College Coaches Confidential: Programs sound off on conference realignment

Last week we got official word that Oregon and Washington were headed to the Big 10 and Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State to the Big 12. This conference realignment news comes close to a year after it was announced USC and UCLA would be moving to the Big 10, Houston, BYU, UCF, and Cincinnati are moving to the Big 12, and Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. 

This currently leaves the Pac 12 with four member schools. While the SEC and Big 12 each have 16, the Big 10 has 18 schools, and the ACC remains with 14. There is a lot happening around the college landscape. 

Within the last five years, college athletics has experienced change. First, with the transfer portal and NIL changes. And now, with major shifts in conference realignment.

I had one power five college coach tell me, “I would be curious to know if college athletics has experienced more change in its history than it has in the last five years with the emergence of NIL and the transfer portal.”

With the latest change in conference realignment being so fresh, I knew that college coaches would have strong opinions on what was happening, and they did. I spoke with a handful of college coaches whose conferences, both mid and high-major, could be affected by the changes.

What are your thoughts on the conference realignment and what seems like superconferences forming around the country?

Coaches talk

A Coach in the SEC: “It looks like folks are forming a conglomerate based on NIL and tv. Which is sourced from supporters of your program and it pays your players. And then the program is funded by tv money. It’s pro sports now. Teams are flying all over the country, and kids are making six figures plus. It’s truly the haves and the have-nots.

“The programs that it will hurt the most are the good programs in lesser conferences, like a Vermont. They’re not going to be able to generate enough NIL to get higher-level kids because they can’t afford them. Then no high major school will want to play them when you can play a guaranteed game in the American East. Why risk your reputation playing an American East or a Big South team unless it is a bottom-tier team? They cost the same in guarantee money and will all be low major.”

A Coach in the ACC: “I’m honestly not a fan of anything going on with the current conference realignment. We are disrupting natural regional battles for money gain. And, although that gain may be a reality for football and Men’s basketball, the cost (and not just financial, but physical and mental) to travel the other sports across the country might not make sense in the long run. This is going to run the risk of major sports cuts within the athletic department. We are losing the foundation of college athletics and education.”

A Coach in the Big 12: “Conferences are stacking teams up for the 12-team college football playoff model. Also, conferences are going to start having mini-in-season tournaments to drive revenue as they do in the European model and the NBA is doing this year.”

A Coach in the SEC: “It’s hard to have too much thought on this. Obviously, football plays a big role in some of these decisions, but it does seem to be moving toward two to four super conferences. I think autonomy will continue to grow within these leagues, creating more separation in the basketball landscape financially. My biggest concern would be how to keep the NCAA Tournament intact if the disparity continues to grow.”

A Coach in the American: “I’m old school. I like tradition, which I know is not popular. I like regional rivalries and the passion of one conference, and the style of play for one conference compared to another. And I like when those contrasts compete in non-conference play and then in the NCAA Tournament. It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed about the model. So with that, realignment makes me way uneasy. I’m afraid passion will be lost and become a business exchange, like the NBA.”

A Coach in the ACC: “Institutions are in constant search of new revenue streams to keep operating at a competitive level relative to their peers. Realignment is a byproduct of that search for new and increased revenue streams. With the low and mid-major schools, it’s just going to come down to funding. Do they have the tools and resources in place to help with facility needs and NIL needs to remain competitive.”

A Coach in the SEC: “I think it could be damaging to the low and mid-major schools, absolutely. Forget the recruiting issues that have always been there. Now for tv, there will be fewer games featuring mid-major and high-major teams. Schedules will go to 20, 22, and 24-game conference slates, and no coaches will want to schedule really good mid-major programs because they already have a tough enough schedule.

“But I tend to remain optimistic. I’m sure something cool and new will arise out of all this. I don’t know what that’ll be, but I’m sure it will be something we can get excited about.”

A Coach in the Sun Belt: “I’m not a huge fan of the realignment. The travel, lack of regional rivalries, etc. It’s all football and money based, which I understand. Mid-majors will be greatly affected if the power conferences pull away from the NCAA or if some of the mid-major leagues’ top-tier teams panic and try to move up leagues.

“College football and college basketball are getting further and further away from what it should be because of the money involved with football. Kids traveling across the country on a Wednesday night for a game makes zero sense. Mid-majors will adapt to survive. I could see a league fall apart or teams shuffle around. But, the talent pool is still the same, so high majors may have more money, but they already get the top players. So that gap shouldn’t widen. Just will widen the, even more, with the money, NIL, and facilities.”

A Coach in the Southern Conference: “I don’t think, just from a fan’s perspective, these super conferences don’t make sense. Let along the logistics. This is supposed to be about the student-athletes and their experiences, I don’t envy the person who has to put together the Big 10 Women’s Volleyball schedule. I think there will be some push from mid-majors to get into bigger leagues that can withstand all the movement, but that takes money, and at the mid-major level, that is always the question.”