By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

On September 30, 1939, a football game between Fordham University and Waynesburg College was televised during the “experimental” era of television broadcasting. Since then, television has played a significant role on why college football has become America’s second pastime—trailing only the NFL in overall ratings.

By 1950, schools such as Penn and Notre Dame had worked out contracts to have all their games broadcasted by television networks and when ESPN was born in 1979, the 24-hour cable network grabbed a hold of the sport and sent it into heights it had never reached before.

Now, with just about every college football game being broadcasted in some form or another, television is taking the sport in another direction. With ESPN, CBS, FOX and NBC anting up big money to secure broadcasting rights to major conferences, the landscape of college football has forever changed.

With schools such as Nebraska, Colorado, West Virginia, Texas A&M, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and now Maryland and Louisville jumping from one major conference to another in the last two years, one can only speculate that the race to form four 16-team super conferences is not as farfetched as it was once believed.

Since last May, rumors have circulated and popped up here and there, that Clemson could possibly join Florida State and jump ship to the Big 12 should the Atlantic Coast Conference show signs of weakness, especially if Maryland gets off without any punishment for leaving the ACC for the Big 10 in November.

The ACC’s presidents signed off on a deal last summer that said any school that leaves the conference would have to pay a $50 million buyout.

New Clemson Athletic Director Dan Radakovich, who came to Clemson from Georgia Tech on Dec. 1, says Clemson is committed to the ACC, but the athletic department is closely monitoring the current landscape of college football every day.

“First of all, Clemson is a solid member within the Atlantic Coast Conference,” he said. “Recently, all the presidents pulled together a pledge of solidarity. They signed a note and President Barker and I have spoken and we are altogether as it relates to the ACC.

“I think because of the changing landscape of college athletics, a new job duty has been added to members of the athletic department. It’s our duty to be able monitor situations and be able to understand where we are if things moved in Direction A. What are we going to do? If they go into Direction B, then what are we going to do? So you have to be ready. So to say that we are monitoring the situation, we always have and I’m sure we always will. But as of right now, we are solid members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.”

As for Maryland jumping from the ACC to the Big 10, Radakovich says it “really had no impact and Maryland did what Maryland needed to do.”

Maryland’s impact isn’t really felt by the ACC because the conference was swift in persuading Louisville to leave the Big East and move to the ACC where they will join former Big East foes Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

“Louisville brings a solid athletic program,” Radakovich said. “They have very good coaches. I have known Tom Jurich, their AD, for a number of years and certainly Coach (Rick) Pitino sits out amongst the stars of the collegiate basketball world.

“I have known Charlie Strong for a number of years and I have the greatest respect for him and the work that he does. So I think Louisville athletically is going to be a really positive addition.”

Radakovich says in this day and age of college athletics there is very little down time for an athletic department to rest. There is always something to do or monitor whether it is fundraising to help keep facilities up to speed or monitoring conference expansion.

“This is a lifestyle of what you need to do,” Clemson’s new athletic director said. “Our fans don’t take a down time. Our student athletes don’t have down time, especially our football and basketball student athletes that have to train year around.

“This is not your father’s or grandfather’s athletic programs any longer. These are large businesses that require 365-day monitoring and attention.”