“It’s a rich man’s world” – ABBA
The 1950s marked the start of Golden Age of Television, and nerves were high for the NCAA and its members around the country.
The NCAA did not yet recognize the financial spoils TV revenue could and eventually would provide. TV ownership was still relatively low; Just 9% of American households owned a TV in 1950, but that number exploded to 87% in 1960. The NCAA, instead, worried that televised games would hinder live attendance, cut athletic revenue and destroy smaller programs.
In hindsight it sounds a little ridiculous, but you have to remember these were completely uncharted waters. Air travel wasn’t yet common. As the NCAA saw it, why would fans travel miles and miles when they could just sit at home and see the action right from their living rooms?
Preliminary research from the University of Chicago suggested a potential correlation between the rise in overall TV viewership and a decline in live attendance, specifically from fans of teams whose games were not being televised. The study was highly nuanced and still yet to be completed, but the NCAA saw enough to make up its mind — quick action needed to be taken to ensure the survival of college football.
Possessing complete control over the TV rights of its members, the NCAA decided to restrict college football broadcasts to 1 nationally televised game per week, starting in 1951. Fielding complaints from the Big Ten, the NCAA loosened its grip and allowed regional telecasts for 5 weeks of the season starting in 1955.
As the years wore on, big-time college football matchups (like 1968 USC vs. UCLA or 1966 Michigan at Ohio State) were routinely passed up in favor of games between smaller schools or even other fall sports such as volleyball. In addition, schools could only be featured in nationally televised games 2 times every 3 years, and all programs received the same paycheck per broadcast — whether it was the Iron Bowl or a nonconference soccer game.
This wasn’t going to fly, the SEC and other major conferences soon decided.
They knew the demand was there for college football. The game was bigger than ever before, and programs wanted fans to be able to see their teams play live on TV on a consistent basis. These schools also realized they were missing out on boatloads of TV revenue and wanted in on the cut.
In 1977, the SEC, SWC, Big Eight, ACC and independent programs such as Notre Dame and Penn State formed the College Football Association, which aimed to combat the NCAA’s heavy-handedness. Just before the start of the 1981 season, the CFA shocked the country by announcing a 4-year, $180 million contract with NBC, pending final approval.
The NCAA responded to this announcement with a hissy fit for the history books. The entity threatened the expulsion of any member institution who accepted the CFA’s deal with NBC. No program would dare turn against the NCAA, and the deal fell through.
That is, no program would turn against the NCAA immediately. Oklahoma and Georgia sued the NCAA in 1984, arguing that its draconian TV plan violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. The courts ruled in favor of the universities, determining that the NCAA’s broadcast limitations were an unreasonable restraint of trade.
Just like that, TV contracts and negotiations belonged to conferences and individual programs, not the NCAA. The floodgates were officially open.
1991 — Arkansas & South Carolina
Penn State was the first independent domino to fall. The Nittany Lions, struggling financially and eyeing a share of the Big Ten’s TV revenue, opted to join the conference in 1990. This set off a cascade of conference realignment moves that we’re still feeling the effects of today.
Elsewhere, as the SEC began to carefully position itself in order to maximize its incoming TV revenue like the Big Ten, the Southwest Conference (SWC) was falling apart at the seams.
Arkansas was the only member of the SWC located outside the state of Texas, and oil money kept high-profile Texas prospects in-state as schools blatantly paid athletes under the table. Also known as the Wild West, the SWC now stood for “Sure, We’re Cheatin.“
Every Southwest Conference program apart from Arkansas, Baylor and Rice found itself under NCAA sanctions for some form of recruiting violation in the 1980s. SMU famously received the death penalty for multiple major violations and did not play in 1987 or 1988. Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas, Texas A&M and Houston were also placed on probation at various times throughout the decade.
It’s not hard to understand why Arkansas was fed up with the whole situation. Sensing a lack of sturdiness and wanting to avoid the toxic atmosphere of the SWC, the Razorbacks made necessary preparations to get the hell out of Dodge.
Meanwhile, the SEC was looking to add a team from the east and west in its first-ever act of expansion. Texas A&M and Florida State were the preferred options, but the Aggies backed out after facing pressure from Texas officials, who wanted A&M to stay in a conference with the Longhorns (for now, the SWC). Arkansas AD Frank Broyles was eager to accept the SEC’s offer in August of 1990, and the Razorbacks officially joined the SEC in July of 1991.
On the other side of the region, Florida State and head coach Bobby Bowden opted to join the ACC, preferring an easier path to a national title. South Carolina, another independent that was drowning financially, accepted the SEC’s life raft and joined the conference a few months after Arkansas. Note that both the Razorbacks and Gamecocks did not start play on the gridiron until 1992.
The SEC now had 12 members, which meant it was eligible to host a conference championship game under an incredibly niche NCAA bylaw that was originally meant for Division III programs. The conference split in two to abide by the rule, creating east and west divisions, and hosted the first ever SEC Championship Game on December 5, 1992. No. 2 Alabama took down No. 12 Florida in front of 85,000 fans at Legion Field in Birmingham, generating $6.1 million for the conference.
Not too shabby.
The move was a controversial one and blindsided some major entities in college football. Noise from within the conference worried that the addition of an extra game would hinder the SEC’s chances in the national championship race. It’s worth noting, however, that Alabama was named the 1992 national champion following its narrow 28-21 win over the Gators and subsequent whipping of Miami in the Sugar Bowl.
So much for that narrative.
2012 — Mizzou & Texas A&M
The creation of the Big Ten Network in 2006 kickstarted the realignment period that eventually brought Missouri and Texas A&M into the SEC.
The joint venture with FOX was the first of its kind; a cable TV channel wholly dedicated to Big Ten sanctioned events. It was also a massive success, distributing $6.4 million to each of the conference’s 11 schools in 2009 alone.
Other programs wanted in, and the Big Ten — needing to add just 1 more team to organize a conference championship game — was ready to share the love. In perhaps the biggest move of realignment until that point, Nebraska left the Big 12 and its unequal revenue sharing for the Big Ten, its money and long-term stability in 2011. Less consequentially, Maryland and Rutgers would join in the years to come, increasing the Big Ten’s head count to 14.
Not wanting to be outdone, folks over in the Pac-10 came up with an expansion plan of their own. Commissioner Larry Scott wanted to create a super conference with 6 new members from the Big 12 — Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Colorado accepted the invitation, but Texas declined and the other programs listed followed suit. Still needing a 12th member, the Pac-10 (soon-to-be Pac-12) added Utah out of the Mountain West.
The Big 12 was still breathing, but just barely. Colorado and Nebraska’s departures meant the conference could not play a championship game, and further realignment was still to come. Not to mention, its tiered TV deal still left a lot to be desired.
Texas A&M was torn between joining the Pac-10 or the SEC and effectively had its mind made up by the Longhorns when they decided to decline the Pac-10’s offer, thus ending the allure of a Pac-16 super conference. In July of 2011, wary of potential recruiting implications that would come from Texas’s soon-to-launch Longhorn Network, A&M’s system regents met and decided to bolt for conference stability in the SEC.
In the background, Mizzou was quietly stirring. The Tigers were also looking to escape the Big 12’s instability and bring the football program to another level amid realignment chaos. Initially, the Tigers wanted to join the Big Ten — feeling they were a better fit geographically while adding rivalries against programs like Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. An offer, however, never came.
The SEC, having just added Texas A&M, needed another team to balance out its divisions. Talks were held regarding the addition of West Virginia and some other ACC programs, but Mizzou was viewed as the most attractive option. As joining the prestigious SEC was a better play than staying in the Big 12, Mizzou accepted the league’s offer and became the SEC’s 14th team on July 1, 2012, alongside the Aggies.
2024 — Texas & Oklahoma
In July 2021, Oklahoma and Texas approached the SEC and formally requested to join the conference. The pair’s entry, as most reading this will remember well considering it took place exactly 2 years ago, was made official in July of 2024.
A few factors went into this decision. For starters, the Longhorns and Sooners were head and shoulders better than any other team in the Big 12. Oklahoma was the winner of 6 straight Big 12 titles when the pair initially agreed to join the conference, and Texas won the final Big 12 Championship Game before its departure to the SEC was made official.
Money, as always, was another major factor. The SEC’s newly signed 10-year deal with ESPN offered Oklahoma and Texas substantially better revenue payouts, meaning Texas and Oklahoma could play against the best of the best while getting paid like it.
Texas and Oklahoma’s decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC was earth-shattering for the rest of college football. Two of the 10 winningest programs in college football history had just joined the best conference in the game, and other conferences began a mad scramble to keep from falling behind.
One conference struggled to keep up with the rest and became the country’s sacrificial lamb. The Pac-12 failed to secure a lucrative TV deal like the SEC and Big Ten, so Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC practically tripped over themselves on the way out the door once the Big Ten came knocking. Elsewhere, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado bolted for the Big 12, joined by Houston, Cincinnati and UCF out of the Group of 5 ranks. The ACC even made some moves, adding Stanford, Cal and SMU to increase its membership to 18.
For now, that’s the end of the story.
What’s next?
Of all the realignment phases throughout college football history thus far, none were as consequential as the chaos that Texas and Oklahoma put into motion in 2021.
The Big Ten is geographically split in two, featuring teams from Piscataway, New Jersey; Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; and Lincoln, Nebraska. The Atlantic Coast Conference now includes programs in California and Texas, while the Big 12 stretches from Orlando, Florida, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Only the SEC retains some semblance of geographic congruency among the power conferences, and that’s more important than a lot of people realize.
College football’s allure goes far beyond the game played on the field. It’s all about the passion, the rivalries and the collective sense of pride fans find not only in their team, but in their region of the country.
Rocky Top, an ode to the simple life of living in the Tennessee hills over a “cramped up city life,” drives opposing fans crazy on fall Saturdays in Neyland Stadium. Mississippi State has its cowbells. Arkansas fans call the hogs. Auburn and Alabama are sworn to hatred in the Iron Bowl, and in case of a win Auburn is sure to roll Toomer’s Corner. Texas A&M fans pile into Kyle Field at midnight for yell practice the day before Aggies home games. Georgia fans bark at Florida fans who Gator chomp back at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
Those traditions and the intersection of these fanbases make college football, college football and the SEC, the SEC. So long as that formula exists and the action remains competitive on the field, people will show up at the gates by the thousands while others tune in on TV by the millions. Across all its bouts of expansion, the SEC has shown that it understands that.
“This expansion keeps the SEC in contiguous states, which supports reasonable geography among like-minded universities and keeps us confident that fan interest will continue to grow in our communities, our region and this country…” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in 2022. “There’s no sense of urgency in our league. No panic in reaction to others’ decisions.
“We know who we are. We are confident in our collective strength.”
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