Earlier this month, North Dakota State and Sacramento State announced they will be moving up to the FBS, bringing the total to 138 schools competing at that level. Just as important, they made clear that their other sports won’t be coming with them.
North Dakota State will join the Mountain West for football, while Sacramento State will play in the Mid-American Conference. The Bison will remain in the Summit League for all other sports, while the Hornets will join the Big West after years in the Big Sky.
The MAC will now stretch across four time zones, but Sacramento State’s other sports will compete in a California-based league.
And realistically, this is how it should be done.
We’re now two years into the experiment of conferences like the Big Ten and ACC stretching coast to coast, while the Big 12 runs from Orlando to Phoenix. Those setups benefit television executives more than anyone else, and even they have limits.
Splitting football into its own conference structure and allowing other sports to compete in more geographically sensible leagues just makes sense. Here’s why.
Football Plays Once a Week
The risk of missed class time and excessive travel drops dramatically when teams only play once a week. Basketball typically plays twice a week. Baseball plays full three-game series most weekends.
That leads to some absurd travel situations. Oregon’s baseball team, for example, will play a two-game home series where it actually has the travel disadvantage. Xavier agreed to play three games at Oregon State, then added two games at Oregon to make the trip financially viable.
Oregon, meanwhile, will be flying in from Purdue. By the time the Ducks arrive for their “home” series, they’ll have traveled 2,237 miles by air compared to Xavier’s 46 miles by bus.
Football doesn’t create those kinds of issues. With a full week between games and most teams playing on the same day, geographic fit matters far less.
Football Makes and Spends the Most Money
Football spending is excessive, but it also generates the most revenue, and it’s not close.
A single home football game can bring in $5 million or more in ticket revenue alone. That’s why buy games regularly exceed $1 million. The home school knows it will make that money back.
Other sports operate very differently. Baseball and basketball programs are often focused on minimizing travel costs. North Carolina will play road baseball games at East Carolina and UNC Wilmington. Florida State will travel to Jacksonville, North Florida and Stetson.
Those games would never be played on the road in basketball, but baseball programs are willing to get on a bus for two or three hours just to get games in.
Separating football would allow Olympic sports to dramatically reduce travel costs.
Football Attendance Isn’t Matchup Driven
Ohio State vs. Michigan is one of the biggest games of the year, but the reality is that Ohio State fans will show up whether the opponent is Michigan or Grambling.
With so few games on the schedule, every football game is an event.
Other sports don’t have that luxury. With the exception of a few elite programs, attendance in basketball, baseball, volleyball and other sports depends far more on local rivalries and proximity. It’s hard to get excited about a conference opponent 3,000 miles away.
Football’s Postseason Works Differently
Football is the only major college sport where not every team has a guaranteed path to the postseason.
In basketball and baseball, winning your conference tournament earns an NCAA bid. In football, even a strong team can be left out of the playoff depending on strength of schedule.
That makes scheduling and conference strength even more important, reinforcing the need for flexibility at the football level.
Breaking Free of Football Restores Rivalries
Modern conferences are simply too large. Basketball, baseball and volleyball are built on playing rivals multiple times per year, not once every two or three seasons.
Separating football would allow programs to build geographically sensible leagues again. A school like Gonzaga would not be tied to a weaker conference simply because it does not play football.
It would also allow traditional regional leagues to return. The Pac-10 could be rebuilt. The Big Ten could become a true Midwestern league again.
Right now, many schools have moved conferences primarily because of football. Removing that requirement would allow other sports to operate in a way that makes sense.
The Bottom Line
If North Dakota State and Sacramento State can make this model work, so can the rest of college athletics.
Football-only conferences paired with regional leagues for other sports would reduce travel, cut costs, restore rivalries, and make college sports more sustainable across the board.
It’s a simple solution that would benefit everyone involved.
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