Even after the Big East fiasco, I just can't help thinking there was the seed of a great idea there.
College sports are about money and prestige. The availability of one enhances the other. The money is generated by television revenue. Television revenue is based on the number of fannies in seats watching the tube. The number of fannies is based on metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Here's where several of the non-P5 schools rank:
Dallas (SMU) - #4
Houston (U of H) - #5
San Diego - #17
Tampa (USF) - #18
Cincinnati - #28
San Jose - #34
Las Vegas - #30
Memphis - #41
Hartford (UConn) - #47
Salt Lake City - #48
Fresno - #56
Albuquerque - #59
Boise - #81 - (and growing quickly)
Call it the National Conference.
Look at the amount of money in those economies. You could place a large professional sport league in those metro areas and be pretty competitive.
Let's compare with the potential media muscle of the great SEC.
Nashville - #36
Greenville, SC - #63
Knoxville - #65
Baton Rouge - #70
Columbia - #72
Fayetteville - #105
Lexington - #107
Gainesville - #173
College Station - #189
Tuscaloosa - #190
Athens - #219
Columbia, MO - #235
Auburn - #264
Starkville and Oxford MS don't exist. Trust me, I've been there.
Heck, there are about as many human beings in the Dallas MSA as there are in ALL the SEC cities. San Diego is as large as the bottom 11 SEC cities combined. Boise is larger than all but 5 of them. Green Bay would be in the upper half, as would be Duluth, Erie, Utica, Atlantic City and San Luis Obispo.
Yes, I'm discounting the value of sports tradition and regional teams. But come on, if you were starting all over, would you place a "major" college sports team in Starkville, MS, a town of 23,888 citizens?
Eventually, we'll get into a Power Conference, one way or another. There is so much money at stake that the downside of travel is almost irrelevant.
College sports are about money and prestige. The availability of one enhances the other. The money is generated by television revenue. Television revenue is based on the number of fannies in seats watching the tube. The number of fannies is based on metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Here's where several of the non-P5 schools rank:
Dallas (SMU) - #4
Houston (U of H) - #5
San Diego - #17
Tampa (USF) - #18
Cincinnati - #28
San Jose - #34
Las Vegas - #30
Memphis - #41
Hartford (UConn) - #47
Salt Lake City - #48
Fresno - #56
Albuquerque - #59
Boise - #81 - (and growing quickly)
Call it the National Conference.
Look at the amount of money in those economies. You could place a large professional sport league in those metro areas and be pretty competitive.
Let's compare with the potential media muscle of the great SEC.
Nashville - #36
Greenville, SC - #63
Knoxville - #65
Baton Rouge - #70
Columbia - #72
Fayetteville - #105
Lexington - #107
Gainesville - #173
College Station - #189
Tuscaloosa - #190
Athens - #219
Columbia, MO - #235
Auburn - #264
Starkville and Oxford MS don't exist. Trust me, I've been there.
Heck, there are about as many human beings in the Dallas MSA as there are in ALL the SEC cities. San Diego is as large as the bottom 11 SEC cities combined. Boise is larger than all but 5 of them. Green Bay would be in the upper half, as would be Duluth, Erie, Utica, Atlantic City and San Luis Obispo.
Yes, I'm discounting the value of sports tradition and regional teams. But come on, if you were starting all over, would you place a "major" college sports team in Starkville, MS, a town of 23,888 citizens?
Eventually, we'll get into a Power Conference, one way or another. There is so much money at stake that the downside of travel is almost irrelevant.
