Nick Saban of Alabama has a special place in his heart for college football tradition because he has spent decades coaching at the collegiate level.
And Saban is frustrated that a lot of history will be ignored over the next few years due to the recent reorganisation of several of the biggest teams and conferences in the sport.
“There’s a lot of traditions that we’ve had for a long time in college football,” Saban stated. “… And some of those customs will eventually fade into obscurity.”
“It’s sad.”
Given that the Pac-12 has been dismantled over the last few days due to the agreements of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington to leave for other conferences, Saban’s nostalgia is understandable.
While Oregon and Washington will be joining USC and UCLA in the Big 10 starting in the 2024 season, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah are all headed towards joining the Big 12.
Classic rivalries like the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State and the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State may be put on hold for a few years as a result of those actions.
But that’s really the tip of the iceberg.
Although the recent changes will primarily affect the Pac-12, Saban and Alabama will also be impacted because Oklahoma and Texas are scheduled to join the SEC in the upcoming season.
Motivated by the financial gains of the programmes involved, Saban hopes that none of these decisions will have a detrimental effect on the experiences of collegiate athletes.
Regarding the moves, Saban remarked, “I guess you have to define what is good and bad for college football.” He wasn’t sure if they were good or bad. “So, I think one thing I would just hope that we would keep in mind in all the choices and decisions we make relative to what we do in college athletics is the student-athlete,” he said.
“Their goals are to acquire knowledge and be assisted in pursuing careers both on and off the pitch. And hopefully some of the decisions we make now for collegiate athletics will have a positive effect on them later on. And I’m hoping that we can prioritise that over anything else we decide to do in
