The Ringer had a great article about the recent news that USC and UCLA are joining the Big 10. I couldn’t care less about either USC or UCLA football, but this is just the latest change pushing all of the elite college football teams into the Big 10 and the SEC.
As the article points out, this might lead to some interesting games in the short run but really dilutes the real fun behind college football: rivalries. I’m sure USC and UCLA will continue to play each other but this undermines a lot of the reason for the rivalry. It will probably be rare that those two are playing for the championship in their new superconference.
This sort of money grab makes me less interested in big-time college football. If it’s bascially professional, why not take the next step and create a minor league for the NFL? You could put the teams in areas without NFL teams and hype it up a ton. If I need a football fix, I think I’ll watch some FCS which even has a real playoff and many fun rivalries.