Topical Issue: Conference Realignment… Is It Good for the Universities (But Bad for The Softball Student-Athletes?)

Let’s see if we’re up to date:

• Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC… check.
• UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington to the Big 10… got it.
• Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the Big 12… wow.

Will the last one of the Pac-12, Pac-10, Pac-8, Pac-4 please turn off the lights?

Universities are changing conferences so fast and it is, to no one’s surprise, driven by TV rights deals.

The Power 5, ummm, the Power 4 conferences–being the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC–have secured nice revenues deals for their schools—something the Pac-12 couldn’t do—and it led to a mass exodus of sports programs to conferences that could and would give healthy $$$$ to athletic departments.

This appears to be a windfall for the “haves” (versus the suddenly “have nots”) in college sports but now, after the dust has settled, the ones involved who have to fulfill these agreements are speaking up… and they’re not all fine-and-dandy with what’s happening.

A week ago, Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz was being interviewed and he brought up the subject of conference expansion and how it will impact college athletes… here’s what he said in part (or more accurately, asked rhetorically… bolds below are added for emphasis):

“I thought the transfer window, I thought the portal was closed,” Coach Drinkwitz began.

“Oh, that’s just for the student-athletes. The adults in the room get to do whatever they want, apparently.”

“My question is: Did we count the cost? And I’m not talking about the financial cost. I’m talking about: Did we count the cost for the student-athletes involved in this decision? What cost is it to those student-athletes?”

“We’re talking about a football decision, they based on football, but what about softball and baseball, who have to travel cross-country? Did we ask about the cost to them?”

Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz on the potential effect conference realignment has on the student athlete. pic.twitter.com/RBhl8lnRi4

— ESPN (@espn) August 6, 2023

 

And then the football coach warned that the expansion of conferences, not just in number of schools involved, but the distance teams will have to travel, could have some dire consequences.

“Do we know what the No. 1 indicator or symptom of or cause of mental health [issues] is?” Drinkwitz asked and then answered his own question.

“It’s lack of rest and sleep. Traveling in those baseball, softball games, those people, they travel commercial, they get done playing, they gotta go to the airport, they come back, it’s 3 or 4 in the morning, they gotta go to class. I mean, did we ask any of them?”

 Here, in this tweet, is the entire press conference held by Coach Drinkwitz for those interested:

"What cost is it to those student-athletes?"#Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz commented on the direction of college athletics right now ⤵️ says it's a football decision that will affect A LOT more than just football teams.

Long answer, but worth a listen pic.twitter.com/UVDtmzI37d

— Nathalie Jones (@NathalieABC17) August 5, 2023

So, what about the student-athlete and coaches who, conceivably, in the Big Ten have to travel from Oregon across the country to play Rutgers? Or UCLA and USC which will have to travel from West Coast to the Midwest or East Coast to play, let’s say, Penn State?

And vice versa, with the Ohio State’s and Michigan’s traveling to Washington or to Southern California? Come to think about it, for the Midwest teams in November, at trip to sunny So Cal might be worth the added distance… but still the point remains the same.

Writer Jack Baer wrote a compelling article for Yahoo! Sports in which he stated:

“The fire hose of money that is inducing these schools to shred tradition and join geographically remote conferences can be used to pay for the additional travel, but what money cannot replace is the time of student-athletes, who already have busy schedules.”

“Lack of rest and sleep,” going back to what the Missouri football coach emphasized, could lead to mental and emotional stress so,, dollars notwithstanding, is conference expansion good for the ones who actually take the field?

Dr. Erin Henderson, who has a PhD in Sports Psychology, responded to the football coach’s comments by posting the following:

Great points. Data shows college athletes work the equivalent of two full time jobs, with women dedicating more hours per week to academics than men. Unlike football, most of them are doing it without the potential of having a professional athletic career at all, let alone a…

— Dr. Erin Henderson, MBA, PMP (@ErinK_Henderson) August 5, 2023

And how do you think that went over with the football diehards?

In the Yahoo! Sports article, the author continued:

“It’s easy to envision student-athletes as hard-partying jocks who have millions waiting for them and don’t have to worry about classes, but the reality is the vast, vast majority of them go through an unenviable balancing act of a full-time class workload and hours of practice and workouts each day, to say nothing of the actual games.”

Several softball players past and present—including three directly involved with one of the teams that recently announced a conference switch (Oregon)—expressed their displeasure with the entire situation via social media:

Former Oklahoma and Michigan player Alex Sorako wrote the following:

RIP to the sports that don’t have charters or who have more than 1 game…that bus ride from Michigan to Penn State was brutal in my day 😂 https://t.co/YWafU3fugt

— Alex Storako (@alexstorako) August 5, 2023

Catcher Terra McGowan, who was a redshirt senior in 2023 and was named as a NFCA First-Team All-American and the Diamond Sports National Catcher of the Year, also suggested that the subject “needs to be talked about more on her Twitter page:

Has anybody thought about the repercussions that conference realignments have on student athletes quality of life? You’re asking them to travel across the country every other weekend while balancing school and a social life??? This needs to be talked about more.

— terra mcgowan (@terramcgowan11) August 4, 2023

The trio of current Oregon Ducks who voiced their opinions included:

* Morgan Scott, a fifth-year right-handed pitcher at Oregon and a 2^nd Team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023:

Anyone going to talk about all the other sports that play multiple games in a weekend? What happened to mental health of student athletes being important? The balance of practice, travel, school, and having a social life is already hard enough. Why add even more stress? https://t.co/utnAu7lt8k

— Morgan 🙂 (@Morgan_Scotty11) August 4, 2023

* KK Humpreys, a senior infielder from Corona, Calif., who offered:

tired of being an overlooked sport

— kk🧚🏼 (@_kaykayy13) August 4, 2023

* Paige Sinicki, a junior infielder from Nevada:

I picked to play in a high level softball conference where being close to home would allow my parents to come watch my games. It’s unfortunate to hear that my senior year I’ll be playing as far as New Jersey-Rutgers as well as other east coast schools.

— Paige Sinicki (@paige_sinicki) August 4, 2023

Interviewed by Sports Illustrated (Click HERE to read the entire article), Sinicki she had some additional poignant comments:

“If we tried to leave on Thursday, there’s no way for us to leave at a decent hour, especially with the time change, to fully be ready for our game on Friday,” Sinicki says.

“That’d mean for sure leaving on Wednesday morning most likely so that we really only go to school Monday/Tuesday which for me personally is hard.”

“I’m a Human physiology major and a lot of our classes are offered Tuesday-Thursday like bio and chemistry. Even my higher-and upper-division classes. Realistically going to school one or two days a week for travel days like that for the Big Ten.”

A fellow college softball student-athlete who used to be in the same conference as Oregon—sophomore catcher Shannon Cunningham at Arizona State, which is now headed to the Big 12—had this to say:

I chose to play in the PAC-12 because of the ability to play close to home and in front of family. I chose the PAC so my family didn’t have to worry about far travel or giving up all their vacation time just to come see me. This affects athletes in every sport + academics.

— Shannon Cunningham (@shancunnningham) August 5, 2023

Not surprisingly, the responses from the public in some cases was less than sympathetic… here are some actual responses on social media to the above softball players’ opinions:

• Did you ever realize your sport exists solely because of football revenue? Have the slightest sense of self awareness
• Keep crying
• I forgot it’s all about you
• I’m sorry your mommy & daddy can’t come to all of your games. 🤦🏻‍♂️
• Football funds all these sports. If they want to be a club sport and takes buses and vans regionally, they can.. but these athletes have to have a better understanding of why they get to travel to cool places and how that is funded

Fortunately, not all the responses were this critical… one emphatic reader on Twitter wrote:

Wow! It’s good to hear from a member of non revenue sports team!! Can’t believe how this nightmare travel scenario was just completely overlooked!!

Good luck to you young lady!!! 🙏💪💪

 As time plays out, the impact on student-athletes due to conference expansion will become apparent. Maybe it won’t have the effect many are worried about… or maybe it will leader to great mental and/or emotional challenges for these college standouts, including those in softball.

Time will tell, but for now, some of those directly affected are voicing their opinions and sharing their concerns about these changes that will impact them very soon.

What do you think? Share your thoughts on this subject by writing us at [email protected].

— Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball