End Zone: BGSU 09-22

9/22/2011

Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson said he doesn't pay much attention to the current shuffling of schools and conferences around the college football landscape.

"We're just trying to get a first down," he said yesterday. "My job is to make sure we don't turn the ball over six times, and that's what I'm focused on."

For Dave Clawson the college football fan, though, the movement is hard to ignore.

"I think in a lot of ways it's sad," he said. "I think one of the things that makes college football great is the rivalries. We're lucky to have two traditional rivals. When those things get broken up because of outside influences, I'm not convinced that's for the good of the game."

Personally, I would take that a step further: The rivalries are what make college football, and losing the rivalries hurts the sport in a way that will be hard to overcome, no matter how much money a megaconference may make.

For example, Nebraska may eventually develop rivalries in the Big Ten, but they will never match the now-defunct Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry. Don't believe me? Then answer me this: who is Penn State's current rival? There's really no one, and there's certainly no school that matches the Nittany Lions' former rivalry with Pitt.

That's reason enough that Mid-American Conference schools such as BG should treasure their rivalries, especially Saturday's game at Miami or the home contest against Toledo in a few weeks.

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