Exposing the "conference solidarity" theory in bowl season

To root or not to root. To be footed for or not to be rooted for.

When college football bowl season or the NCAA basketball tournament starts, you frequently hear people talk about “rooting for teams in the conference.” The argument in favor of that is so the conference looks good. I can understand the sentiment behind the argument but I don’t just roll over on command when I hear it.

In fact, I’ve gone from being ambivilant about rooting for the conference to thinking it is the most phony bunch of nonsense known to man. The problem I have with that argument is many, including but not limited to it’s a blanket statement.

I can only give my own example as a Nebraska fan. In a way, it’s not the most relatable since they have changed conferences going from the Big 8 to the Big 12 to the Big 10. Rivalries have shifted from Oklahoma to Colorado to Iowa.

Back to this whole argument of “rooting for your conference so it looks good.” I can understand that it is better for a conference to go 6-2 instead of 2-6 in bowl games, NCAA tournaments, etc. The problem I have is that it is the most disingenuous and phony idea on the Planet Earth.

So what you’re saying is that a Red Sox fan should root for the Yankees if they are in the World Series just for American League East solidarity? So what you are saying is that a San Francisco Giants fan should root for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series just so the National League West looks good? If I know of any such fan they should have their fan card ripped off their chest in public. There, I said it. And yes, if I know any Oakland Raiders fan that rooted for the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in 1997 or 1998, they don’t deserve to be called a Raiders fan.

So I sound a little harsh, yes. The most fundamental problem I have with the “root for the conference” theory is this: I have rooted against these teams all season long so NOW I suddenly have to root for them as a benefit to the conference? To that I say, “Hell no!” I’m more concerned with how my team does in its bowl game or NCAA Tournament game. If my team wins and the conference goes 2-6 in bowl games, I can say, “well, that’s not on us.” However, my team loses and the conference goes 6-2, my thought becomes, “we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain.”