What is a Conference?

[Ben McArthur]

I know this is my soapbox but I will say it yet again in light of
discussion of Bix XII championship game. There should not have to be a
championship game, because in a true conference all teams play one another
during the season. What we (and others) have is a bastardized form of a
conference, driven by considerations of TV contracts, etc. Having gone
down this road the conference is forced into expedients that lead to the
travesty we had this year. I think this ersatz conference championship
setup is another example of what the great historian Daniel Boorstin
identified as the American penchant for pseudo-events: contrived
replacements for more genuine experiences. (On the other hand, if any of
us truly had a life we wouldn't be spending our time on this list.)

Ben McArthur