I been wanting to write about this topic for some time now, mostly because its currently a major topic in the news and many people may not realize how big of deal this really might be for softball. Being a former D1 softball player and playing in the ACC it mattered what conference you were a apart of. The ACC has not been the strongest softball conference the last couple of years compared to the Pac 12, SEC, BIG 10 and BIG 12, however, the ACC overall is still a pretty good conference. ACC softball is rising and continuing to get better but its got some catching up to do with the other conferences.
On a personal note I loved being apart of the ACC and what it had to offer. I grew up being around the BIG 12 my whole life and was offered by many BIG 12 schools to play. However, when it came down to the crunch time in recruiting I chose the school that best fit me and it was not a BIG 12 school but an ACC school. At the time I knew the conference was not as strong in softball but the school I attended was one of best in softball in the ACC conference (that's not even opinionated that just fact).
It has been interesting the last couple of years to see teams switch conferences and hear this talk about "power or super conferences." As much as I wish college athletics was all about athletes its not its money. That's why I believe we are heading to these super conferences. So you might say softball is just a small figure in this, and your right it is because realistically its football driven. Which, is funny because football is not the major money maker for the NCAA. That would be basketball and March Madness. But for schools and conferences its mostly football. Although you can fight that argument too because most schools do not make money off football however, some do and the ones that do make money are the front runners for these super conferences. Are u with me?
I will not ramble on too long about this but really the NCAA is bringing some changes and schools like getting money so its about to get messy. My point is that it affects softball. If we move to these big conferences than the smaller softball schools have a lesser chance of making the NCAA. Not only that but I think we will no long have super regionals and we will go back to the regional format. Why? not as many teams and only major conferences will end up competing against each other think about it? Yes, this is all opinion based I know. You may think different but it does bring up a good argument. Also recruiting will change. Super conferences will have the upper hand and smaller schools will not be able to go after blue chip players. Although, that's happening now so that would not be much of a change.
I don't know. Its something to think about and if you are or you have a daughter upcoming in the softball world and you or she wants to go play D1. I could go on and on about this and it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 5 years but I believe a lot of changes are going to happen. I've added some links for you look at and think about. These links are also on the FB page. Thanks for your time!
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6851512/presidential-summit-spark-major-ncaa-change
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6859792/texas-aggies-expected-departure-brings-us-back-brink
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6912807/texas-aggies-tell-big-12-seek-new-conference
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/6886165/acc-commish-john-swofford-disappointed-ncaa-probes
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6923495/oklahoma-sooners-president-david-boren-says-school-interest-multiple-conferences
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