Readers of this blog will know we like to follow college football around here. I think most are also aware that we are a house of split allegiance. Being a U of U graduate, I couldn't help but be excited that the U is joining the Pac 10 / 12 (whatever it will be called now). I realize the U was definitely lower on the list of choices the Pac 10 was trying to invite, but it's still a great opportunity and will hopefully benefit the school in many ways, not the least of which is athletics. So, I celebrate the fact that if the U is able to have some fantastic seasons, like they have in the last few years, their chance to go to a national championship game is exponentially greater (I do recognize that to have an undefeated season in the Pac 10 will be a more difficult achievement than doing so in the Mountain West).
All that being said, I do lament the fact that they just up and joined the great evil that is the BCS. Rather than trying to bring it down by proving a mid-major conference can and does produce worthy opponents year in and year out, they have succumbed to the seduction of receiving more credibility by being in a supposedly "better" conference. I like to believe that the MWC does have some teams worth giving the time of day to and they have been unfairly disadvantaged by the current BCS system. I am not saying all of the MWC teams would stack up against all the SEC teams, but on any given year, in football at least, they might stack up to the ACC or the Big East. So, in my celebration, I lament the fact that the U did not stand on principle and push for more equality on the college football field. Luckily, at least according to many BYU fans, Utes and their fans have no principles or standards, so there wouldn't be any expectation for us to use them anyway.
I do realize, above all, it's all about the money, so since this deal bring with it a lot of $ it most certainly is a savvy business decision. But then again, isn't that what is so wrong with the world today? In general, we give up our principles in order to cash in to get ahead. See with me, everything can become philosophical, even college sports.
3 comments:
"it's still a great opportunity and will hopefully benefit the school in many ways, not the least of which is athletics"
I'm not sure why people even pretend that athletic conferences are about anything other than athletics (which are in turn driven by money). The PAC-10 (or any other conference) would invite Beelzebub Tech to join up if they had a big media market and competitive teams.
The PAC-10 isn't a research partnership, and they don't share libraries. The U will not suddenly have a better law program, and no University of Washington grad will suddenly get preferential acceptance into the UofU medical school because they've decided to play sports against each other.
Beyond just their principles (you brought it up ;) the U is throwing away their history and tradition. Utah joined the WAC in 1962 along with BYU, UNM and Wyoming and have been playing them year in and year out for just shy of 50 years now. CSU joined in '67, SDSU in '78, and AF in '80. The old WAC is essentially who withdrew from the WAC 10 years ago to make the MWC, we just let them keep the name. But Utah will lose those rivalries, not only in football, but in all those other sports.
While I'm on this soap box . . . the NCAA puts commercials on TV about how there are a gazillion student athletes out there (most of whom will go pro in something else) and yet it is clear that football drives essentially ALL college athletics. (90% football, 9.99% basketball.) With all the talk of changing conferences, almost no one mentions how it will effect women's softball teams. (Note: to get to Pullman, WA to play, the football team will charter a plane and fly directly there. The women's softball team? Well, orbitz tells me the cheapest way to get there is from SLC to Boise to Seattle to Pullman, which takes just under 11 hours. It can be done with just 1 stop, so hopefully for them they get that. Yes, I cherry picked Pullman because it is out of the way, but there will be generally increased travel times.)
While I agree with almost everything Clark has said, I would take exception to one minor point. The cheapest and quickest way to travel from SLC to Pullman is simply not to fly the whole way. It's an 11-12 hour drive so it's a wash to the 4 flight solution. And your cherry picking is a little further unfair given that WSU doesn't field a women's softball team at the NCAA level (they play club level).
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