More on super conferences

A new dynamic is in place in the Southwest. Baylor complains about Texas A&M's jump to the SEC, but then says, "We're not making a decision until Oklahoma does". That's like a guy who steps out of a crowd and barks at the opposing side then slithers back into the pack.

There's more. The letter last Friday from the Big 12 to the SEC promises that the other schools in the conference will okay A&M's move provided Oklahoma decides to stay in the Big 12. Well, Oklahoma, there you have it. Choose to leave the Big 12 and have it file a lawsuit against A&M and the SEC while taking OK State, Texas, and Texas Tech with you or stay in the Big 12 thus keeping the conference in tact with 9 teams and let A&M try their hand in the SEC where their butts will get kicked.

Really, all of this is very entertaining news, but it's a distraction to what is really important. College football is saying good-bye to the old, traditional ways of doing business to embrace a newer, more lucrative setup of the super conference system. All in the name of money.

In my other column today, I wrote about the importance of tradition. This may have implied that I was agreeing with Baylor's admonition. Not so. I have always believed in some traditions. I also believe in change when necessary. In some ways I agree with the super conference idea. Bigger contracts with TV and cable can bring teams to audiences that never get to see them. They also bring the sons and daughters of parents whose children may attend a university where the media doesn't reach normally into their homes so that they can see their children play.

But one does not rip up the foundation of what makes college football so appealing--its tradition and all of the atmosphere of competition and the bragging rights that come from beating a cross-town or traditional conference rival, such as Texas-Oklahoma or USC-UCLA. That atmosphere is created by  fans who love their football team. They come out to cheer, scream, and boo. It is a break from their workaday world where they can leave their inhibitions at home and be crazy for awhile. Eliminating tradition means eliminating the part of us that needs the release.

BYU and Utah both left the Mountain West Conference this year in hopes of greener pastures. One thing they did NOT do was eliminate their yearly rivalry. The game will take place earlier in the schedule rather than at the end of the season. That part of the tradition is changed. But nothing else. I believe both schools recognize the link that exists between them need not be broken by other factors. While the game will not determine who wins the conference anymore (as it did in years past) it will maintain the spirit of good, hard competition between their teams.

The fuss being made in the Southwest now is not a good omen for the fans of college football. The aspect of big money in an amateur sport eliminates an intangible that keeps us all sane.