Love to hate ’em

The GIST: The ramifications of conference realignment aren’t only about money and power — there are new, fascinating on-field and fandom dynamics, too. Some epic rivalries will find new life in this year’s altered landscape — plus, who knows what new blood feuds will ignite?

Texas vs. Texas A&M: The Lone Star Showdown is one of college sports’ oldest and most contentious rivalries, and they’ll be reunited as conference foes for the first time in 12 years when Texas starts SEC play next month. Everything’s bigger in Texas…including the hatred.

• Texas’ SEC membership also means becoming conference pals with Alabama, one of the few fan bases that takes football as seriously as the Longhorns. If the last two seasons’ nonconference games are any indication, this could become the spiciest rivalry of all.

National championship rematches: Realignment has thrust two reigning champs into conference relationships with their runners-up. Although both rosters will be completely revamped, Washington football will seek revenge on CFP victors Michigan on October 5th. And Florida State and Stanford women’s soccer don’t meet in the regular season, but they’ll likely see each other in the ACC ’ship.

• Oklahoma’s SEC move also brings together women’s sports powerhouses: The Sooners spent years becoming softball’s and gymnastics’ “It Girl,” and now they’re joining arguably the nation’s toughest conference in each sport. Delicious.

Old rivalries preserved…for now: As fans mourn beloved rivalries torn apart by realignment, some squads have promised to keep the heat alive — at least for a few years. The Apple Cup between Washington State and Washington and Oregon’s beef with Oregon State will survive on the gridiron.

• On the diamond and the hardwood, Bedlam between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State also lives on. There’s always time to battle your sworn enemy, after all.

The GIST: Schools are shifting conferences to protect their bottom lines…but those aren’t the only metrics in play. Here’s how the newly realigned landscape will look this academic year, by the numbers.

18: How many institutions are now in the Big Ten. And no, they’re not planning on changing their name anytime soon — after all, they had 14 teams before this latest realignment wave.

• The ACC is now the second-largest Power conference with 17 schools, while the SEC and Big 12 are close behind with 16 apiece. The jury’s still out on a Big 12 name change…but it won’t be to the Big 16.

$7B: The value of the Big Ten’s seven-year media deal with Fox, CBS, and NBC — the one that ultimately triggered UCLA’s and USC’s jump to the (traditionally) Midwestern conference, setting off the Great Realignment of 2023.

$65M–$75M: How much UCLA and USC will each reportedly earn from that media deal in their first year with the Big Ten — about six times more than UCLA earned in 2022–23 Pac-12 distributions.

• That said, the jump isn’t free. Both schools must shell out for more and longer charter flights to conference games, which Boardroom reports could run about $5M per year. And that’s not counting the additional hotel and food costs, etc.

2,800: How many miles the Washington Huskies will travel for their September 27th conference football game against Rutgers in Newark, NJ. Better not forget the sheet masks.

$581: The current minimum price of a ticket to the first-ever all–SEC Texas vs. Texas A&M football game on November 30th (as of last night on StubHub). It’s giving the Eras Tour.

Q: Why are schools allowed to choose whatever conference they want? Isn’t the whole point that conferences are regional?

A: Currently, there are no regional restrictions on conference membership — the previous regional-based conference system was mostly a result of convenience and tradition. Ultimately, the only thing stopping, say, a tiny Division I school in Alaska from joining the ACC is convincing the ACC to invite them in.

• However, the National College Players Association called on Congress to limit conferences’ geographical reach and number of schools last fall. It’s a long shot — Congress has bigger NCAA fish to fry, and they don’t seem particularly eager to start cooking.

• Some predict that, eventually, the most elite football programs will break with the NCAA to create a College Football Super League with regionalized divisions — essentially rolling this conference chaos back to square one. This is exhausting, you know?

Q: Could another conference buy the name “Pacific-12 Conference” and use it? How would that work?

A: It’s possible, but if aforementioned commissioner Teresa Gould has her way, the zombie Pac-12 will resurrect within the next two years by absorbing teams from other groups like the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference — not the other way around.

• Regardless, if, for example, the Mountain West bought the “Pac-12” name from the existing org, the old Pac-12’s prestige and brand appeal wouldn’t magically transfer with it. It would still be the Mountain West…just with a new lewk.