Conferences aren't conferences as we used to think of them. They're negotiating agents for a collection of teams for media contracts. Nothing matters except what makes the most money.
Right now, it's working great for my alma mater, Texas, cause we got Arkansas, OU and LSU. I know LSU isn't a historical rival, but those should be awesome games. aggy's back, but I was happy to have scoreboard on those bastards and never have to see them again.
We'll also have to play fukkin Mizzery every so often.
As for the money, none of it's going in my pocket, so "yay." I just want to see some good games. What I don't get, to some extent, is why schools that don't want to make the athletic investment and can't go big time try to keep up. About forty schools can make money, and schools like Washington State and Cal have mortgaged their futures trying to keep up.
I cover a 2A school in high school. They play 2A against other 2A schools. They don't run around wanting to play 6A schools.
Why (other than money and fuck the players) do schools like Vanderbilt want to go out on the field and see their players get a mud hole stomped in them by Alabama's second string?
The quest for money will eventually lead to what the ASU president was talking about with apps, but he didn't tell the whole story. Make a gambling app where you watch the game and make micro bets for the whole game. Make an account, put your credit card in. Ten bucks charged to you on the game. Use that ten bucks during the game to bet on whether he makes the field goal or goes for it on fourth. Point spread at the end of 1st, 2nd, 3rd quarter. Bet on the point spread. Your card is on file, and they keep a tally on how much you bet.