Conference Realignment: The Great Money Grab

Yesterday Colorado announced its departure from the Big 12 to join the Pac 10. Today, Nebraska fell into line and opted out for greener pastures in the Big Ten. As the big six converge to what will likely become the big four power conferences, schools may be forgetting some of what makes college football great.

I was only seven when I attended my first Michigan vs Michigan State football game at the Big House in Ann Arbor. In each subsequent trip I've had the great fortune to see two schools with great tradition and a lifetime of rivalry compete in an environment where fans are fired up for Saturday. With the Big 12 almost certain to dissolve, where will that leave the former "Big Eight" that have been together largely since the 1920s and solidly since the 1960s? Oklahoma versus Nebraska has been a Midwest staple for many years. While it does not get the attention of the "Red River Shootout" with Texas, it carries just as much weight with traditionalists.

As Texas is likely to split off and join the Pac 10, I can't help but wonder how excited Longhorns fans will be to road trip up to Oregon State for their cross-divisional showdown, or start up a rivalry with mighty Arizona State in the future Pac 16 East.

Nebraska's departure in many ways makes sense for the university. Nebraska has always held higher recruiting standards than many of its fellow Big 12 Universities and certainly tighter than the likes of Texas A&M, Baylor and UT. For anyone who has road tripped through Lincoln, it even feels more like going to a game in Iowa, Madison or Happy Valley.

My frustration in the upcoming changing face of college athletics is not with Nebraska, as independently it made a good decision. More money, strong tradition, better academics and improved overall athletics. The disappointment comes in what will happen as conferences grab blindly at other television markets to snatch up in the hope of adding operating revenue. The Big Ten started the land grab with its announcement of expansion some six months ago and with the addition of a couple more solid universities, it stands to sit as the model super conference while the SEC, Pac 10 and ACC aimlessly gobble up the leftovers.

The wish list for the Big Ten certainly still includes Notre Dame and the success in landing the nation's team likely will determine if they come out as the eventual winners in the great money grab.