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College football has been built on tradition, and all this conference poaching and realignment is threatening that tradition.
The heavyweights, like Penn State, will survive and maybe even thrive.
Others may be destroyed.
A year after enticing USC and UCLA to the Big Ten, the conference has now added Oregon and Washington, effective with the 2024 season.
The move brings the Big Ten to 18 schools, which is not a round number and leaves open the distinct possibility of further expansion.
Speculation abounds.
Notre Dame has always made geographic and big-brand sense for the Big Ten, but the Irish have -- for now -- preferred to remain independent with the perks of an ACC schedule.
In fact, it was reported that ND was lobbying for the ACC to add Pac-12 schools Stanford and California, even though the Irish have not fully committed to the ACC.
The Big Ten's raid of the Pac-12 immediately triggered an exodus as Arizona, Arizona State and Utah bolted, following Colorado.
Administrators at the remaining schools will probably have a twitch for the rest of their lives.
"I don't ever remember a single day unfolding that was so dramatic in changing the landscape," Washington State president Kirk Schulz said after his cross-state rival went to the Big Ten. "College athletics is at its worst with this realignment stuff. Everyone is truly looking out for themselves."
Florida State of the ACC is no exception. The Seminoles are not satisfied with the league's TV deal ($30 million per year) and are openly shopping themselves.
(By contrast, the new Big Ten contract will pay its members upwards of $100 million per year for 10 years. The SEC pays its members $50 million annually).
"We currently face a very difficult situation," Florida State University president Richard McCullough told his board of trustees. "We are seeing large media deals made with places like the Big Ten and SEC, creating what may be an exaggeration, but is an existential crisis for Florida State. We are not satisfied with our current situation."
Board member Drew Weatherford, a former FSU player, said, "For me, it's not if we leave (the ACC), it's how and when."
These comments have to leave remaining ACC schools -- like Pitt -- quite nervous as Florida State, possibly paired with fellow ACC member Clemson or Miami, might be attractive to the Big Ten or SEC.
Should Stanford and Cal bite on the ACC, while the thought of ACC teams -- again, like Pitt -- having to journey across the country to play tennis might not be so appealing, not to mention financially draining, those additions may at least stop the bleeding and help solidify the conference.
Until somebody makes North Carolina an offer that can't be refused.
Then there's the shot in the air from Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson, who upon joining the Big 12 -- of which West Virginia is a member -- said: "I promise I'm not going to Morgantown."
Anderson, hopefully fearing the muscat, apologized a few days later.
Of course, you can't expect the NCAA to get involved in any of this and show leadership that it's lacked for, oh, several decades. It would rather slap some small school on the wrist for calling a basketball recruit during a recruiting dead period.
One consideration may be for the powers that be -- top conference administrators and TV executives (not in that order) -- to finally admit that college football and basketball are professional sports and proceed accordingly.
Football has always missed the least amount of class time so travel isn't as taxing as the fencing team having to visit Oregon and Washington and work its way back through Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Figure out how the TV-driven sports that bring in the revenue can play in football, basketball and wrestling conferences and let the soccer and softball teams stay closer to home.
They can still have conference tournaments, even if the teams don't all play each other during the regular season.
Just don't take away the Penn State-Iowa wrestling match.
And here's a novel idea: Ask the athletes for their input. Would the women's basketball team rather play a two-game swing at Pitt and West Virginia or Washington and Oregon?
Long gone are the days when Penn State football fans could get in the car and drive to Syracuse because they're now playing at Northwestern instead.
Ditto the big intersectional games.
And while travel inconveniences and some at-times unfriendly officiating aside for, say, the last 30 years, the Nittany Lions' Big Ten marriage has created excellent financial and long-term stability.
Had the Eastern Conference that Joe Paterno was pushing happened in the 1980s, what would that league have become? Paterno thought Maryland and Miami may join. He was probably right since Miami joined the Big East after PSU joined the Big Ten and Maryland eventually left the ACC. He was also right about the role TV was beginning to play.
History tells us that Pitt and Syracuse both underestimated what losing their top football rival would eventually do to their programs. Forty years later, they face an uncertain future.
Then again, with how college sports has expanded, the Big Ten may have eventually flirted with Penn State and others in the Eastern Conference. It's something we'll never know.
One thing that's for sure, though, is at places like Washington State and Oregon State and anywhere else that could see their conference fall apart in the coming weeks, months and years, college sports may never be the same.
James Franklin, who spent a year at Washington State (where his wife, Fumi, went to school), called the current climate "somewhat sad."
"It's just very different than the college football that we all grew up with," he said. "Not really college football, college athletics, where at least for most of the year it was pretty regional."
Some futures are secure and bright, but others are not.
And traditions die hard.
Rudel can be reached at 814-946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.