As you and I know it, college football is long gone.
Earlier this week, the University of California and Stanford entered talks about leaving their current conference, the PAC-12 and heading out east to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Last week, Oregon and Washington made the decision to join the Big Ten in 2024-25, joining USC and UCLA.
Whatever you thought of Big Ten football in the past is, well, most definitely something of the past.
Call me old school, call me stubborn, call me whatever you want, just don’t call me a fan of these moves for college football, and indeed for the Big Ten, which now has teams scattered literally from the east coast to the West Coast.
As a Wisconsin fan, this hurts the Badgers in a significant way. In an already tough and fierce competition for recruits with the likes of Michigan, and Ohio State, they will now be competing with cities like Los Angeles and Seattle.
On the field, it makes even less sense for this to happen.
Teams in the Midwest going out west for a conference game? Really?
In comparison, think of the Brewers traveling out to play the Dodgers or Mariners for a matchup within the National League Central. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense now, does it?
Divisional, and in college football terms, conference games were never meant to be considered road trips that ran over a thousand miles. But now, in the Big Ten, they certainly will.
None of this makes sense, but when it comes to college football – are you surprised?