“I think the ship has sailed. It’s run its course,” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said of the SEC championship game,

It’s easy to dismiss this statement from Greg Byrne because the SEC is home to one stupid quote after another. Why pay any attention to this?

Blake Toppmeyer, the USA Today scriber who reported the quote, breathlessly declared, “Folks, this is seismic.” Calm down, little buddy. Great scoop on that quote, tho.

Whether Byrne’s remark leads to a new era in college football or it’s just more click fodder, it does put into clear relief just how soullessly corporate college sports have become. It wasn’t long ago when fans were not only propelled by team pride, but also regional pride. Fans could pick and choose from over 100 competitive teams, with each team having a theoretical shot a national title and a more realistic chance at a conference championship. And that team had some bearing on where you lived or where you went to school. It was a great time to be alive.

ESPN and FOX Sports decided that this was just too many chainsaws to juggle. After all, if the bulk of football fans in Utah put their money behind the University of Utah, its a financial lost to put resources behind Utah State. Therefore, why not isolate Utah State but putting it in a broadcast desert and wait for bored Aggie fans to throw in the towel and buy a Utes sweatshirt?

The easiest way to isolate a divide fans is to strip them of their conference loyalties – and not just the smaller conferences. It’s already happening. The PAC12 is gone, replaced by a pale facsimile. The ACC and Mountain West are hanging by a thread. The American no longer has premier programs, and CUSA is filling its roster with FCS programs. Folks, it’s getting seismic out there.

What ESPN and Fox Sports would like you to believe is that there are no conferences – not even the SEC and BIG10. Instead, they want you to view college football as 36 programs that they can neatly brand, package, and sell.

And that’s why Greg Byrne’s doomification of conference championships matters. He’s in the room where it happens. He has Google Doc access to the master plan. College Football is headed towards an NFC/AFC system that doesn’t have any true emotional connection to fans – after all, who says “man, I’m more of a fan of the AFC?” They just want to cast Trinidad Chambliss and Arch Manning in a cute Dr. Pepper commercial and not bother with everyone else.

Because everyone else doesn’t live on the bottom line.

IMAGE: AI Monstrosity