Big East, Big 12, Examples of Conference Realignment Going Too Far

When the first domino of conference realignment fell, it was Nebraska leaving the Big 12 and moving to the Big Ten.

The move for the most part made sense. Nebraska had played schools in the Big Ten from time to time in all sports. Nebraska had the location factor going for them as well. They are a school in the Midwest. Nebraska works.

The only better move for the Big Ten would be to lure Notre Dame to the conference. 

Because of the move by Nebraska, conferences everywhere are scrambling to add teams to their conference so they don't go into extinction.

The closest example of this is the Big 12. The conference lost Nebraska to the Big Ten and Colorado to the Pac-12 over the previous offseason. The Big 12 looked like it would be no more. But when Texas and Oklahoma decided to stay instead of bolting for the Pac-12 it seemed like the conference would survive.

Then came Texas A&M. The Aggies announced that they were intent on switching conferences. They will begin play in the Southeastern Conference beginning in 2012.

My question for the SEC is this: Why add when you already have the perfect conference?

Look at what the SEC has. All the schools are located in the Southeast part of the country, allowing for geographical rivalries to form. Geographical rivalries mean fans can travel to see their team, and that means more money for the conference and a better game-day atmosphere.

The SEC also has a challenging field. Forget Vanderbilt and Kentucky for the moment, and you have one of the most powerful football conferences in the country. In order to win the SEC, you have to beat Florida, Georgia, LSU, Alabama and many more schools that, if they weren't in the SEC, could probably win their conference without breaking a sweat.

Adding Texas A&M does nothing but water down an awesome conference, but it's not just the SEC that has a problem with self-pollution.

The Big East has gone into full-fledged panic mode as they've lost longtime members Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the Atlantic Coast Conference, and TCU left for the Big 12 before they even arrived.

To make up for this, the Big East has now contacted Boise State, Navy, Air Force, SMU, Central Florida and Houston. It's like they threw darts at a map and screamed, "Let's invite them!"

If all goes as planned, the Big East will extend into Idaho.

Conference realignment is getting out of control. Schools need to realize that jumping conferences isn't going to make them more money, it might actually hurt their school, their fan base and the credibility of their conference.