(Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 2011, and the world’s largest use of Comic Sans)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Welcome to the Big Doughnut Hole.
This used to be the center of the college universe. At least one of them. This city still has hosted more Final Fours (10) than any other. It’s a Chiefs town first and a Jayhawks town second. Most of all, it’s a melting pot with a sizable amount of Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri alums here as well. …
Conference realignment goes on unabated. Traditional rivalries are being cut down like rainforests. Our natural habitat is being destroyed. Is this a good thing for college athletics? No, that’s not really the point.
Kansas City used to be headquarters of the NCAA. It used to be headquarters of the Big Eight. It used to have a pro basketball team and a baseball team before the Royals that both migrated to California. With the University of Kansas a short hop away, it earned a reputation as the capital of college basketball. Missouri’s move to the SEC could be a devastating blow. Sam Mellinger, Kansas City Star:
This is financial. This is emotional. This is more self-esteem than a region should probably put in a flimsy affiliation of college sports teams, but this is also the way it is in Kansas City. This is real.
Without Missouri in the Big 12, there’s no reason for the Big 12 to be in the state of Missouri. All the basketball arenas are within two miles of the border, but Missouri none the less. Any attempt to use that as a bargaining chip in the new Big 12 — that is, keep the basketball tournaments permanently in KC with the potential future football championship game in Texas — is severely weakened. That hurts not just the Kansas City area, but the conference as a whole. No more “Hilton South” or “Phog Allen East.” The remainder of the Big 12 North would be even more out in the cold. Geographically, the loss of the state of Missouri makes Iowa an island in a four-state conference.
And through it all, Missouri still pines for the Big Ten.
Kansas City’s fall in prominence is similar to the emptying of the Great Plains as a whole. Maybe we have gone about as far as we can go.
(An explanation of the title, for the non-musically-inclined. The Sprint Center, obviously, is very up to date.)