Why the NBA Needs to Step In and Take Control Over College Football

I don’t mean to harp on the same topic, but this is something that I can’t pass up on. You may remember my last blog post regarding the University of Texas ruining what used to be the Big 12 Conference and that leading to the possible expansion of the Pac-12 Conference into the Pac-16 conference, essentially creating the first Super Conference in the NCAA.  Well, just as talks started to get serious with Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St. joining the Pac-12, it was announced late Saturday that the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Syracuse will be leaving the Big East Conference and joining the ACC Conference; and that the University of Connecticut (UCONN) and University of Rutgers are also trying hard for an invite into the ACC Conference.   While on the surface this looks to be basketball driven, it’s not.   This move was purely driven for football reasoning and to join a stronger football conference.   Yes, three of the top schools in the Big East Conference, a conference that is primarily driven by college basketball, are switching conferences because of their mediocre football program.  This is just another sign that college football rules all things NCAA, and another sign on how the NBA is ruining college basketball. 

The Big East is arguably the best conference there is for college basketball.  We talk about Super Conferences needing to be created in college football, but when you think about it, college basketball and the Big East Conference were already a step ahead. The Big East Conference for college basketball consisted of 16 teams: Cincinnati, UCONN, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, Seton Hall, South Florida, St. John’s, Syracuse, Villanova, and West Virginia.  Eight of these teams: Cincinnati, UCONN, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, and West Virginia, they make up the Big East Conference for college football.  But what makes the Big East different from the rest of the major conferences is that the Big East is not equally balanced between college football and college basketball. The Big East has clearly made their name on their school's performances from college basketball, and that has translated somewhat to college football.  But when the ACC raided the Big East of their major football schools, University of Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech, the Big East’s strength and power as a football conference took a huge blow. They were able to survive somewhat with the resurgence of West Virginia football and the emergence of UCONN and Rutgers football, but it is still regarded as a sub-par football conference. 

So the new ACC conference is the new Super Conference for college basketball, especially if they are able to pouch UCONN away from the Big East as well.  And while they will hide behind the fact that these schools are making the switch because of academics or even basketball reasons, this is primarily football driven and done to improve the strength of the ACC as a football conference. The ACC Conference was already a stall worth in college basketball is schools like Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forrest, and Georgia Tech.  Now when you add Syracuse, Pitt, and now maybe UCONN and Rutgers, the ACC Conference now becomes the perennial power conference in college basketball.  From those schools perspective, they get to join a conference that still is known for their basketball, but also has highly notable football schools within the division as well.   

So back to the reason why I’m writing this and my title.  The NBA really needs to be taking note at what is going on here.  You have power schools in college basketball leaving a power basketball conference because to help their mediocre football programs.  If this isn't a sign that college football drives the bus in collegiate sports and that universities care more about their football programs than basketball, then you have blinders on.  And the NBA is partially to blame for this.  The product of college basketball is weak right now and it’s attributed to the NBA not having a high enough age requirement for entrance into their league like the NFL does. The NFL’s rule of 3 years removed from high school before a player can be eligible for the NFL draft is not only to prevent dilution of the NFL product, but it is also there to sustain and build up the product of college football.  This is something that the NBA better realize very quickly, or the sport of college basketball will become obsolete.  The era of the “one and done” college basketball player is ruining the sport. 

With the NBA and its players currently engaging in labor talks over revenue sharing and salary cap issues, one topic that they may want to discuss in light of recent events is how the NBA can work with the NCAA to make college basketball a better product and more relevant in the collegiate sports world. If schools cared just as much about their collegiate basketball program as they did their football program, maybe we wouldn’t be having so much conference realignment. There is no reason why the top three schools (Syracuse, Pitt, and potentially UCONN); in what is arguably the best college basketball conference (Big East) in the NCAA, be switching conferences due to better quality football play. The NBA needs to step in and take control over college football.