So this is what Realignment has Done: Conference Championship games that inspires no fan support

[arbitragegls]

...everyone has had the laugh at the fact the ACC Championship Game between FSU and Georgia Tech tickets are going for $4 or so...well the B1G Championship Game between Nebraska and Wisconsin are going for $20...so what does it all mean: the striving for eyeballs on TV has led to rivalries no one really wants to watch...so the expansion continues but no attention to geographic boundary and rivalries are considered...the data is being collected that maybe college sports needs to take a deep breath before this all blows up in the conference faces...

 

[cuse522]

The ACC prices have more to do with the fact that the Coastal division sucks and a 6-6 team came out of it. Likewise the fact that the B1G Championship is the Legends winner and the third place team (7-5, 4-4) in the Leaders.

If it were Ohio State/Nebraska or even PSU/Nebraska, that'd be a different story. That stuff is all going to be cyclic, unless you're the SEC. Each conference will have its down years - the ACC a bit more often, but it is what it is.

 

[rrlbees]

Saw that reported earlier about the $20 b10 tix. In addition they also said that Nebraska returned 1/2 of their 15,000 allotment.

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[Bayside44]

It's a huge cash drain for a fanbase. Unless it's an easy trip this will continue to happen.

 

[Chip]

It's a huge cash drain for a fanbase. Unless it's an easy trip this will continue to happen.

It was an easy trip for Stanford tonight. Their fans came out by the dozens.

Conf championship games just aren't as interesting as they were when the concept started. SEC is the only consistent draw left.

 

[riskylogic]

It was dumb idea to begin with, but geographic expansion has made it worse. There is an easy fix though -- ditch the neutral site. It may not be fair, but it would be far more interesting.

 

[44PRIDE]

It was dumb idea to begin with, but geographic expansion has made it worse. There is an easy fix though -- ditch the neutral site. It may not be fair, but it would be far more interesting.

That's exactly it. The better team gets a home game. That'll be the only way they get these championship games to work.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

If you're a fan with a choice between traveling for a bowl or a conference championship you're bowl bound. It's that easy.

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[cuse522]

It was dumb idea to begin with, but geographic expansion has made it worse. There is an easy fix though -- ditch the neutral site. It may not be fair, but it would be far more interesting.

They'll probably come up with something else, like still a neutral site but the third and fourth place teams play too in a double header. More inventory! Water it down and fill more seats!

 

[Cuseman78]

It was an easy trip for Stanford tonight. Their fans came out by the dozens.

Conf championship games just aren't as interesting as they were when the concept started. SEC is the only consistent draw left.

31k, smallest crowd of the year, for a title game.

 

[cuse522]

There are some other factors at play for Stanford, though. That game kicked off at about 5:20 p.m. Pacific time, so I'm sure a lot of people who might have gone didn't want to miss the first quarter or half because they couldn't leave work early. There was also the heavy rain, which probably kept a lot of people away.

 

[OrangePA]

...everyone has had the laugh at the fact the ACC Championship Game between FSU and Georgia Tech tickets are going for $4 or so...well the B1G Championship Game between Nebraska and Wisconsin are going for $20...so what does it all mean: the striving for eyeballs on TV has led to rivalries no one really wants to watch...so the expansion continues but no attention to geographic boundary and rivalries are considered...the data is being collected that maybe college sports needs to take a deep breath before this all blows up in the conference faces...

Wisconsin- 4-4 in the conference and in the championship of the
great Big Ten.

 

[qdawgg]

I've been saying it since the addition of RU and MD. I think the B10 is watering down it's league and it might eventually bite them in the @ss. Probably not any time soon but it seems that invariably it would.

 

[SmilinBob]

I've always disliked these games and the only time they will have meaning is once the conferences go to 16-20 and the games mean you go on to the playoffs, until then... they will continue to matter very little fan wise. Once you see Nebraska giving up tickets, you know you have a problem.

 

[kirbivore]

It was an easy trip for Stanford tonight. Their fans came out by the dozens.

Conf championship games just aren't as interesting as they were when the concept started. SEC is the only consistent draw left.

SEC was the original, and their hardcore fans would go anywhere to watch it. The Big 12 title game most years was also relevant and well attended.

 

[Moontan]

SEC was the original, and their hardcore fans would go anywhere to watch it. The Big 12 title game most years was also relevant and well attended.

It helps to play it in a good/central location with a great venue which usually still has decent weather. Having good teams with rabid fan bases doesn't hurt either.

 

[Scooch]

It helps to play it in a good/central location with a great venue which usually still has decent weather. Having good teams with rabid fan bases doesn't hurt either.

Yep, location matters.

I would really love the ACC to declare D.C. it's home for football and hoops championships. Great city, easy to get to from everywhere, and central enough for the rapidly expanding footprint of the league.

In other words, Greensboro sucks and Charlotte ain't much better.

 

[cto]

Wisconsin- 4-4 in the conference and in the championship of the
great Big Ten.

Yeah. Wisconsin didn't belong there. No match for those Huskers..

 

[BBQuse]

Yep, location matters.

I would really love the ACC to declare D.C. it's home for football and hoops championships. Great city, easy to get to from everywhere, and central enough for the rapidly expanding footprint of the league.

In other words, Greensboro sucks and Charlotte ain't much better.

This. And it would go a long way towards solving the recruiting issue with the void from Maryland leaving.

 

[Moontan]

I would really love the ACC to declare D.C. it's home for football and hoops championships. Great city, easy to get to from everywhere, and central enough for the rapidly expanding footprint of the league.

How about moving the Greensboro basketball rotation to Raleigh?

I'm still expecting (at least) 1/3 of the hoops tournaments to be in NC, with the rest split between NYC, DC, Atlanta and whatever other city puts up $$$.[/quote]

 

[Townie72]

...everyone has had the laugh at the fact the ACC Championship Game between FSU and Georgia Tech tickets are going for $4 or so...well the B1G Championship Game between Nebraska and Wisconsin are going for $20...so what does it all mean: the striving for eyeballs on TV has led to rivalries no one really wants to watch...so the expansion continues but no attention to geographic boundary and rivalries are considered...the data is being collected that maybe college sports needs to take a deep breath before this all blows up in the conference faces...

You ask the question "What does it all mean?" But the answer you provide --- that "no attention to geographic boundary and rivalries are considered" in conference realignment and this is what is at the root of low demand for championship game tickets --- seems to me to be both unsatisfying and unsubstantiated.

First of all ... FSU and GT are close together geographically and have been in the ACC together a long time. (decades). Wisconsin and Nebraska are not traditional rivals but that itself isn't a disincentive I'm more likely to watch Wisconsin vs. Nebraska than I am Wisconsin vs. another Big Ten team (except Michigan or OSU) because of the "newness" of it. This "unfamilarity" of teams is, in part, what makes bowl games interesting (at least to me).

I agree that some rivalries have been torn asunder by all this (e.g, Pitt and WVU) by realignment. But there are actually only a few of these and the impact of these ruptures in the old status quo is going to be felt in the regular season, not in the championship games. We'll see how much Maryland fans don't show up to watch MD vs Purdue vs. how many didn't show up to watch MD vs NC State.

Even during the "regular season" or the vast majority of games --- not named OSU v. Michigan or Alabama v. Auburn --- you are way overstating the value of "tradition".

Old guys like me bemoan that Penn State isn't a fixture on SU schedules, but who among us --- old and young --- is going to miss SU not playing Rutgers? (Except for OrangePA).