Is anyone else having a serious case of realignment deja vu?
For 11 days in June 2010, all other college sports matters ground to a halt as we waited to see whether the Pac-10 would successfully put the Big 12 out of business. Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were believed to be imminently heading west. In the meantime, Nebraska bolted to the Big Ten, Boise State joined the Mountain West, and every rumor you can imagine percolated at some point.
Fast forward to August 2023, and we are currently waiting to see whether the Big 12 will successfully put the Pac-12 out of business. Colorado already left, and Arizona, Arizona State and Utah reportedly are contemplating a move. In the meantime, during the span of a few hours Wednesday, reports emerged that the Big Ten is exploring adding more West Coast schools, and Florida State’s president openly threatened that his school might leave the ACC.
What. Is. Happening???
The earthquake that began when Texas and Oklahoma left the Big 12 for the SEC in 2021 and intensified when USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2022 has brought us to the cusp of potentially the most radical restructuring of major college football in the past 30 years.
But this period also eventually could come and go with the only…
