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Alabama football's athletic director Greg Byrne isn't a fan of the changing conference landscape. Byrne is bemoaning the death of the Pac-12 Conference, and says that collapse is bad for college football.
“I'm hopeful that at some point we can get to some stability,” Byrne said, per 247 Sports. “I think having the PAC-12 no longer be there is not good for college sports. I grew up in that league. And Greg Sankey and I talk about the importance of college sports being healthy for one coast to the other; that's good for fan interest is good for young people participating, all those things. So I'm hopeful it will settle down.”
The Pac-12 is officially kaput, as only two schools remain from that league after conference realignment. Stanford and California are in the ACC. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington jumped ship to join the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are now in the Big 12. Only Oregon State and Washington State found themselves remaining in what was once a power conference.
“I'm not critical of anybody or any one that has left their conference. Each institution has to look after themselves. At the same time, I do think one of the things that has worked well with the SEC — not to say there's never disagreement within the room or between institutions, because that will happen from time to time, but we've done a pretty good job of of having having those challenges not always be public,” Byrne added. “It's a unified voice, and that's healthy for the enterprise of the SEC and college sports. So when I see conferences kind of throwing rocks at one another, institutions, that's concerning.”
Conference realignment could hurt Alabama football
The SEC is not immune from this reshuffling of conferences. Texas and Oklahoma joined the league this season. Those two historic football programs are among the most successful in the country, making a super competitive football conference even more difficult. Alabama football plays at Oklahoma this year, but Texas is not on the schedule.
Alabama football enters the 2024 season with a new leader. Legendary coach Nick Saban retired after taking the team to the College Football Playoff in 2023. Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer is the new man in charge for Alabama football. Crimson Tide fans hope he can continue the winning tradition in Tuscaloosa.
It will be difficult for the Crimson Tide to get there. While Alabama is ranked no. 5 nationally in a preseason Associated Press college football poll, the team has to play five ranked teams in conference play. The CFP is expanding, but Alabama won't have an easy task to return there this campaign.
Alabama football begins the season on August 31 against Western Kentucky.
