Josh Pate's Conference Realignment BIGGEST Takeaways (Late Kick Cut)

College Football has been swept up in conference realignment and expansion lately, and on Late Kick Live Ep 412 Josh Pate took some time to discuss where the sport is and where it's headed. Could the latest round of movement and drama in College Football ultimately serve as a wakeup call for the powers that be? Will the sport itself suffer or will things revert back to normalcy? Let us know what you think in the comments below and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the channel and CLICK THE BELL for notifications as we bring you multiple live shows per week!
#CollegeFootball #LateKick #JoshPate
SUBSCRIBE to Late Kick Podcast: link.chtbl.com/LateKick
Twitter: / latekickjosh
Instagram: / latekickjosh

[@LateKickwithJoshPate]

SUBSCRIBE to the channel and keep the show FREE! Thanks as always. - JP

[@sharifs649]

Begging for subs🤣

[@bradscrazylife4269]

Been a Sub since your GA Studio

[@TroyHarperGoBucksGo]

As long as it’s focused on football news and not just SEC I’ll continue to watch

[@cjfree8813]

As a beaver fan, I'm just downright sad. This takes away so much steam heading into this season. Ugh, we went through some dark days, just to be left with this. And to those saying the "pac 12 snobs" are getting what they deserve, I ask who? Because I don't know too many fan bases as loving and unhated as orst and wazzu fans are.

[@mackenziekanis3096]

I feel bad for you guys. I wish the big 12 would have waited and picked up you guys and OST and Stanford and Cal rather then the awful teams they picked up.

[@JSchaffer214]

I don't see Pac 12 fans as 'snobs' but it does seem to me that there are far more bandwagon fans in that conference than any other conference. Especially the teams coming out of California and Oregon (ducks, not beavers). I guess we'll see just how "fair weathered" their fans really are now that they are in the Big Ten.

[@bradongrove5951]

Ute fan here - I'm going to miss playing you guys. You aren't kidding saying you went through some dark days - it's been cool to see you guys come back and become pretty damn scrappy.

[@mitchellburton20]

Not to mention I’ve been seeing Colorado and Arizona fans talking mad trash about the beavs out of nowhere. I haven’t met a single fan who was annoy, arrogant, or toxic, yet our school gets all the hate for no reason. The best way for this season to end is for the beavs to win the Pac12 and earn some respect. There’s also a very slight chance the Big12 is considering two more teams, and we are potentially one of them. It’s just a waiting game for now. Go beavs!

[@GaganSingh-rt3in]

That’s a good point! But we do lack the prestige in the PAC-12.

[@EMAWCaleb]

I’m happy it happened From Manhattan KS

[@yaboyJ64]

As a Big 12 fan seeing my conference stabilize itself and assert itself as the 3rd best conference in the country and it’s here to stay! I loved it

[@ashleybowers5386]

As an SEC fan and Alum, I can admit this is horrible for college football. Even though my school is a legacy SEC team.

[@trclark7689]

It'll be 3rd best when the ACC dies.

[@yaboyJ64]

@@trclark7689 give it a few years and the ACC will be the next PAC 12

[@yaboyJ64]

@@ashleybowers5386 i agree with you. Im just glad to see my conference still kicking

[@CertifiedClapaholic]

4th* best. ACC is definitely 3rd.

[@gbear34]

I'm a Big 12 fan who feels vindicated by the proven value of my team's conference, but I'd trade that feeling for a return to regional football and commitment to conference health by all members. The times are achangin'.

[@TimothyFitch]

At least we did get a region rival back and we added several pairs of rivalries. All of the new states going west are contiguous. Hopefully we can close the gaps in the East soon.

[@wolverinesfan9021]

You guys are a backfill for mid tier programs.

[@michaelharte6979]

@@wolverinesfan9021You mean like the one that beat your Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl?

[@PurdyEdits]

@@michaelharte6979 fr 💀💀💀

[@drewluke]

​@michaelharte6979 haha, Michigan is the worst 😂 Go Bucks!

[@ConnorLyle]

This applies to more than just college football

[@keruetz]

The Pate State fireside chat needs to be a weekly or monthly segment.

[@Tetio]

Look no further back then the Southwest Conference.. There were programs that were left with no chair to sit on.. Rice, SMU, TCU and Houston Now some of those programs are back, some are even further away.

[@nicjunker7707]

Damn, I like it 😂

[@NAFUSO1]

As a B1G football fan, I'm not disappointed. Honestly, I couldn't care less about UCLA joining, but I love that there'll be MI- Oregon and OSU-USC and Penn State-Washington. That excites me much more than OSU-Indiana or Wisconsin-Rutgers. It may suck for the non-football programs, but I don't watch those anyway....

[@willl7780]

yup....cant wait for those games

[@brianvillatoro6588]

Can't wait to watch USC-Northwestern, Oregon-Indiana, Washington-Maryland, for every decent game you presented above, there is twice as many shitty games I just daid

[@mikeyposs3132]

Yep! I'm sure you won't watch any BIG10 games involving UCLA😂

[@teeduck]

It’s care less

[@jamarreid1082]

@@brianvillatoro6588eh, I’d watch, but then again I’m a fan of football.

[@kylea.robbins9426]

It’s just wild that an entire conference that had been around for over 100 years is going to be just a wiki page in 2025

[@Thurmond3264]

This is the side of Late Kick that the people need going forward.

[@None-dj8iy]

The football brands that are big want to play each other. The ones that aren't are the ones that are the most upset.

[@davidcastaneda8403]

TRUTH!

[@mister_bailey]

I’m SO curious what happens when teams who are accustomed to being in the upper echelon of their conferences (Texas, OU, USC) eventually become also-rans in their new destinations.

[@lastsunrise445]

Texas hasn't been anything in the big 12 for over a decade. They feel it's more valuable to lose to teams in the SEC than to keep losing to Kansas. The only thing they've been upper echelon is preseason polls.

[@jamarreid1082]

It won’t happen. Texas and OU are going to get better athletes in the SEC, so will usc in the big. They’re definitely not going to be also rans, especially with the 12 team playoff.

[@mister_bailey]

@@jamarreid1082 They all (the SEC teams) can’t win ALL the games. There can’t even mathematically be 4 or 5 two-loss teams in the same conference; especially if the buzz about the SEC getting Clemson and FSU comes to fruition. Somebody who expects to win ain’t gonna be doing a whole lot of winning. The cream will rise to the top, and the rest will be…also-rans. They’re banking on “playoff berth-by-association”. Good luck to them with that.

[@jamarreid1082]

#1 DE in 2024 just committed to Texas over lsu and Miami. These are big brands dude.

[@mister_bailey]

Hey bro, fair enough. I don’t disagree with you AT ALL. We’ll see how much room there is at the top in the next 5 years for the 10 or so programs that believe they have a legitimate shot at a national title every year. Being relevant for a season is one thing. STAYING relevant in the deepest conference in America is easier said than done. Somebody’s coaches won’t still be around by then - mainly because they can’t keep up.

[@kendrickellis8726]

The Sec, taken everything tv deals,rings, an recruit's

[@Irivesper]

The wild thing is that these decisions are made primarily because of football + mens basketball, but it affects most other sports at these schools. So now a Big Ten field hockey student athlete might play half their games on the coasts.

[@moffprof02]

So… have separate conferences and tv contracts with different sports. It’s not rocket science.

[@davidsimmons3391]

TRUTH

[@ronwallace7563]

Thanks for reminding us that the power is with the people! Great information. Thanks for sharing.

[@user-qz8st2uj7p]

Josh, I am not sure that the campuses at Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State are seeing flowers sprouting across their campus. The events of last week will cripple or decimate those programs. We should all hope that the ACC's Grant of Rights is as airtight as it appears or else that conference, and another 5-7 programs will have the same fate as the current Pac 4 schools.

[@dragonsurge1]

Not exactly. The PAC-12 didn’t have any TV deal while the ACC has a deal similar to the big12 so their concern is losing Clemson, FSU, UNC and Miami to the B1G/SEC. They can replace those teams with G5 teams but the other teams aren’t going anywhere. They didn’t add teams like the Big12 because it splits the revenue even further.

[@thejfactor1]

The future in 10 years will be all streaming. Cable is a dying whale. It would be extremely wise for the four remaining schools to get four more schools and sign a deal with all streaming.

[@johnchall6796]

@@dragonsurge1 the big 12 deal thoiugh, is if they add a team the revenue goes up for the conference, their deal was smart.

[@ccampau]

Might as well rip the band-aid off and go with 2 tiered FBS league. Drop all conferences for football. Keep them with more geographic concerns in mind for other sports. Have the top 64 compete for a natty in a logical 4 region format. Have an 8 game "regular season" that seeds a 64 team bracket. Worst 4 records get relegated to the 2nd tier (same format), top 4 from the 2nd tier move up.

[@jimedick9496]

⁠@@thejfactor1 Streaming is the future, and it’s right now. That still doesn’t change the fact that I watch ESPN, ABC, and FOX Sports through streaming. Those are still the big three with college sports, whether it’s streaming or cable. When Saturday rolls around, the last place I’m thinking of going when tuning into a channel to watch a game is Apple TV. We are not there yet. Someday, I can see it, but right now it’s not a thought.

[@AllenWoody-kj7sc]

Money and stability.

[@tnjrcfl1]

Walked from NFL AND NBA and Holy shit don't want CFB to go to hell in handbag...

[@lastsunrise445]

Say, hypothetically, Texas Tech has to move to the Mountain West and couldn't even contend for a championship with an undefeated record. I'm not going to switch to root for another team in a larger conference because they have more exposure. The SEC and Big 10 will make more money, but each institution will only have the fans it had before realignment. If they want to make a NFL type of format with 30% of football teams, they will lose 70% of the market. Does that make sense or am I crazy?

[@DK-mj1zt]

Makes a lot of sense to me and something that many of my peers and myself have talked about. I watch many big, marquee match ups, but if my school was left out to dry I would stop watching college football altogether. I have had many discussions about these big, wealthy conferences killing the golden goose and making the whole thing crash and burn. So yes, what you said makes absolute sense.

[@theread3480]

@@DK-mj1ztThat is your schools fault for not being able to stay relevant

[@DK-mj1zt]

@@theread3480 Not sure what you mean. Relevant in what way? Wins and losses? The TV market the school is located in? Historical relevance? Every school has had lean years on the field and some schools have the luck of being in large metro areas with large TV markets. Much of this conference realignment has much more to do with timing and luck than anything. When was the last time Rutgers was "relevant"?

[@lastsunrise445]

@@DK-mj1zt thanks for the reassurance 🤙

[@lastsunrise445]

@DK-mj1zt agreed. What will eventually happen is the "power 2" will shed off the schools that don't make them any money. What they don't think about is if they only have the schools that have the biggest views, then the rest of the population is not watching those conferences compete. So would an alliance from the rest of the schools, a majority of programs, find a way to create more revenue than the "power 2"? With that, maybe have their own version of a championship that doesn't involve the selected 40 teams. In turn, have their own rules, like sharing revenue with the players, have longer eligibility, proper divisions that make sense, all kinds of freedoms and appreciations, etc. And reject all scheduling with any super conference teams as long as they are part of that conference. Idk. Just thinking of a way to give these execs the butt whooping that their parents should've.

[@whyrad23]

But where does he get his white shirts

[@DanLanningPRTeam]

Academy Sports

[@oumaniac]

No need for aTm, Mizzou, Nebraska, Colorado to leave the XII...why not go that far?

[@dylandaugherty2380]

I know this is a football channel, but what about the other sports and groups with this conference realignment? I’m in TBDBITL, and we could be going to Oregon or LA for mid-season games during midterms now. What about soccer, lacrosse, synchronized swimming, etc who travel commercially, competing 2-3 times a week?

[@MrChillguy7]

Theyre not paying the bills so they don't give a shit about them sadly. The realignment was done for football, nothing more. Which is a shame but those schools will have to get use to it. Gonna be hell if you're at like usc for basketball then you have to fly to Rutgers for an away game then fly back home for a game versus Washington then back out to like Ohio state.

[@None-dj8iy]

It eventually will be regional non revenue sports and upper and lower tier football and hoops league. Just give it time.

[@zrdaiker]

Same problem that we have with a lot of things in this country and that’s peoples greed

[@LeZurga]

Has anyone thought of implementing relegation/promotion system into college football? I think their needs to be some sort of realignment but creating a program where struggling programs get bumped down to rebuild in a “weaker” conference and promote the team that won the lower conference up. Ie: Tulane was awesome last year so bring them into the SEC and bump vandy down to American/Sunbelt.

[@dragonsurge1]

Things change so quickly! A week ago, the B1G wasn’t going to add anymore teams until after the 2024 season.

[@wa1w511]

I think they did college football a big favor by taking in schools....pretty sure the SEC is not going over 16.

[@eddihaskell]

@@wa1w511 Oh, I bet the SEC will increase in size to whatever the BIG does. You are talking bragging rights here. It's as simple as that.

[@dragonsurge1]

@@wa1w511 they’re definitely going to want Clemson and FSU when the time comes

[@skiparkcityut]

Big12 made brilliant moves to save the conference and gain stability. Pac12 did the opposite and were overly confident for no reason

[@hollinsd]

B1G should get 4 teams in the new playoff most years going forward...

[@Montuckz]

the big 10 west will basically be the pac 12. i am very traditional and a Michigan fan. but i live in Oregon and i am beyond excited to See uM come to my back yard or a 2 hour flight to LA. mixed emotions here. Go BLUE and F the Bucks

[@gamecock4u03]

I feel bad for the kids at these schools who don't play football. Those kids were never though about when all this went down.

[@keebler6370]

Oregon st and Kansas state should go to the big

[@jonboxleitner7354]

5 years ago I watched college football from ESPN GameDay at 9am through Pac-12 After Dark at 1:30am. Now. I watch my team and maybe one other game. I'm not boycotting. Just turned off. And I don't watch SEC and B1G regular season games not their title games after taking Texas and USC.

[@deegigidaugherty1578]

Slither is the operational term this season.

[@bryankarst3881]

The plan according to the heads of these conferences appears to be, snatch every big time team and put them together in The Big "Ten" and SEC...hmmm., The pendulum will swing back after a few years where every team has to join and it is just a matter of time before those power conferences say "well lets group these 24 teams in our conference together" ....

[@jonathanmacklin4788]

I am a Big XII fan and former Big 8 and 12 athlete I loved it!!! The Universities added value!!! For Pack 12 fans I understand, but for those of us who are not Pack 12 fans this made it more competitive!

[@YVQBACADEMY]

Well said JP

[@iandalby5410]

Josh, I’m a Arkansas fan and what happens to teams in these big conferences that are average or pretty good, will they ever be in contention again ?

[@TroyHarperGoBucksGo]

My advice is to get out of the SEC and shoot for the big 12 . I love how the big 12 is looking right now

[@letsexperienceearth3034]

No they wont

[@yoyokiki9670]

Yes they will with the tranfer portal and playoff expansion college football gonna be exciting it helps every program

[@jamarreid1082]

No they won’t. The 3 stars you did get are now going to Texas or OU. It pushes the haves higher and the have nots lower.

[@98593le]

I'm a Michigan fan. This realignment wave is a slap in the face of the fans of all conferences. Including the Big Ten. College football was better with a strong PAC 12 with USC and UCLA . It makes no sense for them to be in the B10. We just wanted the non conference schedule to include big time matchups with these type of teams. I don't get fans who get excited that their school is going to make 75 million from TV every year. Who cares??? Are they going to reduce tuition for all students? No. It's just money to build over the top facilities and pay pay coaches obscene salaries. RIP regional rivalries and road trips to close away games.😢

[@jamarreid1082]

The realignment will be awesome for the big 10 and sec. Osu, Xichigan, usc , penn state get to duke it out in the same conference; and I’m definitely watching Georgia/Alabama/Texas/OU/ lsu. The playoff will be 12 teams, so stop being scared of taking an extra loss.

[@mattalbrecht7471]

floyd of rosedale!

[@raleighsanford5111]

Dennis Dodd was right about the 4 corner schools joining the Big 12, it took GK showing his hand to get Utah and ASU to do a 180, but Dennis Dodd's prediction came true.

[@theecharmingbilly]

Those schools still wanted to stay, Bobby Robbins had to wake them up over the course of 3 days... They're still moaning, groaning, and talking elitist smack even after getting invited and accepted.

[@jedolivier2688]

Florida St. Clemson, & possibly Miami will be heading to the SEC.

[@jimmcniel6111]

When Texas and OU left the big 12 I was so mad. Now I think the Big 12 is gonna be ok.

[@johnwedgeworth4908]

The biggest issue is the general public on the west coast is not NEARLY as invested/interested in college football as the general public is in the Northeast, Midwest, East Coast, and certainly the Southeast?

[@jonathanpowell2990]

Time for the SEC to grab Clemson & Florida St!

[@kendog4971]

As an Oregon fan I am thrilled.. my Oregon state brothers not so much

[@sc100ott]

As an old-timer, I’m still upset that they now allow forward passing. And don’t get me started on those helmets…

[@MarkyMark1221]

I honestly could care less about the non revenue sports travel plights, but the erosion of tradition and “little guy” programs being screwed by the romantization of the playoff gives me great pause and puts a feeling of dread in the shadow of this season. Even with all the potential new great games and rivalries as a Umich fan

[@haroldflashman4687]

A ton of folks also support the realignment. The only ones really opposing it are fans of schools who will, rightly, be left out.

[@jesseregister2435]

Why has no one mentioned: "WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO THE ROSE BOWL?"

[@renherrington1326]

When I saw the yule log shot, I died 😂

[@Alex1552project]

Larry Scott ripped the Pac12 off!

[@ryanr9299]

PAC 12 will ironically be the 2nd toughest conference in college football this season..

[@stephenhermansen1498]

Despite all the shade, those being honest with themselves would have left the pac 12 too. MORE then the money even, the apple deal guaranteed irrelevance due to severely limited TV exposure.

[@W.TX806]

Josh, great show. Not only commissioners, college presidents, etc., but a lot of average reporters/ podcasters/ commentators have also been exposed in the last week. People who were complete homers or mouthpieces, or even flat out fools. Obviously they didn't make the choices for the conference, but the consequences can be damaging (see political reporting). Fans commenting (like me!) are obviously going to generally be "my team to the death," with a hefty percentage us being fools to some extent. I hurt for those whose who feel their school's "to the death" has arrived. Not being a Pac(#) fan, I objectively was stunned by a majority of the "reporting." Only pygmy tribal children are less "sourced" than I am, yet I kept thinking, "have these guys double-checked with credible, unbiased sources??" I won't throw names under the bus, but some of the reporting about the Pac was as incompetent as the leadership of the Pac. I wondered if they would prove me completely wrong, but it didn't happen. Again, Josh, well done. Your ability to analyze and intelligently provide a new possible/plausible ripple effect was refreshing.

[@stevebarnes9694]

You are the first person that is really gone out on a limb and called this what it is these high-ranking jobs in conferences and at universities are held by a lot of incompetent people. Clearly we can all agree on that now and why they're in their job is the result of a variety of different things, most of which are not good.

[@atlmiamifan]

Yeah it’s some bullshit

[@hamburglar83]

I hate realignment but I’m also a college bb fan more than football (I like nfl better, hate nba) . So as a big 12 fan I’m excited.

[@ryannichols5352]

2024 B1G caps 24 total = 4 div. 6 in ea. Winner of ea div gets B1G playoff spot. B1G playoff = 4 team 2 game 1 champ. *div are dynamic based on data (yr-to-yr) Schedule = 5 div + 2 rival + 5 open spaces Requires: Clem, NC, FSU, MIA, V, VT The SuperConference is then Full Boar! Non-Conf.tidal-locks: ND, Stan, Cal, Duke

[@robertd9850]

What possible difference does it make which conferences exist and who's in them?

[@almightybmyo5933]

Selfishly I like, I get to see matchups and games I would never had seen in the out of conference schedule. Those old rivalries can still be kept but now we can develop new ones too…

[@johnchall6796]

untill the old rivalries can't be.

[@TroyHarperGoBucksGo]

@@johnchall6796new rivalries will be made . Look forward

[@duanedavis27]

In a few years, it will be back to similar regional rivalries. The difference will be they will be called divisions instead of conferences.

[@Irivesper]

An underlying factor to all of this is that these conferences were founded and held together largely because of the infrastructure of their era. I'm from SW Michigan and we are mostly Chicago sports fans because historically we only got Chicago TV and radio stations, but I see younger kids now starting to be fans of teams from all over, which is kinda cool in its own way. In this modern era we can see any game from anywhere, and the big schools have enough money to fly their players to any away games. There isnt the same glue anymore, and we are probably far from done with realignment.

[@vinceredeor439]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pate this pissed

[@theprodigyVA]

As a BIG I love it, we got 3 super star teams we can have bigger games during the season. PAC 12 was dead, the ratings sucked no one showed up to the games. I rather have UCLA than Rutgers and Maryland.

[@Professional-Commenter]

You sir, are spitting facts!

[@volbound1700]

I was fine with it. I hated Pac12 dying but once UCLA and USC left it was dead and was happy to see it go. Wasn't worth watching with LA schools in another league and no Southern California presence. It would be like SEC without Alabama or Florida or Georgia.

[@Jack-qe8we]

The pac-12 did this to themselves a few years back Oklahoma and Texas reached out to the pac-12 requesting an invitation to join the conference the pac-12 turned them down what a dumbass move

[@blakeharrison3972]

I mean at some point will it become the AFC and NFC?

[@dougmac3046]

I think "averageassity" is my new favorite word.

[@willl7780]

i fucking love you josh....nail on the head

[@ericmadeoftin8206]

The actual game of football is more powerful than the businessmen running it. We can be disappointed, but we wont stop watching.

[@andrewmb99]

Absolutely true for some fanbases, then also probably not true for mediocre or worse program fans.

[@Kirbysbelt]

I'm a college football fan. A college football fan watches all conferences. This all kinda sucks.

[@GJI1024]

The NFL is only about what’s on the field. Tradition and geographic rivals are college football.

[@bgroesser]

I walked away from football years ago when i found that most players get brain damage. I only pay attention because this affects the women's sports that i shifted to, soccer, volleyball and gymnastics.

[@jetsteeltherealdeal7827]

I love what’s going on…CF needs to be overhauled,I want more chaos

[@themike97_58]

the end of the pac12 is the end of an era. for its sake I hope it can get some MW teams like air force. with ou and texas leaving the big12, it is nice to see the big12 taking in some of these teams. whats crazy is that the big12 got even better in basketball picking up arizona and houston. big12 was already #1 basketball team in the country, now with tcu, arizona, and houston joining next season, its almost comical.

[@leegoldman7491]

I don't like it but I also have enough knowledge to know two factors, one I can't stop it and second you might as well jump on the band wagon and enjoy the ride, you know Josh you could give an insurance seminar and hold everybody on the edge of their seat you are the best of the best...

[@lifeislikeaboxofchocolates5383]

Big10 ruined CFB. But does it rly matter how we feel rn. As an sec guy when OSU USC happens I'll be watching

[@kevinjohnson3085]

Blame the SEC and Big 10 for everything.

[@Tri.dawg1]

Bro it’s actually alot of people that’s excited for this stop project you’re personally opinion out trying make it sound like the majority saying it it’s y’all old I’m only 27 😂😂 it’s better compition now I’m ready for Florida and cleamson to join the SEC 🔥🔥

[@willjackson4613]

I’m a UA student who is just thankful we got into a relevant conference and can stay relevant and didn’t get left behind

[@JGeer1746]

Nil and the portal were the start. Now this is just the aftershock. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again the portal and nil have ruined college football

[@johnnybgoode8104]

Football is fine. Keep crying

[@theread3480]

Players were basically slaves to their programs before NIL and the transfer portal dude.

[@randydixon7118]

I have never cared about rivalries at all. I am glad that in 2024 and 2025 the SEC will play every team in the conference in two years. Let the chips fall where they may. I look forward to seeing the results after two regular seasons. Who are the big dogs and who are not.

[@imagereader_9]

Egad! With the demise of the PAC 12 the Rose Bowl might have to resort to admitting teams from unworthy and even unsanitary conferencs like the SEC! OMG!! The restaurants in SoCal will have to learn the fine art of cooking GRITS! 😱😱😱😱😱

[@BrandonJamol]

Hey just add some cheese on them grits and they’re above average

[@DixieWhistler65]

“Too many average people in positions of influence and authority.” A real truth in today’s world

[@Saylin021]

I truly wish we could go back to regional conferences. My unrealistic ideal would be 12 conferences (6 power, 6 G5) each with 10 teams. So we'd get last years' B12 where every team plays everyone in a season. Then, 6 P5 (P6?) Champs, plus 1 or 2 G6 champs and at large teams to make a 12 team playoff. Probably many things wrong with this, but it's fun to think about.

[@45heisman]

Yeah no. Give me like big games! Idgaf what city the teams are from I care that it's two big programs with big stakes playing on a big stage. Just playing the teams around you is wasting the fans time nobody cares if Oregon can beat Cal we care if they can beat PSU

[@brianvillatoro6588]

@@45heisman give me my big games🤓🤓 Like ok, all large conference games in the past DECADE have been played by the og SEC 10(excluding TAMA) Original 11 B1G, the original 12 BXII, the original 10 PAC-12 and the same Southern ACC teams. All the expansion teams in their conferences have underperformed, excluding TAMA and occasionally Missouri, Pittsburgh and Utah

[@tedd8055]

It's looking more like a consolidation than a realignment.

[@tarheel7406]

Contraction via consolidation.

[@rxanime535]

SEC fan here. Hate to see what’s happening right now. Honestly feel bad the PAC-12 split up. The athletes especially non football and probably also basketball depending on the program are gonna have it rough for now. My hope is that we’ll see colleges come back to their senses and think of the athletes because think of it like this. If you have to have travel a couple thousand miles for some conference games you’re gonna have 1 a harder time recruiting players for non football sports in most cases, more expenses for said sports for travel, less kids are gonna come to your school or want to spend money if they can’t feel invested in the rivalries. Personally I hope the schools that have made the big moves for several thousand mile distances move back to regional conferences after a few years of seeing the side effects of this, but won’t be surprised if they sit on their butts. Regional conferences at least make sense, but these transnational conferences make no sense for the fan or the athlete.

[@itsokthen]

3:32

[@justinmcguffey1060]

I didnt like OU/UT Leaving. I didn't like USC/UCLA leaving. I didn't like George Kliavkoff taking shots at the Big 12.... BUT I LOVE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PAC12 SNOBS LAST WEEK!!

[@TroyHarperGoBucksGo]

Texas and Oklahoma leaving just set off all the fireworks 💥

[@AcropolisGames]

The years of cupcake games that couldn't be sold led to alternatives. The schools did this to themselves.

[@chadelles2586]

I loved it! Give me the biggest best teams in a national brand.

[@slyderkmk6729]

The B1G is only 2 schools. The SEC has 3 powers, and thats about it. Sure, its possible for UT/OU to rise up...but, to say those teams have to go through such a daunting schedule is laughable.

[@jefferyparker4277]

2 32 team conferences -- each broken into 4 8 team regional divisions . brings back the rivalries. makes making a play-off very neat. easy peasy.

[@otisjohnjr.3023]

I love this realignment, especially since the big 12 is having to reinvent itself. The ACC is hanging in the balance. The SEC will soon face actual competition, in the near future. Since the 90s when the SEC, ACC and Big12 started raiding college football conferences, justice is about to be served.

[@proxyminersgamingchannel4350]

PAC 12 was always a push over conference. They are more academic than sports. They should just invite Evy league schools into their conference and play Rugby and Lacrosse.