Good article for those of you not old enough to see how money changed football.
Twenty-five years ago, the Southwest Conference played its last game. But the SWC will never be forgotten, thanks to its innovative offenses, penchant for scandal and pettiness to the very end.
www.espn.com
Hatfield: I heard right about the time I was leaving that there was some talk to it. That had nothing to do with me leaving.
Crowe: Frank asked me, "Jack, what would you think about us going to the SEC?" I told him, "Let me tell you something, Frank: We have a hard time beating Texas here. There's five Texases over there. Five."
Barry Switzer, Hall of Fame Oklahoma coach, played at Arkansas in 1956-60: ****, in the SEC, all those stadiums seat 100,000. They're all the University Ofs, you know?
On July 30, Broyles and Arkansas announced the school was officially accepting the SEC's invitation, becoming the first in the modern era to jump from one major conference to another, ushering in the new world of realignment. On Aug. 4, Crowe was dispatched, along with quarterback Quinn Grovey, to the Southwest Conference kickoff luncheon in Dallas, the conference's media day. He said he was booed for three minutes straight.
Crowe: I mean, it had been broke in the newspapers five days when I walked into that event. Two-time defending Southwest Conference champions. You don't think them people in Texas were ready to get after my ***? Do you realize what an unequal playing field that was? Let's give 'em some more ammunition, Frank.
During his speech that day, Teaff was met with raucous applause when he told the crowd, "I'm now thoroughly convinced that the Southeastern Conference is the Iraq of the college football scene in America," and Slocum said players would be trying to "get their last licks on Arkansas."
DeLoss Dodds, Texas athletic director, 1981-2014: They were a great rival and it probably hurt them more to leave than it hurt us to have them leave.
Crowe: We were just asked to be good soldiers. I almost had a revolt on my team. Those kids, so many of them were from Texas. They came there to play games in Texas.
Teaff: I think those of us that loved the conference were hurt. And if we had any common sense, we knew that it was probably the beginning of the end. It was a blow. I think some of the big schools started looking around for a better-looking girlfriend.
Crowe: I was told that Texas and Texas A&M were coming with us, along with Florida State.
[SEC commissioner] Roy Kramer was going for the whole enchilada now. He was going for all the television markets because that's all it was about. It was about television. It was about going to get the TV contract and sharing the revenue.
Switzer: I remember Frank Broyles telling me why he went to the SEC. He said, "****, as soon as I signed the contract, I got a $6 million raise for our program."
