College Football Realignment: Who Comes Out on Top and Who Loses Ground?

By Brett Daniels

The latest round of realignment became official on August 2, with SMU , Stanford and California joining the ACC as full members, Oregon , Washington , USC and UCLA joining the Big 10 , and Colorado , Arizona , Arizona State , and Utah completed their move to the Big 12 . This comes after the SEC completed its latest round of realignment on July 1 officially welcoming Texas and Oklahoma to the league. All the Power 4 leagues became stronger because of realignment but not everyone came out of it positively.

Winners

The SEC and Big 10 -The SEC snapped up the two best teams available on the realignment market, in Texas and Oklahoma while the Big 10 also gained valuable “properties” in Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA. Inviting these teams to the respective leagues will allow both Greg Sankey and Tony Petitti to leverage larger TV deals when it comes time to renegotiate.

Texas and Oklahoma -Both of these teams were sought after in the last round of realignment and could have potentially joined the Big 10 or revived the “PAC-16” plan from the first round of realignment to save the Pac-12. Instead, they both went to the SEC when the call came and will receive a $54.6 million payout as league members.

Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA -The first three will get the benefit of playing in a well-respected conference, which should bolster their chances of making the 12-team playoff on a regular basis. UCLA benefits from its legacy while USC needs a travel partner for other sports. You’re welcome Bruins, now; use some of that $60 million you will be getting from the Big 10 and field a competitive team.

Losers

The ACC and Big 12 -The addition of SMU , California , and Stanford to the Atlantic Coast Conference and the migration of teams from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 seem reactionary and more about self-preservation than improving the quality of either league. The Big 12 currently has a $42.6 million payout per school, and the ACC lags significantly behind at $17 million. Expansion in the ACC has caused the two biggest draws in Clemson and Florida State to begin the process of seeking another conference home.

Mid-Tier Teams in all 4 leagues -Life just got a lot harder if you are a mid-tier team in one of these Power 4 leagues, especially the SEC and Big 10. Teams like Indiana , Kentucky , Baylor, and Duke will face a tougher challenge competing with the new arrivals in their respective leagues. There are only so many 5-star, 4-star, and 3-star recruits to populate each roster, and these will flow to the top teams in each league even more than they do now. Diamonds in the rough that these schools might find and develop are likely to be snatched up by higher-tier teams in the Transfer Portal.

College Football Fans -Realignment isn’t about the betterment of the game or anything along those lines. It’s about money, and as fans, we are the ones who lose out when traditional rivalries are scrapped, games are moved off traditional weekends, and bowl games are continually devalued. The “championship or bust” mentality means only one fan base can celebrate at the end of the year, while 133 others are disappointed. Not that long ago, a conference championship and a trip to a bowl game were considered a successful year.