliavkov’s office.


Big 12 2022 Schedule Analysis: 3 things to know
Baylor | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State | Oklahoma 
Oklahoma State | TCU | Texas | Texas Tech | West Virginia


To keep hammering this home, there’s a prestige in having the University of (insert state name here), which is why West Virginia might have some interest for the ACC, but that’s likely low on the Big 12’s lists of concerns at the moment.

But let’s say everyone is standing pat and the current Big 12 configuration for a few years from now is solid. Again, what else you got, Big 12, football-wise? How can the conference learn from the Oklahoma and Texas blindside and go on the offensive?

USF should be part of the future plans – the Tampa market and huge enrollment helps – but there’s one big move the Big 12 can make that would make too much sense – beat the Pac-12 to the Mountain West punch.

Not to sound all geopolitical, but by landing BYU there’s a bridge that works for the Big 12 to expand west.

If the Big 12 wants to fire a shot across the bow, grab UNLV – Las Vegas is going to be to the Pac-12 what Indianapolis is to the Big Ten and Atlanta is to the SEC – or Nevada. Colorado State works awfully well – by the way, Nevada, UNLV and Colorado State are Tier 1 research schools – and then if it really wants to make some noise …

Nab San Diego State and that market and that basketball team and that football program with its shiny new stadium before the Pac-12 figures out that the school is a perfect fit – other than the Tier 1 research part.

Oh, and one more move that makes way too much sense. You’re missing a football powerhouse, Big 12? How about North Dakota State? Tier 1 research school, insane rabid base, and …

I know I’m getting way off the rails here.

Let’s give credit to a Big 12 that was considered all but dead by some after losing its two superstar members – and remember, that’s after losing Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas A&M over the last few years, too.

BYU was a fantastic get. So was Cincinnati, so was UCF, so was Houston. The conference is still alive, there’s a great energy around those four new schools coming in, and there’s a chance to keep on growing.

But it’s the world of college athletics. Either you’re eating, or you’re being eaten.

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger
16. NFL, keep your hands off our announcers

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2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams

 

NFL, Keep Your Hands Off Our Announcers: 22 Thoughts For 2022, No. 16

College football announcers are going to be used more for the NFL … because some are that good. 22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 16

22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 16: The NFL announcers are fine, but the college stars are better … and we can’t lose them to the next level


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22 College Football Thoughts For 2022

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger

16. Here’s the deal, NFL broadcasting world …

The NFL hates to admit that some aspects of the college game are better.

The college version of instant replay … better.

Overtime system – as contrived as it might be … better.

Rivalries and traditions … way better.

Length of halftime … okay, so the NFL wins that by seven touchdowns, but there’s one area that college football has all over the NFL.

1) Pregame shows, and, with some huge exceptions calling college games that I won’t get into, 2) the announcers.

Nothing against all the hard-working and more-than-competent people doing NFL broadcasts, but there’s a reason why Peyton and Eli made it so easy for fans to move away from the normal call of a game – and why ESPN spent a gajillion dollars for Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Oh sure, there’s Al Michaels, and Buck is terrific – he’s so unfairly dogged – but the NFL announcing teams are all … fine.

It’s the NFL. It likes things to be uniform, which is why Tony Romo can be goofy and he sounds like a breath of fresh air.

Now, find the NFL announcing team that has as much fun calling a game as Mark Jones and Robert Griffin III when they’re rolling.

There will never be another Keith Jackson, but Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are far better than you think. The NFL figured out that Herbstreit would be fantastic for its broadcasts, too, as he pairs up with Michaels on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football. That’s where it needs to stop.

Of course these are professional talents who can be great juggling different levels of football – certainly Jackson did other sports without a problem and Fowler is terrfic with his tennis work – but having signature voices in college football matters.

It’s part of the identity of the sport. Having a side hustle is fine, but the top college announcers and analysts need to stick around.

Eventually, the NFL is going to figure out just how miserable the pablum of their big-network pregame shows are – seriously, NFL, fewer big brand name ex-jocks and coaches doing fluffy talk – and it’ll steal the whole College GameDay crew. Everyone tries to imitate it now for every sport, but it’s just not the same. It’s not as authentic.

So here’s the deal, NFL.

Yeah, fine, college football loans you Herbstreit for Thursday night games, and college football gets Peyton and Eli for Tuesday night MACtion and the occasional Saturday afternoon SEC showdown. The Mannings actually like the college world better, anyway.

Cool?

22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22, College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
18. Sun Belt is the cool conference
17. Transfer Portal will only get bigger

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2022 College Football Schedules: All 131 Teams