Unpopular Opinion: Fun of conference expansion wears off quickly

From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about unpopular opinions.

You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “Unpopular Opinion” articles here.

As a fan and alum of a blueblood college football program that is part of one of the so-called “super conferences” (and I think we can safely stop framing what’s been happening as “realignment” now), it pains me a bit to say it, but super conferences are a bad idea and they’re bad for college football.

(Note: For the purposes of this column, I’m writing about college football and am not delving into what conference expansion means for other sports.)

On the one hand, I like fun

New additions to the conference are fun for a while. I’m old enough to remember how novel it was when Penn State joined the Big Ten. Those first couple of meetings (home and away) with the Nittany Lions were interesting. Adding the Penn State traditions and history to the B1G was strange, but cool.

After the initial newness wore off of the Nitts becoming a Big Ten program, Penn State vs. Ohio State (and PSU vs. Michigan) has been a lot of fun over the years and has provided a lot of incredible football moments (and yes, I fought it for a while, but I am one of those weirdos who believes that they are an Ohio State rival).

Ohio State vs. Penn State is an argument for conference expansion, but it is an exception.

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Nebraska joining the league was interesting but seemed less dramatic by comparison. I thought perhaps the inclusion of the Huskers in the B1G would revitalize that program….

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Publish date : 2025-05-26 17:01:00

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