Conference Realignment

[Northeast Stinger]

GA Tech was in the SEC then.

Tech was recognized nationally and it had nothing to do with the SEC. Tech was considered the southern version of Notre Dame. Tech was the first team in the nation to win the Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Orange, and Gator Bowls.

 

[stinger78]

Tech was recognized nationally and it had nothing to do with the SEC. Tech was considered the southern version of Notre Dame. Tech was the first team in the nation to win the Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Orange, and Gator Bowls.

Keep it up, you’re on a roll. BTW, my response was pretty much TIC.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Keep it up, you’re on a roll. BTW, my response was pretty much TIC.

Oops! Now I’m getting touchy.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

Hmmm, that’s sort of a vague, but interesting, perspective. What manner of change relative to US and Atlanta v Tech comes to mind?

The NFL came south for one. Atlanta is a pro town now. We are no longer the only sports game in town.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Conference alignments with bowls was going on long before the 1990’s. The B1G-PAC Rose Bowl deal went way back. The SEC champ in the Sugar and the Big 8 champ in the Orange were going on in the 1970’s. That’s when the money began to flow into conferences. Then the 1984 Dooley-Switzer court decision breaking the NCAA monopoly on CFB TV was the next blow.

Yeah, but I'm talking about all the bowls, not just the Rose Bowl. It might have started in 1984, but it didn't really start showing up until the 90's.

 

[Root4GT]

Hmmm, that’s sort of a vague, but interesting, perspective. What manner of change relative to US and Atlanta v Tech comes to mind?

In the 1950s and early 1960s there were no Pro teams in Atlanta. That changed in the 1960s. Tech didn’t change but the influx of Pro Sports made Tech not Atlanta’s team any more. College football integrated in the 1950s. Tech did not until the 1970s. Tech fell way behind in football and basketball.

Tech is a predominantly and Engineering University. Always will be. High level athletes in the 1950/60s had to have real world jobs as their pro salaries were monomial. Now becoming a pro athlete even for a few years can be life changing monetarily. Off the top of my head at 4am

 

[L41k18]

Conferences didn't mean much back then. They were just about scheduling. It wasn't until they started aligning bowls with conferences that the conference pride became a thing. That was somewhere in the 1990s.

The SWC & the Cotton Bowl were aligned from the 1940s until the demise of the SWC in the mid-90s. The Rose Bowl pared the B1G-PAC champions every year beginning in 1947. The Orange Bowl took the Big 8 champ starting in 1954. The Sugar/SEC agreement started in 1975.

C'mon people. At least try to get your facts straight. This is not difficult.

 

[TechPhi97]

About programs that elevated with money, off the top of my head I would say Oregon, Louisville and Oklahoma State.

 

[TechPhi97]

Yeah, but I'm talking about all the bowls, not just the Rose Bowl. It might have started in 1984, but it didn't really start showing up until the 90's.

I mean, there was a ton of conference pride in the Southwest Conference in the 80s when I lived in Dallas. My dad still blames Arkansas for breaking up that conference, and he hates them.

 

[stinger78]

The SWC & the Cotton Bowl were aligned from the 1940s until the demise of the SWC in the mid-90s. The Rose Bowl pared the B1G-PAC champions every year beginning in 1947. The Orange Bowl took the Big 8 champ starting in 1954. The Sugar/SEC agreement started in 1975.

C'mon people. At least try to get your facts straight. This is not difficult.

Not sure the Orange Bowl was that early. Maybe so. I mean, Tech and UF played there in 1967. Could have been an odd year, I suppose.

 

[L41k18]

Not sure the Orange Bowl was that early. Maybe so. I mean, Tech and UF played there in 1967. Could have been an odd year, I suppose.

Yes, the actual article I found said starting in 1954 the Orange Bowl "usually" took the Big 8 champ, so there were the occasional outliers. The last outlier was the 1974 season up until the demise of the Big 8 in '96.

 

[GSOJacket]

Here’s the Narrative. Do any of these look familiar? The Top 25 highest spending football programs (2021). If you want to be in the CFP, spend more than $120 million a year ….

Ohio State – $215,209,566
Michigan – $180,841,523
Texas – $173,648,028
Alabama – $173,141,125
Texas A&M – $159,136,624
Penn State – $157,908,311
Oklahoma – $157,494,527
Florida State – $155,656,855
LSU – $155,591,015
Wisconsin – $149,196,055
Iowa – $149,161,886
Michigan State – $148,453,353
Tennessee – $140,824,626
Kentucky – $140,578,623
Florida – $139,935,182
Louisville – $138,830,169
Georgia – $138,757,891
Auburn – $135,816,431
South Carolina – $133,776,318
Clemson – $131,781,294
Washington – $128,976,495
Minnesota – $124,818,508
Arkansas – $123,857,351
Illinois – $121,638,435
Oregon – $120,884,588

If private schools were included, high odds Stanford would be included due to the breadth of their program, which is supported by a huge athletic endowment.

In the 2023-24 academic year, Stanford has 36 varsity sports—20 for women, 16 for men (sailing is a co-ed sport). In addition to its varsity sports, Stanford Athletics supports campus-wide physical education academic classes, fitness and wellness, aquatics, intramurals, adventure programming and 43 club sports.

 

[forensicbuzz]

The SWC & the Cotton Bowl were aligned from the 1940s until the demise of the SWC in the mid-90s. The Rose Bowl pared the B1G-PAC champions every year beginning in 1947. The Orange Bowl took the Big 8 champ starting in 1954. The Sugar/SEC agreement started in 1975.

C'mon people. At least try to get your facts straight. This is not difficult.

That’s a very limited pairing, and the Rose Bowl was the only one that filled both slots. There were plenty of other bowls. Try not to be snarky.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I mean, there was a ton of conference pride in the Southwest Conference in the 80s when I lived in Dallas. My dad still blames Arkansas for breaking up that conference, and he hates them.

I don't know about the SWC because it was so insular, but it wasn't until all the bowls started aligning with conferences in the 90s and then the bowls were given a pecking order that you started hearing people touting the conference crap, at least in Atlanta and the ACC/SEC schools around Atlanta. My friends that went to Clempson, Auburn, uga, Tennessee, USCe, NCST, hated the other teams in their conference and wanted them all to lose because it affected what bowl they went to. This is my opinion based on my recollection and experience.

 

[L41k18]

That’s a very limited pairing, and the Rose Bowl was the only one that filled both slots. There were plenty of other bowls. Try not to be snarky.

Limited pairing? Every major conference's champion was tied to a specific bowl for decades upon decades. Except the ACC of course because ACC football was not taken seriously until this century.

I'll try to not be snarky. I will. I promise.
But it is irritating when people make wildly inaccurate statements (like conference/bowl alignments not being a thing until the 90s) just to push their agenda.

 

[Root4GT]

Limited pairing? Every major conference's champion was tied to a specific bowl for decades upon decades. Except the ACC of course because ACC football was not taken seriously until this century.

I'll try to not be snarky. I will. I promise.
But it is irritating when people make wildly inaccurate statements (like conference/bowl alignments not being a thing until the 90s) just to push their agenda.

When FSU joined the ACC in 1992 was the first time the ACC was taken seriously as a Football Conference. Frankly with good reason.

 

[orientalnc]

When FSU joined the ACC in 1992 was the first time the ACC was taken seriously as a Football Conference. Frankly with good reason.

If my memory is correct, in 1990 we beat UVA when they were ranked #1 and we went on to win the NC. That was before FSU.

 

[L41k18]

When FSU joined the ACC in 1992 was the first time the ACC was taken seriously as a Football Conference. Frankly with good reason.

Yes.
And of course FSU dominated the conference - they lost one ACC game in the first 6 years and two in the first nine. The ACC in football was only FSU for a long time.

 

[L41k18]

If my memory is correct, in 1990 we beat UVA when they were ranked #1 and we went on to win the NC. That was before FSU.

Yes. And Virginia wound up losing 4 games. We won a natty & the country was shocked ( we were too if we're in the Room of Truth ). 1990 was an outlier. The first game of '91 we were trounced by Penn State and the ACC was back to what it had always been; a basketball conference.

 

[Vespidae]

If private schools were included, high odds Stanford would be included due to the breadth of their program, which is supported by a huge athletic endowment.

In the 2023-24 academic year, Stanford has 36 varsity sports—20 for women, 16 for men (sailing is a co-ed sport). In addition to its varsity sports, Stanford Athletics supports campus-wide physical education academic classes, fitness and wellness, aquatics, intramurals, adventure programming and 43 club sports.

Fair enough. What impact does that have? Its still almost a certainty that 3/4 of relevant CFB is SEC or B1G.