There was a time when college football was aligned into regional conferences which played a local schedule and crowned a champion at the end of the season. In the last decade this has all changed as conferences across the country are realigning by adding new teams whether to expand or replace the ones they've lost.
There are many reasons which have led to conference realignment. Here is a timeline which may explain them best.
-1972: Title IX is passed
First established in 1965, this law was passed in 1972 to require gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding. It did not have an immediate affect on the college game, but when schools began to expand their women's sports programs some of the money to fund it came from football. Thus the need for conference and bowl tie ins.
-1979: ESPN is born
Television is always paramount when it comes to change in sports. College football is no different. When ESPN was born in 1979 it was a fledgeling sports network. Today it is a multi billion dollar empire of eight stations including ESPNU. ESPN has put a lot of money into college football and will continue to. The conferences know this and want to get the biggest slice of the pie.
-1982: The Fiesta Bowl moves to New Year's Day
From 1937 to 1982, there were only four New Year's Day bowl games. They were the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Cotton. Then the Fiesta Bowl joined them. Since it did not have any ties to major conferences as the other four did, the Fiesta could take whoever they wanted. This led to two national championship games between schools that had no conference affiliation in 1986 and 1988. Miami played Penn State in the first and Notre Dame played West Virginia in the second. Shut out from getting the revenue these schools earned, conferences came courting them. Miami and West Virginia joined the Big East in 1990 and '91 respectively. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1990, though they did not compete in the conference until 1993. Notre Dame is still an independent in football.
-1992: The Southeastern Conference adds a twelfth team and split into two divisions
This one was huge. In 1990, the SEC found a loophole in the NCAA bylaws which said that a conference with 12 member schools can split into two divisions and host a playoff. So they added Arkansas and South Carolina. They began play in 1992 and the SEC has had two divisions and a championship game ever since. Following the SEC's lead the Atlantic Coast, Big 8, Big East, Big Ten and Pacific Ten conferences have all expanded to 12 teams.
-1995: The Bowl Alliance is formed
This was an alliance between the Fiesta, Sugar and Orange Bowls in which each would host the top ranked teams in the country no matter what conference they came from. It lasted until 1998 when the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) came about. The BCS was fine except for one problem. The Big 10 and Pac 10 conferences had an agreement to send their champions to the Rose Bowl. Thus there was the chance of the number one ranked team not playing in the championship. The Rose Bowl was added in 2000 and the system we have in place exist to this day.
- 2007: The Big 10 network is born
Though conferences had already begun to realign things seemed to have settled down until the Big 10 launched its own television network in 2007. The goal of every other conference now is to do the same. Texas University has their own network funded by ESPN. Every team wants to get in the conference which will bring them the most TV and bowl revenue. The promise of a league network is very enticing.
These are far from the only reasons for conference realignment.
However, one could make a case that they have a lot to do with it.
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