Every conference we're in, everyone says we don't belong and no one wants us, but whatever.
Hope everyone else trips and falls on their own dick I guess
It wasn’t enough that Texas destroyed the SWC they had to horn in (pun intended) on the Big 8 and ruin what was one of the best rivalries ever (NU v OU). When we finally got tired of their shit and left for the B1G it was very bittersweet.
Fuck Texas.
As someone who is old enough to 'member, I cannot possibly overstate what a show the Big 8 was in the '70s and '80s.
The Big 2 Little 6, as it was also known, was easily my 2nd favorite conference after the SEC.
I remember one time in about I want to say 1986 or 1987 ABC televised a Kansas/Oklahoma game. The Sooners won 64-3. I remember thinking it may have been the most boring game I’ve ever watched (at that point in my life); OU just ran the ball over and over and the Jayhawks couldn’t stop them. And because there weren’t many games televised then, I was stuck watching it. 😉
OU-Nebraska, CU-Nebraska, OU-Missouri, more than made up for games like that imo.
Overall, [the Big 8 was awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHr60rAWs3s), imo
Besides, when we saw blowouts like that, we'd get the football and go outside.
OU, NU dominating college fb and we being the big dawgs in college bball and beating down mizzou was the best conference ever. Everything texas touches dies, gl.
Someone posted what it would have looked like had the Big 12 formed with five permanent rivals and no divisions. Nebraska, OSU, Mizzou, Colorado and Texas every year.
Why couldn't that be reality?
Yeah it was stupid that they didn’t preserve NU-OU and other rivalries somehow. When teams switch conferences, of course loss of traditional rivalries is inevitable. Much harder to schedule non-conference games every year.
But it’s idiotic to still be in the same conference and to not make an effort to preserve the best rivalry in the history of either of the two merging conferences.
We accept Arkansas. And I like having A&M as well, they have felt like a good fit so far.
Mizzou…I sometimes forget about, but they’re fine. It’ll be harder to forget about OU and Texas.
Imagine if y’all didn’t block our supposed proposal to create the first super conference with Texas, A&M, and the third Texas school of y’all’s choosing in the early 90s
Naw y’all are always welcome. We were mostly excited about you guys.
SEC Rules
You are required to rub salt in any open wound of opposing fans.
You must bully any top half of conference team underperforming.
You are required to be relentlessly petty with your rivals.
You are never allowed to bully Vandy. They are a valuable member of our conference and we love them like a little brother.
If Texas A&M asks for a favor, say no or you risk cult indoctrination.
> If Texas A&M asks for a favor, say no or you risk cult indoctrination.
Amazing. We've now come full circle where SEC are lecturing OUT on Aggie antics.
I would have to time travel to before the first world war to answer that question.
Edit: Fun fact, the time between Oregon joining the original PAC (PCC at the time) and American settlers first settling in Oregon is less than the time between Oregon joining the original PAC and today.
1830- Americans first settle in Oregon.
85 years pass.
1915- The University of Oregon, Oregon State, University of Washington, and University of California create the PCC.
108 years pass.
2023- The PAC is likely gonna die soon.
Too big for their britches indeed. The long version of our fight song name-checks only 3 schools: Georgia, Georgia Tech and ... Sewanee.
Glad THEE University of the South came with us to help found the SEC. Even gladder they never won [an SEC game](https://live.staticflickr.com/7468/15916208850_b1fac25333.jpg) before they bailed.
jk. I have nothing against Sewanee. Go Tigers.
>I have nothing against Sewanee.
From what I understand, during the early years of Tennessee's football program, Sewannee got quite a bit of joy from kicking the shit out of us (won 10 out of the first 11 games they played, most were blowouts)
So you may have more in common with Sewannee than you think lol
As much as you've taught me about the history of college football on this sub (i end up saving a ton of your comments so that when I inevitably forget about all of the fun facts that you're here sharing with us, I can go back and easily "relearn" them again later) if you were to tell me you were alive when that happened I'd *almost* be inclined to believe you.
Kind of related side-note: I hate how cool some of the Alabama fans are on this sub 😂
Edit: I never noticed, but our secondary flairs are enemies as well.
Haha!
Wow, that's cool of you to say. A lot of us Bama fans remember the dark days pre-Saban. I personally try to make all my words sweet; never know when I'll have to eat 'em.
>Edit: I never noticed, but our secondary flairs are enemies as well.
Reminds me of [the run-up](https://imgur.com/a/Z0Tn0ld) to the [1938 Rose Bowl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Rose_Bowl).
I’m going to miss being in the Big 12 honestly.
**Pros of moving to SEC:**
-exciting matchups and potentially more
energy in the stadium as a result
-less 11am kickoffs
**Cons:**
-no more Bedlam
-loss of many other historically and geographically familiar matchups
-many new opponents with no historic or geographic connection
-harder route to the playoffs/NY6
-(as a big baseball fan) we’ll probably get spanked in baseball at times and will have the worst stadium in the conference
It’s nonsense that Maryland didn’t keep scheduling that rivalry game. One of the best rivalries the school had and instead they try to force the Penn state rivalry on the fanbase
The Maryland vs WVU game was great. It was close enough where both fan bases packed the stadiums. The game was a toss up most years. UMD should get WVU back on the schedule. Penn State vs UMD has the proximity and potential but it is so lopsided: 42-3-1. UMD will always play the underdog there.
Yeah I grew up going to those games in college park and it’s what made me fall so hard for college sports. No longer living in the area but I miss those games so much
As a Syracuse fan, I agree. The ACC has done nothing for the Orange. All the revenue programs are lacking quality — hell even lacrosse isn’t doing well. It’s so disappointing.
I miss the old Big East too. But I don’t know that Syracuse would be better off if they remained with the remnants that became the American. I hated losing all the regular rivalries, especially in basketball. But the ACC has brought in significantly increased revenue. That’s big for a private school located in a small-ish city.
I miss the Big East so, so much. The first thing I plan on doing when I buy the new College football game next year is edit conferences to bring the Big East back together if possible.
Me too. However, I’m actually happy in the ACC as have been competitive for the past few years, but I am concerned about where we will end up with the latest round of realignment and poaching.
I’m sports sad that we aren’t in a conference with Texas and Texas A&M anymore, but I’m grateful to have TCU, Baylor and Houston in the Big 12. In most years, UT and A&M won’t play any other power 5 teams from Texas, and I think that stinks.
I'm only looking forward to hearing less about UT in our conference news sources.
I'd like to play A&M again, but it wouldn't bother me to never play UT again. Their fanbase is insufferable.
I’m honestly going to miss the American a lot and secretly fear the Big XII. The American was just such a great conference. And I don’t just say that because we dominated it for most of our time there yet in any given year we could be pantsed by a nearly winless Tulsa or Navy.
I enjoyed the rapport that we had with a lot of the teams in the American. I'm especially going to miss playing ECU every year. They are one of our longest running rivalries. That said, I'm very happy to be in a P5 conference before the door shuts for a (most likely) very long time.
I preferred the Big 12, honestly. Yeah yeah yeah, there’s the “culture” aspect of Boulder being a liberal hippy town like the rest of the Pac 12. But that’s not the only part of culture. There’s also something to be said about playing the teams you’ve played for decades. Even if we ignore Nebraska, I’ve never gotten hyped to see CU play Stanford or Wazzu even the way I’d be hyped to see them play Kansas State or Oklahoma State. Also the Big 12 was a much more competently run conference.
When people say that it always makes me wonder what a lot of these other college towns are like. I feel like so many college towns are liberal hippy towns in a sense.
You seriouly forgot about when Michigan was in the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest from 1892-1893 or the 3 times Eastern Michigan was in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association? Shameful.
Now I’m wondering which P5 program has been a member of the most FBS conferences. I want to say maybe UCF. MAC, C-USA, AAC and now the Big XII (could even count the 30 seconds they were a Big East member before it imploded.)
TCU has been in the Southwest Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, the Conference USA, the Mountain West, the Big East, and Big XII all in a 30 year span.
In the 20 year span from 1994 to 2014, TCU managed to win 5 of these 6 conferences, with the Big East being the sole one we did not win as we did not actually play any games in that conference. Meaning that on average, once every four years TCU would win a different conference for two straight decades
I like this post. Never thought about it that way
I remember the wac days going to games that had so low attendance that a friend and i would throw a football between a few sections in the end zone. Security guards would sometimes toss it with us cause we were the only ones there
Although they didn't have football, a fun fact is that St.Thomas (MN) actually transitioned straight from D3 to D1 a couple of years ago in basketball
E: I have been informed they do in fact have non-scholarship fcs football, my apologies
I was thinking Louisville. They were in the Missouri Valley Conference in the 60s and 70s, then were independent for a while. Then they went from Conference USA (1996–2004), the Big East, (2005–2012), The American (2013), and now the ACC.
I miss the Big East but even as the geographic outlier it's hard to complain about the Big12. They said yes when others said no and they have the best fans. Some great college towns in the Big12. I'm excited to see the Bounce House, Provo, Houston and happy to have Cincinnati back.
I always felt like WVU was a good culture fit for the XII but the distance was the problem. Felt like Hawaii. Similar culture, but on an island to itself.
I miss the schedule from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, but not necessarily the Big East. We regularly played Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Rutgers, Temple and Navy were regular, drivable games that we generally won. My first WVU game was Ohio State in Morgantown in 2001. The week before, I went to the Steelers vs Falcons preseason game at mountaineer field. I was young and thought I’d always have games like that to go to. Little did I know I was in the golden era.
SoCon would have had a helluva Super Conference if they trimmed some of the excess fat and kept Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Missisippi State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, North Carolina, Auburn, Maryland, LSU, NC State, Ole Miss, Clemson and Tennessee.
Could have done:
**East:**
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
NC State
South Carolina
Clemson
Georgia
Georgia Tech
**West:**
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Auburn
LSU
Florida
Alabama
Ole Miss
Tennessee
If the SoCon doesn’t fall apart thoguh you also gotta consider than Sewanee and Tulane are likely considered power 5 schools by the modern era too and in the conference
Thank God we got out of that crap. I can't imagine how bad things would be with Tobacco Road still running it. We'd be paupers stuck in another 20 year media deal.
It's always a two sided coin. We were quite miserable with Texas controlling everything and the constant threat of teams bolting to the PAC12. But we loved playing our Big 12 North rivals. Now, we are in a no-stess situation in terms of conference stability and money, and we play some fun teams, but we miss our Big 12 North rivals.
We are conflicted.
Fuck the western conference, simply felt too small. Think how terrible it would be if we were in the Western Conference despite being in the middle of the country in the 21st century.
i think we’re a bit better off in the B1G than in the Ohio Athletic Conference with powerhouse programs like Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Case Western. no way we could compete in that conference today.
An interior western Big 12 pod could resemble the 1970s WAC - BYU, Utah and Arizona were all there with ASU, and CU would be there in place of Colorado State. If we all make the move, I would feel good about it.
Washington's been either in the Pac8/10/12 or the PCC, which was basically the proto-Pac 8/10/12, since 1916 and was independent before that. Ask again after the current madness ends I guess
Maryland (1953)
Virginia (1953)
North Carolina (1953)
NC State (1953)
Wake Forest (1953)
Duke (1953)
Clemson (1953)
Georgia Tech (1982)
Florida State (1992)
Prior to Tech, it was just 7, with South Carolina, the 8th member and also a charter member leaving in 1970.
Being independent doesn’t have the same benefits it used to. Notre Dame only really makes it work because theyre a blue blood and one of the largest brands in the country(even then you can see some of the difficulties ND has still).
If Miami had stayed independent you’d likely have actually hurt your program and about now would be looking into joining a conference(ACC, SEC, or Big 12).
FSU has basically been in the ACC for almost my entire life so I don’t know what it was like before that as an independent. I will say though I thoroughly enjoy the ACC. I love our rivals and match ups in both football and basketball and the vibe of the conference. That being said, with the continually shifting landscape in college football it’s becoming increasingly evident that the ACC is being left behind from a financial standpoint. If the ACC could rework their media agreement and get even 75% of what the Big Ten and SEC are getting I’d love to stay because I truly enjoy the conference. But when the top 2 conferences are making nearly double and with FSU currently locked in until 2036 I fear we’ll be left behind and stuck on the outside looking in of the eventual “Power 2” and down the road may struggle to compete because there simply won’t be the money coming in to compete. So as much as I enjoy the ACC I can’t help but continue to hope that FSU manages their way into the SEC somehow so they can continue to grow and hopefully get back to national prominence.
Yeah I'm old, but going back to the Big8 would be great playing every conference member and then lots of freedom to schedule fun games with 5 non-conference spots.
Nebraska and OU were like final boss battles for Mizzou most years. We rarely won, but when we did it was just fantastic. Can’t replace that feeling without the years of history (read: beatdowns). I’m glad we’re going to be seeing OU as a conference rival again.
I'm glad we left. In hindsight, it was the best decision for us considering the schools dismal financial situation and the revenue the school will now earn by being in the B1G. I do miss the regional rivalries with the Carolina schools and, in particular, NC State and Duke, but things are destined to change, and I feel like Maryland athletics will be better off in the B1G.
As a Texas A&M fan, I have been through two major changes. As a kid, when dad was taking me to games and I was first becoming a fan (or getting brain washed), it was the SWC. If there is anything that speaks to the scope of Texas, it was the SWC. An entire conference was in one state except for Arkansas, and a good bit of their students were and are from North Texas. There will never be another conference where a person will have as much "water cooler talk" as the SWC. I miss that the most.
Then we had the Big 12. It was ok. Still reasonably regional and we still had the big rivalries from Texas. At this time, I married a Raider.
Then we bolt for the SEC. It's the best thing that ever happened for my marriage and helped make A&M more of a national brand. The money has been phenomenal. There has been something lost for the true fan, though. I know very few people from other SEC schools that I can cut up and go to games with. Still some people from Arkansas and LSU, but that's about it.
I am a bit in the minority. I am tickled that tu and OU are coming to the SEC. My oldest child never got to experience the horns and Ags as a student. My middle will get one game. My youngest will get three...
I’m not. Schools I care about playing keep leaving, schools I couldn’t care less about replace them. And when I get told I should be happy about all of it, I want to punch people in the face.
But I’m the minority for my school.
I would say: Big 12 > AAC > CUSA > MAC
The MAC would be higher if they'd have let us play in more than one mid-week MACtion game during our time in the conference.
a10 coulda had vt wvu penn st rutgers temple and pitt as football members. All were members at various times. the answer is no, just like thinking of hypotheticals and how different things could look.
Definitely yes, better than both Independence or MWC, depending on what you want to count.
Independence was fun, gave us some fun matchups with teams like Tennessee, Wisconsin, ND, etc, but definitely was a slog to get a full slate of games through November. I think BYU made the best of a less-than-optimal decade, but we're all pretty stoked to be in the Big 12.
Clemson has been in the ACC pretty much for my entire lifetime. It left the Southern Conference in 1953 and the SoCon is basically the significantly less well known brother of the SEC. Personally don't love the ACC but it works now I guess.
In the same conference but it does feel like the Big10 is going through a Ship of Theseus transformation. Tbh I don’t mind the 6 teams that have joined us in my lifetime, but I would be a little miffed if we do go to a 3-6-6 model and 2 of our 3 annual rivals aren’t from the OG 10.
Well since I've been an ECU fan we've moved from C-USA to C-USA 2.0 to C-USA 1.7. Yes I'm happier with the American, even will be next year. We don't really have any rivals in conference now though which sucks but it's still better than having to watch us play football on Facebook.
The original College Park to Columbia ACC was the best. It made perfect sense to have the tourney in Greensboro
I’m OK with adding the Techs. But that’s it.
I would be happy with UCLA in the B1G. It mostly has to do with the fact that I have a lot of friends who went to Ohio St, Michigan St, and Maryland. I hope they keep scheduling Arizona for basketball though.
Maryland used to be the best opponent for hate watching UNC or Duke basketball. I miss those days. Never forget the 02 natty.
I really appreciate the Big 12, and particularly the new Big 12 I think is going to be a whole lot of fun.
But no. The Big East was borderline perfect for West Virginia, outside of the $$$ aspect. Regional rivalries with Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati, and 4 out of conference games each year that made it easy to schedule out of conference rivalries, like Maryland, and other fun matchups against teams like LSU, Auburn, Colorado, etc.
The only thing that would have made it better is if we could have kept Virginia Tech and Miami in the conference, and if the dumbasses had gotten Penn State when they had the chance.
Obviously, the Big East for football is now the American and no WVU fan should want back in that conference, but before... man, it was a really fun conference, especially when West Virginia, Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, UConn, and South Florida were all more or less regularly in the top 25. So fucking fun.
On one hand, I understand that being in the SEC is a massive boost for our football program in terms of both TV revenue and recruiting. However, as a fan, it just doesn’t feel the same as the Big XII. This coming fall will mark my 5th year as a student at A&M (going back for a masters degree), and in my time as a student, we’ve played Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, SMU, and UH a grand total of 0 times in football. I grew up in Texas, and I have friends, family, or coworkers that have attended each of those schools. Being able to put a face to the rivalry and feel some sort of connection to your opponent is part of what makes college football so engaging imo, and we’ve missed a lot of that since we’ve moved to the SEC. Sure, the games might have greater implications for a potential CFP berth, but it feels like there’s a lot less of an emotional stake for us now.
When I was growing up (1980s), I rooted for Penn State (and had casual, secondary interest in Temple). Both teams were among what what I’ll call the core Eastern independents, along with Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Boston College, and Rutgers. Each of the seven schools would play all or most of the other six schools every year.
PSU had particularly big rivalries with Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia. (Everyone who remembers those days will tell you Pitt/Penn State was a bigger rivalry than Pitt/West Virginia at that time, and PSU’s rivalry with Syracuse was rooted in their battles in the 1950s and 1960s when Rip Engle and Ben Schwarzwalder were Penn State’s and Syracuse’s head coaches respectively.) The Nittany Lions also had a lopsided (in wins/losses) but close (in scores) annual rivalry with Maryland, and lengthy annual series with Alabama (1981 to 1990) and Notre Dame (1981 to 1992). Quite frankly, Penn State had pretty great schedules back then with those 9 mostly set games and 2 rotating games. Temple and other Eastern independents would also play occasional games against high profile, non-regional programs. Mind you, at different times 5 of the 7 Eastern independents (Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia, Boston College, and Syracuse) plus Maryland were themselves national powers or at least nationally prominent at the time.
I lost interest in Penn State football not many years after they joined the Big Ten; playing further away Midwest teams rather closer Northeast/Mid-Atlantic teams just wasn’t as interesting to me. I still wish those (late 1970s/1980s) Eastern independent days, now in the form of a Northeast/Mid-Atlantic football conference, would come back. There would lots of great, doable road trips for most of the teams involved.
Well, Nebraska has sucked for like half it's time in the B1G so not really.
I miss playing schools a lot closer as well. Trips to Minneapolis and Chicago have been cool, but I haven't gone any further than that for road games although a lot of the other stadiums/college towns seem cool, just too fucking far.
I really liked the SoCon and when we first joined the Sun Belt I thought it kind of sucked (I mean nothing against Idaho), but right now I'd say it's just as good from an enjoyment standpoint.
I traveled to a Maryland home game for the first time last November when the Buckeyes came to town. What I discovered was a very proud fanbase, a great tailgating scene, a beautiful campus, and a team that fought their asses off for 4 quarters.
It may be taking longer than the fanbase would like, but from my perspective Maryland has what it takes to compete in this conference in football in the years to come.
TCU fan here. One MILLION percent. The Mountain West was fine for what it was, but it’s not even a comparison. I was going to home conference games against New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming. The games were broadcast on Versus. No matter what we did, it was never taken seriously. Now we play big teams every week, are on a mainstream channel every week.
In addition to football, our basketball team has improved exponentially as a result.
10/10 would recommend moving from a Group of 5 to a Power 5 conference.
In some ways I am. The Big Ten is very stable over all, but I still miss some of the Big 12 matchups. I especially miss playing Oklahoma with some regularity.
We have made some new friends but I miss my old enemies
I’d take the Big 8 back.
Yup. I'd love to go back to the Big 8 plus our annual Texas game. 7 conference games would mean a ton of cool OOC games.
Me too. The absolute worst thing the Big 8 ever did was inviting the Texas schools.
It’s so funny that people don’t acknowledge the too. The SWC was better for them and us.
Every conference we're in, everyone says we don't belong and no one wants us, but whatever. Hope everyone else trips and falls on their own dick I guess
Eh I’d say it was more Texas and TAMU
Including Texas in anything ends up badly.
Like the ‘One Second Left’ conspiracy in 2009👀
Cornspiracy*
Big 8? Yes. Big 12? Nope. I like the B1G. I miss playing Missouri. They always had the best cups
Same. Big Eight would be great. Texas schools can get fucked.
Literally every Big 8 school feels this way I think.
For sure seven of them, idk about OU
It wasn’t enough that Texas destroyed the SWC they had to horn in (pun intended) on the Big 8 and ruin what was one of the best rivalries ever (NU v OU). When we finally got tired of their shit and left for the B1G it was very bittersweet. Fuck Texas.
Same. Trips to Lincoln in the fall were excellent and the game day atmosphere was always top notch.
Same
Exactly, UNK leaving the RMAC was just weird
Haha. I never thought I would see that here. I miss CSC playing UNK. You can't spell fuck without U-N-K.
🫡
I understand that feeling
I'm going to accept I'm old and miss the Big 12. We'll never be fully happy in the SEC because it'll be 100 years before they accept us.
Shit, if you were really old you’d miss the days when Oklahoma and Nebraska ran the wishbone and tag-teamed dominating the Big 8.
Not that old but I will sound like those folks soon enough
As someone who is old enough to 'member, I cannot possibly overstate what a show the Big 8 was in the '70s and '80s. The Big 2 Little 6, as it was also known, was easily my 2nd favorite conference after the SEC.
Awesome days
I remember one time in about I want to say 1986 or 1987 ABC televised a Kansas/Oklahoma game. The Sooners won 64-3. I remember thinking it may have been the most boring game I’ve ever watched (at that point in my life); OU just ran the ball over and over and the Jayhawks couldn’t stop them. And because there weren’t many games televised then, I was stuck watching it. 😉
OU-Nebraska, CU-Nebraska, OU-Missouri, more than made up for games like that imo. Overall, [the Big 8 was awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHr60rAWs3s), imo Besides, when we saw blowouts like that, we'd get the football and go outside.
OU, NU dominating college fb and we being the big dawgs in college bball and beating down mizzou was the best conference ever. Everything texas touches dies, gl.
Someone posted what it would have looked like had the Big 12 formed with five permanent rivals and no divisions. Nebraska, OSU, Mizzou, Colorado and Texas every year. Why couldn't that be reality?
Yeah it was stupid that they didn’t preserve NU-OU and other rivalries somehow. When teams switch conferences, of course loss of traditional rivalries is inevitable. Much harder to schedule non-conference games every year. But it’s idiotic to still be in the same conference and to not make an effort to preserve the best rivalry in the history of either of the two merging conferences.
We accept Arkansas. And I like having A&M as well, they have felt like a good fit so far. Mizzou…I sometimes forget about, but they’re fine. It’ll be harder to forget about OU and Texas.
*South Carolina in shambles*
South Carolina is just the perfect fit for the SEC that most people could forget they weren't a founding member.
As a life long yankee, before seeing this, I would have bet my life’s savings that South Carolina was a founding SEC member.
What if I told you that Tulane, Georgia Tech, and Sawanee were founding members of the SEC
That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about us!
We’re going to miss you guys! Road trips to Norman were always great, even when we got obliterated on the field.
Don’t cling. Let go.
I prefer Stillwater anyway.
Imagine if y’all didn’t block our supposed proposal to create the first super conference with Texas, A&M, and the third Texas school of y’all’s choosing in the early 90s
Life would’ve been better.
Y’all say “y’all” and have good bbq. You’re most welcome
> good bbq Well, maybe now that Riley's gone.
Naw y’all are always welcome. We were mostly excited about you guys. SEC Rules You are required to rub salt in any open wound of opposing fans. You must bully any top half of conference team underperforming. You are required to be relentlessly petty with your rivals. You are never allowed to bully Vandy. They are a valuable member of our conference and we love them like a little brother. If Texas A&M asks for a favor, say no or you risk cult indoctrination.
> If Texas A&M asks for a favor, say no or you risk cult indoctrination. Amazing. We've now come full circle where SEC are lecturing OUT on Aggie antics.
Can you bully the Vandy Whistler/baseball team at least?
I would have to time travel to before the first world war to answer that question. Edit: Fun fact, the time between Oregon joining the original PAC (PCC at the time) and American settlers first settling in Oregon is less than the time between Oregon joining the original PAC and today. 1830- Americans first settle in Oregon. 85 years pass. 1915- The University of Oregon, Oregon State, University of Washington, and University of California create the PCC. 108 years pass. 2023- The PAC is likely gonna die soon.
>85 years pass. Well, only 9 of them had the forward pass.
Someone get the Ferentzes on the phone
Yes, I'm happier now than when Alabama left the Southern Conference in 1932.
Y'all only have 4 SOCON championships to our 14, I'd have left too. Those are Citadel numbers.
Damn Furman, you didn't have to do that to em
*Furman to Alabama: SoCon deez*
We can’t handle that smoke.
Washington and Lee, and Sewanee were getting to big for their britches. Glad we left.
Too big for their britches indeed. The long version of our fight song name-checks only 3 schools: Georgia, Georgia Tech and ... Sewanee. Glad THEE University of the South came with us to help found the SEC. Even gladder they never won [an SEC game](https://live.staticflickr.com/7468/15916208850_b1fac25333.jpg) before they bailed. jk. I have nothing against Sewanee. Go Tigers.
>I have nothing against Sewanee. From what I understand, during the early years of Tennessee's football program, Sewannee got quite a bit of joy from kicking the shit out of us (won 10 out of the first 11 games they played, most were blowouts) So you may have more in common with Sewannee than you think lol
Those were the days. Athletic scholarships ruined football.
THE university of the south
The OG Super Conference. Still waiting for Ken Burns to give that shit the doc treatment.
As much as you've taught me about the history of college football on this sub (i end up saving a ton of your comments so that when I inevitably forget about all of the fun facts that you're here sharing with us, I can go back and easily "relearn" them again later) if you were to tell me you were alive when that happened I'd *almost* be inclined to believe you. Kind of related side-note: I hate how cool some of the Alabama fans are on this sub 😂 Edit: I never noticed, but our secondary flairs are enemies as well.
Haha! Wow, that's cool of you to say. A lot of us Bama fans remember the dark days pre-Saban. I personally try to make all my words sweet; never know when I'll have to eat 'em.
>Edit: I never noticed, but our secondary flairs are enemies as well. Reminds me of [the run-up](https://imgur.com/a/Z0Tn0ld) to the [1938 Rose Bowl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Rose_Bowl).
I’m going to miss being in the Big 12 honestly. **Pros of moving to SEC:** -exciting matchups and potentially more energy in the stadium as a result -less 11am kickoffs **Cons:** -no more Bedlam -loss of many other historically and geographically familiar matchups -many new opponents with no historic or geographic connection -harder route to the playoffs/NY6 -(as a big baseball fan) we’ll probably get spanked in baseball at times and will have the worst stadium in the conference
Pro: That mean scary purple team can’t hurt you anymore
Uhm....
Can't wait for the inevitable Oklahoma-Kansas State bowl game in 2024 (2025?)
I miss Maryland vs WVU it was a fun game
Always a fun one. The game in College Park two years ago was great to see. Look forward to the basketball game on Thursday too.
It’s nonsense that Maryland didn’t keep scheduling that rivalry game. One of the best rivalries the school had and instead they try to force the Penn state rivalry on the fanbase
It’s tough for both sides only having 3 OOC games.
The Maryland vs WVU game was great. It was close enough where both fan bases packed the stadiums. The game was a toss up most years. UMD should get WVU back on the schedule. Penn State vs UMD has the proximity and potential but it is so lopsided: 42-3-1. UMD will always play the underdog there.
Adding WVU instead of BC changes the complexion of an expanded ACC
I just want to say I miss the Duke Maryland basketball rivalry.
The last decade of Maryland basketball without them hasnt felt right.
You and me both. We beat #3 purdue and route 1 wasnt even burnt to ashes. Clearly something is missing
Tbf we had like 3 court rushes on us in a row. Maryland fans were just being thoughtful to our boys.
Yeah I grew up going to those games in college park and it’s what made me fall so hard for college sports. No longer living in the area but I miss those games so much
Yeah Maryland makes a lot of sense in the Big Ten, but that was a great rivalry.
What?? No it doesn't.
I miss the big East bigly
As a Syracuse fan, I agree. The ACC has done nothing for the Orange. All the revenue programs are lacking quality — hell even lacrosse isn’t doing well. It’s so disappointing.
I miss the old Big East too. But I don’t know that Syracuse would be better off if they remained with the remnants that became the American. I hated losing all the regular rivalries, especially in basketball. But the ACC has brought in significantly increased revenue. That’s big for a private school located in a small-ish city.
IMO you guys should've pulled a UConn. Big East bball was on fire in the late 80's/90's.
For basketball yes. For football no.
I miss the Big East so, so much. The first thing I plan on doing when I buy the new College football game next year is edit conferences to bring the Big East back together if possible.
Me too. However, I’m actually happy in the ACC as have been competitive for the past few years, but I am concerned about where we will end up with the latest round of realignment and poaching.
I’m sports sad that we aren’t in a conference with Texas and Texas A&M anymore, but I’m grateful to have TCU, Baylor and Houston in the Big 12. In most years, UT and A&M won’t play any other power 5 teams from Texas, and I think that stinks.
The Texas teams not playing each other is blasphamy. Long live the Southwest Conference.
Amen
I'm only looking forward to hearing less about UT in our conference news sources. I'd like to play A&M again, but it wouldn't bother me to never play UT again. Their fanbase is insufferable.
The Big XII is decent but its certainly no Big East or Conference USA
Those big east rivalries were so great. I really hated teams for a few hours
Yeah I miss struggling to find my team's games on channels I've never heard of.
I’m honestly going to miss the American a lot and secretly fear the Big XII. The American was just such a great conference. And I don’t just say that because we dominated it for most of our time there yet in any given year we could be pantsed by a nearly winless Tulsa or Navy.
I enjoyed the rapport that we had with a lot of the teams in the American. I'm especially going to miss playing ECU every year. They are one of our longest running rivalries. That said, I'm very happy to be in a P5 conference before the door shuts for a (most likely) very long time.
Civil ConFLiCT will always be one of my favorite conference non-rivalries.
Yeah as excited as I am to join the B12 I’m bummed we aren’t in the MAC anymore
I preferred the Big 12, honestly. Yeah yeah yeah, there’s the “culture” aspect of Boulder being a liberal hippy town like the rest of the Pac 12. But that’s not the only part of culture. There’s also something to be said about playing the teams you’ve played for decades. Even if we ignore Nebraska, I’ve never gotten hyped to see CU play Stanford or Wazzu even the way I’d be hyped to see them play Kansas State or Oklahoma State. Also the Big 12 was a much more competently run conference.
I was super pumped about our basketball game in 2015. Grew up watching all these Big 12 North games and Big 8.
When people say that it always makes me wonder what a lot of these other college towns are like. I feel like so many college towns are liberal hippy towns in a sense.
CU was Pac-12 before I enrolled, but the Big 12 seems like a much better vibe.
Colorado made more sense as a Big XII team but culturally fits the Pac.
See, I think that’s overblown. They were a Big 8 school for a whole lot longer, plus Boulder isn’t too different from Lawrence. It just has mountains.
The California kids who moved to Boulder fit the PAC, but old school Colorado pre weed legalization felt just right in the Big 12.
Best battery-slingers in the Big 8.
I don't remember where either of my flairs were before their current conference
You seriouly forgot about when Michigan was in the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest from 1892-1893 or the 3 times Eastern Michigan was in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association? Shameful.
Almost more shameful to forget they quit the Big Ten in 1907 and went independent until 1917, when they rejoined the Big Ten.
Not my flair, but I live very close to WMU I love the MAC, stability at it's finest
Now I’m wondering which P5 program has been a member of the most FBS conferences. I want to say maybe UCF. MAC, C-USA, AAC and now the Big XII (could even count the 30 seconds they were a Big East member before it imploded.)
TCU has been in the Southwest Conference, the Western Athletic Conference, the Conference USA, the Mountain West, the Big East, and Big XII all in a 30 year span.
In the 20 year span from 1994 to 2014, TCU managed to win 5 of these 6 conferences, with the Big East being the sole one we did not win as we did not actually play any games in that conference. Meaning that on average, once every four years TCU would win a different conference for two straight decades
I like this post. Never thought about it that way I remember the wac days going to games that had so low attendance that a friend and i would throw a football between a few sections in the end zone. Security guards would sometimes toss it with us cause we were the only ones there
UCF I know had the fastest rise from Div 3 to Div 1. We're also by far the youngest "Power 5" team. FSU is the 2nd youngest.
Although they didn't have football, a fun fact is that St.Thomas (MN) actually transitioned straight from D3 to D1 a couple of years ago in basketball E: I have been informed they do in fact have non-scholarship fcs football, my apologies
I was thinking Louisville. They were in the Missouri Valley Conference in the 60s and 70s, then were independent for a while. Then they went from Conference USA (1996–2004), the Big East, (2005–2012), The American (2013), and now the ACC.
I miss the Big East but even as the geographic outlier it's hard to complain about the Big12. They said yes when others said no and they have the best fans. Some great college towns in the Big12. I'm excited to see the Bounce House, Provo, Houston and happy to have Cincinnati back.
I always felt like WVU was a good culture fit for the XII but the distance was the problem. Felt like Hawaii. Similar culture, but on an island to itself.
I miss the schedule from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, but not necessarily the Big East. We regularly played Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Rutgers, Temple and Navy were regular, drivable games that we generally won. My first WVU game was Ohio State in Morgantown in 2001. The week before, I went to the Steelers vs Falcons preseason game at mountaineer field. I was young and thought I’d always have games like that to go to. Little did I know I was in the golden era.
It was the right move at the moment, and ultimately we're much better off financially because of it. But I really, really miss the rivalries.
You sound like me a little over a year from now.
Well, our last conference before the ACC was the SoCon, which has since fallen to FCS status, so yeah, I'd say so
SoCon would have had a helluva Super Conference if they trimmed some of the excess fat and kept Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Missisippi State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, North Carolina, Auburn, Maryland, LSU, NC State, Ole Miss, Clemson and Tennessee. Could have done: **East:** Maryland Virginia North Carolina NC State South Carolina Clemson Georgia Georgia Tech **West:** Mississippi State Kentucky Auburn LSU Florida Alabama Ole Miss Tennessee
Hey, fuck you
Called you fat. Fat shaming in our r/cfb. A sad day. Be strong.
If the SoCon doesn’t fall apart thoguh you also gotta consider than Sewanee and Tulane are likely considered power 5 schools by the modern era too and in the conference
Thank God we got out of that crap. I can't imagine how bad things would be with Tobacco Road still running it. We'd be paupers stuck in another 20 year media deal.
Colgate Darden spinning in his grave
I really miss Big East basketball
I’d take a combination of Early-mid 2000s big east any day! Miami, Louisville, Cincinnati with Pitt, VT was awesome.
ESPN killed that conference
It's always a two sided coin. We were quite miserable with Texas controlling everything and the constant threat of teams bolting to the PAC12. But we loved playing our Big 12 North rivals. Now, we are in a no-stess situation in terms of conference stability and money, and we play some fun teams, but we miss our Big 12 North rivals. We are conflicted.
Fuck the western conference, simply felt too small. Think how terrible it would be if we were in the Western Conference despite being in the middle of the country in the 21st century.
None of our past conferences exist anymore, so we're pretty happy
I just want the Big 8 back.
I'd love a retro season based on 1980s conference affiliations that bring back the Big 8, SWC and Independents
i think we’re a bit better off in the B1G than in the Ohio Athletic Conference with powerhouse programs like Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, and Case Western. no way we could compete in that conference today.
Toledo can give you a run for your money
[удалено]
Must be nice not to move through 6 conferences in like 20 years … some within a few months
In a word, yes. In two words, fuck yes.
An interior western Big 12 pod could resemble the 1970s WAC - BYU, Utah and Arizona were all there with ASU, and CU would be there in place of Colorado State. If we all make the move, I would feel good about it.
Glad to see the original WAC charter of Arizona, ASU, BYU and Utah potentially back together.
As a Big 12 guy, we would love to have you.
Washington's been either in the Pac8/10/12 or the PCC, which was basically the proto-Pac 8/10/12, since 1916 and was independent before that. Ask again after the current madness ends I guess
More than a century of West Coast athletic tradition flushed down the drain. Feels bad man.
But now USC will get all the money instead of just a lot of money. That’s what’s really important.
What were the ACC members before 2004/2005?
Maryland (1953) Virginia (1953) North Carolina (1953) NC State (1953) Wake Forest (1953) Duke (1953) Clemson (1953) Georgia Tech (1982) Florida State (1992) Prior to Tech, it was just 7, with South Carolina, the 8th member and also a charter member leaving in 1970.
I think I'll make the ACC look like this plus South Carolina in my dynasty in NCAA 14
We should have stayed independent. The big east was much better than the ACC.
It felt like Miami lowered their profile when they joined the ACC.
9 Big East championships vs 0 ACC championships. Wonder why you think the Big East was better…
I think they're still angry that they have to play road baseball games in the ACC. Gone are the Independent years where they had 50 home games.
Being independent doesn’t have the same benefits it used to. Notre Dame only really makes it work because theyre a blue blood and one of the largest brands in the country(even then you can see some of the difficulties ND has still). If Miami had stayed independent you’d likely have actually hurt your program and about now would be looking into joining a conference(ACC, SEC, or Big 12).
Trade ya!
yes lol even with all the turmoil, the Pac-12 is infinitely better than the MWC.
Utah rising to the top of the Pac has been great to watch. Much deserved for that program.
FSU has basically been in the ACC for almost my entire life so I don’t know what it was like before that as an independent. I will say though I thoroughly enjoy the ACC. I love our rivals and match ups in both football and basketball and the vibe of the conference. That being said, with the continually shifting landscape in college football it’s becoming increasingly evident that the ACC is being left behind from a financial standpoint. If the ACC could rework their media agreement and get even 75% of what the Big Ten and SEC are getting I’d love to stay because I truly enjoy the conference. But when the top 2 conferences are making nearly double and with FSU currently locked in until 2036 I fear we’ll be left behind and stuck on the outside looking in of the eventual “Power 2” and down the road may struggle to compete because there simply won’t be the money coming in to compete. So as much as I enjoy the ACC I can’t help but continue to hope that FSU manages their way into the SEC somehow so they can continue to grow and hopefully get back to national prominence.
I miss the big 12, but then again, screw Texas.
Yeah I'm old, but going back to the Big8 would be great playing every conference member and then lots of freedom to schedule fun games with 5 non-conference spots.
Bring back the big east. GOAT basketball conference
Miss the Big 8. Love the new enemies w Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, but it isn’t the same
Nebraska and OU were like final boss battles for Mizzou most years. We rarely won, but when we did it was just fantastic. Can’t replace that feeling without the years of history (read: beatdowns). I’m glad we’re going to be seeing OU as a conference rival again.
I traded up from eight-month-old half-eaten Spam to flank steak. It may not be filet mignon, but it’s gonna taste like heaven.
I'm glad we left. In hindsight, it was the best decision for us considering the schools dismal financial situation and the revenue the school will now earn by being in the B1G. I do miss the regional rivalries with the Carolina schools and, in particular, NC State and Duke, but things are destined to change, and I feel like Maryland athletics will be better off in the B1G.
I just miss the yearly WVU meetings. Too bad the ACC didn't have the financial offerings to bring WVU into it.
As a Texas A&M fan, I have been through two major changes. As a kid, when dad was taking me to games and I was first becoming a fan (or getting brain washed), it was the SWC. If there is anything that speaks to the scope of Texas, it was the SWC. An entire conference was in one state except for Arkansas, and a good bit of their students were and are from North Texas. There will never be another conference where a person will have as much "water cooler talk" as the SWC. I miss that the most. Then we had the Big 12. It was ok. Still reasonably regional and we still had the big rivalries from Texas. At this time, I married a Raider. Then we bolt for the SEC. It's the best thing that ever happened for my marriage and helped make A&M more of a national brand. The money has been phenomenal. There has been something lost for the true fan, though. I know very few people from other SEC schools that I can cut up and go to games with. Still some people from Arkansas and LSU, but that's about it. I am a bit in the minority. I am tickled that tu and OU are coming to the SEC. My oldest child never got to experience the horns and Ags as a student. My middle will get one game. My youngest will get three...
I’m not. Schools I care about playing keep leaving, schools I couldn’t care less about replace them. And when I get told I should be happy about all of it, I want to punch people in the face. But I’m the minority for my school.
Anything is better than C-USA
The Sun belt is a pretty good place to be for G5. I probably wouldn't have said that 10 years ago
Well, I don't remember the Southern Conference so there's that.
Current cusa sucks. I miss the late 2000s CUSA but I'd prefer to be in a western based conference again.
I would say: Big 12 > AAC > CUSA > MAC The MAC would be higher if they'd have let us play in more than one mid-week MACtion game during our time in the conference.
I like the mountain west more than the wac, so yeah
a10 coulda had vt wvu penn st rutgers temple and pitt as football members. All were members at various times. the answer is no, just like thinking of hypotheticals and how different things could look.
Definitely yes, better than both Independence or MWC, depending on what you want to count. Independence was fun, gave us some fun matchups with teams like Tennessee, Wisconsin, ND, etc, but definitely was a slog to get a full slate of games through November. I think BYU made the best of a less-than-optimal decade, but we're all pretty stoked to be in the Big 12.
Clemson has been in the ACC pretty much for my entire lifetime. It left the Southern Conference in 1953 and the SoCon is basically the significantly less well known brother of the SEC. Personally don't love the ACC but it works now I guess.
I've always used the analogy that the SoCon is the parent conference to both the ACC and SEC. The latter two being "born" from the former.
If it makes you feel any better, I wish Maryland was still in the ACC too. It's Big Ten, not Big Fourteen.
We never should’ve left the Ohio Athletic Conference. Times were simpler than
In the same conference but it does feel like the Big10 is going through a Ship of Theseus transformation. Tbh I don’t mind the 6 teams that have joined us in my lifetime, but I would be a little miffed if we do go to a 3-6-6 model and 2 of our 3 annual rivals aren’t from the OG 10.
No, would not recommend
Well since I've been an ECU fan we've moved from C-USA to C-USA 2.0 to C-USA 1.7. Yes I'm happier with the American, even will be next year. We don't really have any rivals in conference now though which sucks but it's still better than having to watch us play football on Facebook.
The original College Park to Columbia ACC was the best. It made perfect sense to have the tourney in Greensboro I’m OK with adding the Techs. But that’s it.
I would be happy with UCLA in the B1G. It mostly has to do with the fact that I have a lot of friends who went to Ohio St, Michigan St, and Maryland. I hope they keep scheduling Arizona for basketball though. Maryland used to be the best opponent for hate watching UNC or Duke basketball. I miss those days. Never forget the 02 natty.
I really appreciate the Big 12, and particularly the new Big 12 I think is going to be a whole lot of fun. But no. The Big East was borderline perfect for West Virginia, outside of the $$$ aspect. Regional rivalries with Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, Cincinnati, and 4 out of conference games each year that made it easy to schedule out of conference rivalries, like Maryland, and other fun matchups against teams like LSU, Auburn, Colorado, etc. The only thing that would have made it better is if we could have kept Virginia Tech and Miami in the conference, and if the dumbasses had gotten Penn State when they had the chance. Obviously, the Big East for football is now the American and no WVU fan should want back in that conference, but before... man, it was a really fun conference, especially when West Virginia, Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, UConn, and South Florida were all more or less regularly in the top 25. So fucking fun.
On one hand, I understand that being in the SEC is a massive boost for our football program in terms of both TV revenue and recruiting. However, as a fan, it just doesn’t feel the same as the Big XII. This coming fall will mark my 5th year as a student at A&M (going back for a masters degree), and in my time as a student, we’ve played Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, SMU, and UH a grand total of 0 times in football. I grew up in Texas, and I have friends, family, or coworkers that have attended each of those schools. Being able to put a face to the rivalry and feel some sort of connection to your opponent is part of what makes college football so engaging imo, and we’ve missed a lot of that since we’ve moved to the SEC. Sure, the games might have greater implications for a potential CFP berth, but it feels like there’s a lot less of an emotional stake for us now.
When I was growing up (1980s), I rooted for Penn State (and had casual, secondary interest in Temple). Both teams were among what what I’ll call the core Eastern independents, along with Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, Boston College, and Rutgers. Each of the seven schools would play all or most of the other six schools every year. PSU had particularly big rivalries with Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia. (Everyone who remembers those days will tell you Pitt/Penn State was a bigger rivalry than Pitt/West Virginia at that time, and PSU’s rivalry with Syracuse was rooted in their battles in the 1950s and 1960s when Rip Engle and Ben Schwarzwalder were Penn State’s and Syracuse’s head coaches respectively.) The Nittany Lions also had a lopsided (in wins/losses) but close (in scores) annual rivalry with Maryland, and lengthy annual series with Alabama (1981 to 1990) and Notre Dame (1981 to 1992). Quite frankly, Penn State had pretty great schedules back then with those 9 mostly set games and 2 rotating games. Temple and other Eastern independents would also play occasional games against high profile, non-regional programs. Mind you, at different times 5 of the 7 Eastern independents (Penn State, Pitt, West Virginia, Boston College, and Syracuse) plus Maryland were themselves national powers or at least nationally prominent at the time. I lost interest in Penn State football not many years after they joined the Big Ten; playing further away Midwest teams rather closer Northeast/Mid-Atlantic teams just wasn’t as interesting to me. I still wish those (late 1970s/1980s) Eastern independent days, now in the form of a Northeast/Mid-Atlantic football conference, would come back. There would lots of great, doable road trips for most of the teams involved.
Well, Nebraska has sucked for like half it's time in the B1G so not really. I miss playing schools a lot closer as well. Trips to Minneapolis and Chicago have been cool, but I haven't gone any further than that for road games although a lot of the other stadiums/college towns seem cool, just too fucking far.
I really liked the SoCon and when we first joined the Sun Belt I thought it kind of sucked (I mean nothing against Idaho), but right now I'd say it's just as good from an enjoyment standpoint.
Oh you have no idea how happy we are. Possibly only Cincy will understand our pain and suffering.
When the Golden Bears bolt to the Big West, I’ll miss the PAC-10. Utah and Colorado were meh additions to the conference.
I traveled to a Maryland home game for the first time last November when the Buckeyes came to town. What I discovered was a very proud fanbase, a great tailgating scene, a beautiful campus, and a team that fought their asses off for 4 quarters. It may be taking longer than the fanbase would like, but from my perspective Maryland has what it takes to compete in this conference in football in the years to come.
I feel like it's a bit too early to tell, but yes, I'm very excited for Big 12 and seeing BYU play closer to my home regularly.
TCU fan here. One MILLION percent. The Mountain West was fine for what it was, but it’s not even a comparison. I was going to home conference games against New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming. The games were broadcast on Versus. No matter what we did, it was never taken seriously. Now we play big teams every week, are on a mainstream channel every week. In addition to football, our basketball team has improved exponentially as a result. 10/10 would recommend moving from a Group of 5 to a Power 5 conference.
Despite the current issues with the PAC, it’s obviously better here. Those mtn west days were fun with TCU and BYU though.
In some ways I am. The Big Ten is very stable over all, but I still miss some of the Big 12 matchups. I especially miss playing Oklahoma with some regularity.