Signs which could point toward college football forming one super conference

As the Pac-12 zeros in on a potential broadcast deal to help stem the tide and keep the conference intact, some in the college football space are beginning to wonder if that isn’t just delaying the inevitable. That inevitable being the formation of a college football super conference.

At this point it’s quite clear that the Big Ten and SEC have positioned themselves as the top two conferences in college football, as evidenced by the TV revenue they’re generating.

After that, the ACC and Big 12 are battling to remain relevant while the Pac-12 is fighting just to survive.

But the latest wave of conference realignment might be hinting at an even bigger story within the next handful of years as more and more broadcast rights deals expire.

“What all this really tells me, though, Andy (Staples), is that we’re gaining steam even faster than I think I even thought was possible on an ultimate one super league,” On3’s Jesse Simonton said. “Super league pangea where it’s the top 40 teams in college football and you worry about the other Title IX sports and all that stuff separately, but it’s just like its own minor league football deal.

“Because once some of these media deals run out, because I think some of them are more short-term, it just seems like we are gaining steam with each of these realignment moves getting faster to that point, I think.”

Andy Staples, the host of the ‘Dear Andy’ segment, where the topic came up for Simonton and Staples to bat around, also chimed in on the possibility of a super conference.

Believe it or not, a super conference of the top football powers doesn’t sound out of the question.

“You know what’s going to happen when the next Big Ten deal comes up if they make it match,” Staples said. “Like if theirs ends the same as the SEC we know what’s going to happen. You can just mark it down. That one would be the one that tells you this is all short term, conference pangea is coming.

“If the ACC takes schools on the West coast or enters into some alliance with them… and again, I’m not just pulling this out of my you know what, this was talked about after USC and UCLA left. This is still something that’s being kicked around in real life and it sounds incredibly crazy.”

Simonton chimed in.

“People do crazy things when you’re fighting to survive,” he said.

The Pac-12 still isn’t completely out of the woods until a new broadcast deal is signed, sealed and delivered. Until then, there’s still plenty of incentive out there for schools like Arizona to explore their options like Colorado did.

There will be some nervous watching and waiting in West Coast circles over the coming days, super conference or not.