To the extent that they destroyed a high-functioning regional conference, I think the California teams—and every team that just exited the PAC-12—deserve extra blame for this.
Part of the appeal of the SEC is that it's the last regional conference. Sports rivalries mirror deeper rivalries that are embedded into the place-based identities of the core consumers, i.e. locals, so the stakes are higher. This is reflected in more investment and higher quality play. The conference slogan, "it just means more," isn't all marketing bluster.
Hence why even a superficial match up like Tennessee (6) v. Vanderbilt (unranked) can get top Saturday billing and actually result in a really good game—the identity of a lot of normal Tennesseans is tied up in the result. Compare to, say, games like UCLA v. Rutgers or Arizona v. West Virginia—games of only faint interest to people with a dedicated interest in the sport.
That's a good point. UCLA or USC v., say Oregon/Washington U or State was always pretty intense. Though competition with Arizona was always pretty intense too.
To the extent that they destroyed a high-functioning regional conference, I think the California teams—and every team that just exited the PAC-12—deserve extra blame for this.
Part of the appeal of the SEC is that it's the last regional conference. Sports rivalries mirror deeper rivalries that are embedded into the place-based identities of the core consumers, i.e. locals, so the stakes are higher. This is reflected in more investment and higher quality play. The conference slogan, "it just means more," isn't all marketing bluster.
Hence why even a superficial match up like Tennessee (6) v. Vanderbilt (unranked) can get top Saturday billing and actually result in a really good game—the identity of a lot of normal Tennesseans is tied up in the result. Compare to, say, games like UCLA v. Rutgers or Arizona v. West Virginia—games of only faint interest to people with a dedicated interest in the sport.
That's a good point. UCLA or USC v., say Oregon/Washington U or State was always pretty intense. Though competition with Arizona was always pretty intense too.