Josh Pate Names Big 12 ‘America’s College Football Conference’
CBS Sports’ Josh Pate asked his audience earlier this week: Which conference is America’s College Football Conference?
The Dallas Cowboys are colloquially known as “America’s Team,” as they have been for decades now. Based in one of the largest cities in the United States, and among the most recognizable brands in the world, the Cowboys are easily the largest fan base in the NFL.
Teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Lakers also have huge fan bases that stretch across the nation, thanks to their incredible brand power and because, for some reason or another, folks just seem to like them.
The responses to Pate’s question were all relatively similar—there were a lot of SEC, plenty of Big Ten, and some AAC, considering the conference has “American” in the name.
However, Pate disagreed with all of those answers. Instead, he felt pretty confident that the title of America’s College Football Conference belongs to the league that we all know and love.
“I think the Big 12 is America’s college football conference, at least this year and maybe for the foreseeable future,” Pate said. “Stop yelling. Be calm, and let me explain what I mean by that.
“It’s not the most talent-rich conference. It’s not where the highest-paid coaches reside. It’s not the biggest venues. It’s not the highest TV ratings. That’s not what I’m talking about. I didn’t ask that. That would be easy. That’s just math. I wanted to know what is America’s college football conference? To me, [it] would most readily represent what the college football public claims they want in college football. Obviously, right now, there are a lot of complaints about how NIL has tainted the sport—the transfer portal—and the mercenary-like nature that players have taken on. A lot of you claim you don’t like that. Well, I’m right there with you. So what can we do? We can either complain about it, which we do, or we can go find somewhere where it doesn’t exist as much. In my humble opinion, the more you look at the Big 12, the more you realize the least enjoyable parts of college football are the least present in the Big 12. It’s not absent that; you still see some headlines in the Big 12 that make you [sick], it’s just available up there than it is, and it’s more plentiful elsewhere.”
Pate goes on to support his claim for the Big 12 by discussing some of the issues that seem to irritate college football fans, and why the lessened burden of those issues in the Big 12 makes it a much more enjoyable experience.
“You guys claim you want competitive balance,” Pate starts. “You guys claim you don’t like the same teams dominating the FanDuel odds and the postseason picture. Do me a favor: try and figure out how to handicap the Big 12 right now. We did a segment last week where we looked at how many teams were reasonably in the ‘Tier 1’ oddsboard for the conferences. In the Big Ten, it’s like Ohio State, Oregon, and then everyone else. In the SEC, it’s Georgia, Bama, etc. In the Big 12, there’s like half a dozen teams. Vegas is essentially saying, ‘Yeah if you think you know better than us, have at it.’
“The spirit of college football, which at the core makes it attractive for fans, to me, is woven into the DNA of the Big 12 right now,” Pate said. I think when you look at the competitive balance, you look at the fact that no one is drastically outspending anyone else in the Big 12, and the talent on rosters is roughly comparable. So many teams are at the head table, and there are those who don’t have access to the head table. You don’t see a ton of negative NIL-type stories there. You don’t see a ton of roster poaching and mercenary-type movement of players. You don’t see coaches doing that as much. Culture is preached, but also practiced a whole lot more there, I think right now, than any other conference in college football. If you claim you love that, and a lot of you do, how can you turn a blind eye to the Big 12 right now?”
The actual onfield and in-the-stadium product is also something that draws Pate to the Big 12, as he loves the unpredictability of the league.
“The other thing is, it is insanely enjoyable football because it’s so unpredictable every week,” Pate continues. “I think that competitive balance thing comes into play. If you claim you want that, look out there.”
Lastly, the Late Kick host talks about the venues and the loyalty that coaches have to the league and their respective programs.
“You’ve got great venues in the Big 12, too,” Pate says. “I know a lot of you may not have made your trips out there. [They are] long road trips, really long road trips. But, it’s really interesting because the fans are extremely knowledgable, and they don’t get credit for it because, you know, it’s not like Ohio State, it’s not like Oregon, it’s not USC. But the fanbases are really knowledgeable. They travel well, the venues are surprisingly hostile; even though capacity for capacity they don’t go shot for shot with the Big Ten or the SEC. There are great coaches out there, too. Look up and down the coaching roster in the Big 12 right now. Some of those guys have had opportunities to leave that conference, but they’ve stuck around. Now, I don’t know how long we maintain that there, but I also think there’s a better-than-equal shot that we do. A lot of those coaches have stayed at their respective posts in the Big 12 for a reason. They’ve stayed there because a lot of what I do talk about does exist there. As the head coaching job goes, it’s a lot more football. It’s a lot more college football than maybe it is reflective of the head coaching job and the role of head coaches at other places. Just as a pure fan, I can’t wait to watch the Big 12 this season.”
We can’t either, Josh. We cant either.
