College Conference Expansion and the Media Feeding Frenzy

Over the past few weeks we have been subjected to the college athletic conference rumor mill like a bad gossip session at the ladies book club meeting.

With headlines like "Big 12 going extinct" to "Big East nuclear holocaust" it seems that every sports media outlet has the "inside source" or better yet a "source" close to the source. Enough already!  What we knew all along has happened in the conference change-a-thon.

Texas A&M bolted to the SEC, even though Baylor threatened legal action to keep them in.  The Big 12 isn't going away anytime soon. The ACC raid 2.0 on the Big East was a surprise, with Pittsburgh and Syracuse moving on to greener pastures.

But I still maintain one simple viewpoint. The media feeding frenzy has fueled the fire. Everybody becomes an expert on what schools are going where and for how many potential dollars They all have the answers to explain what's behind this move and that.

It is similar to the "tail wagging the dog" syndrome. The media are complicit in the shuffling around schools and their athletic conferences. The media are part of the problem.

Throw some chum in the water and the sharks will show up. But what is this chum? The latest rumor, mixed in with half-truth with a pinch of speculation. Everybody then jumps into the feeding frenzy with this article linking to that. And then some blogger somewhere breaks the story because he knows a guy who is a best friend of a big wig who will only speak on anonymity.

Does that make sense? Or is it clear as mud?

If you answered yes to the last two questions you are correct. I am all for college conferences adjusting to the changes that come along. Schools deserve to play in leagues they feel best with and they can get the best financial deals from.

But media speculation plays a role in shaping the outcome. While the major players, the college presidents, athletic directors, and commissioners weigh their options, they also read the papers, Internet news sites, check ESPN and blogs.

With so much expert analysis out there who needs a consultant for big bucks when all the opinion, and unsolicited advice is there for the taking? The University of Texas doesn't need an ego boost, but they will gladly take it, even when it means making serious decisions that will affect the school and its associates long term for good or ill, and I pick the latter.

Larry Scott, the Pac-12 Commissioner, was wise when he said no to this year's expansion fiesta. Why go expand again when you have already got what you wanted? While the Midwestern and East Coast leagues cannibalize each other the Pac-12 stayed its hand.

It seems that Scott learned from Expansion 1.0 that when you go to Texas to make a super conference, it will be on their terms or none at all. So this time when Texas with the Longhorn Network and Oklahoma came prospecting, Scott called their bluff and sent them home to work out their own problems.

All this time the sports main stream media was following along with their tongues dragging on the ground waiting for some big disaster to happen.  The Big 12 may still implode, the Big East become a whatchamacallit, and the super conferences develop, but the least the media could do is have some integrity here.

I am all for a good story, but not "manufacturing" one. But in today's digital age, the "future's market" is here to stay and destroy what it claims to love, college sports.