Master of Education in Applied Human Development Graduate Projects

Abstract

College athletics have always been a catalyst for a community to unite and have set aside their differences in support of their teams. NCAA member institutions have been organizing themselves into athletic conferences since the late 1800s. Unfortunately, these conferences have seen themselves change substantially. The original idea behind college athletic conferences was for institutions with “similar geographical locations and provide a structured framework for competition.” (Sport Team History, 2025) In today’s NCAA, the “Power 4” Conferences have moved away from this idea and have found themselves comprised of universities from across the country. The term “Power 4 Conference” refers to the Big 10, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 conferences in football who generate the most revenue, have the most athletic success, and are made up of the largest universities in the country. It is important to know that these conferences do not sponsor every NCAA sport and that there are certain conferences that sponsor certain sports. For example, the Big East Conference is one of the premier athletic conferences in men’s and women’s basketball but does not sponsor football. The most recent realignments have seen the University of Oregon flying across the country to New Jersey to compete with Rutgers University in the Big 10 and Stanford University flying from California to Boston College in the ACC. It was rare for a university to travel across the country for athletic events, but it has become the new norm for the Power 4 Conferences. The travel costs these athletic departments now experience is justified due to the revenues associated with being a member of these conferences.

Advisor

Dr. Amanda Koba

Second Reader

Dr. Ray Schneider

Semester

Spring

Year

2026

Degree

M.Ed.

Program

Sport Administration

Download

Share

COinS